Unlocking Potential – International Conference 2011

“Surfing the Silver Wave” – Ensuring Civic Engagement and Well Being in an Ageing Society

Conference Details:-

Venue: Park Avenue Hotel,

Date: Thursday 24th March 2011

Conference Attendee Charge: 1. Delegate rate - £70

Conference Numbers: 125 delegates

The conference will be funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, The Department for Social Development. are hosting and sponsoring a pre conference reception. The conference is being supported by the Bureau in Washington. Additional support is being sought from the U.S Consul General in Belfast.

Unlocking Potential – Volunteering Conference – Spring 2011

Wednesday 23rd March 2010

Evening reception for attendees and speakers – hosted by Belfast City Council in Belfast City Hall.

Thursday 24th March 2010

Conference Venue – Park Avenue Hotel, Belfast

08.30 - Registration – Breakfast

09.00 – Minister for Social Development Alex Attwood MLA opens conference. TBC

09.15 – Dr Virpi Timonen – SPARC, Trinity College Dublin (Speaker 1)

09.35 – Dr Brendan Murtagh – Queens University Belfast (Speaker 2)

09.55 – Break

10.20 –Thomas Endres – NCOA (Speaker 3)

11.00 – At table discussions

11.30 – Case Study Videos 1&2

11.40 – Lester Strong – Experience Corps (Speaker 4)

12.30 – Lunch

1.30 – Case Study Videos 3&4

1.45 – Barbara Huston – Partners in Care (Speaker 5)

2.25 – Break

2.45 – Wendy Osborne OBE – Volunteer Now (Speaker 6)

3.15 – At Table discussions

3.30 – Plenary Session with all speakers (chaired by MC)

4.15 – Finish and close by Older Person’s Advocate/Commissioner TBC

Unlocking Potential – Volunteering Conference – Spring 2011 Briefing for Speakers Introduction The Unlocking Potential Project is delivered by Volunteer Now, the organisation that provides regional and local leadership to volunteering in Northern Ireland. Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies the project seeks to address the issue of under involvement of those aged 60+ as volunteers. It also aims to establish volunteering as a natural lifestyle choice for those aged 50 and beyond who may be moving into retirement. In October 2009 an Unlocking Potential organised study visit made up of local representatives of the Voluntary, Statutory and Age Sectors to Washington DC to investigate the impact of ageing on civic engagement, volunteerism and U.S society generally. Feedback from participants of the study visit suggested that the learning and evidence gathered in the U.S had the potential to have a positive influence on the culture and practice of volunteering in Northern Ireland. Volunteer Now has begun the process of disseminating the learning through the production of a study visit report and information seminar. Objective A conference is being held in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Thursday 24th March 2011 that will initiate conversations amongst policy makers, employers (public and private), the voluntary and community sector about the positive opportunities presented by an increasingly ‘older’ population to the local community, organisations, the individual and society in general. The theme of the conference is ―Surfing the Silver Wave, exploring Civic Engagement and Wellbeing in an Ageing Society’. The conference will:- Encourage organisations from all sectors to see the positive opportunities for community participation offered by increasing numbers of people, often highly skilled, moving into retirement.

Promote volunteer employee involvement both pre and post retirement to strengthen the well being of employees in retirement and the community generally.

Inform policy makers and health and social care providers of the positive impact of civic engagement and volunteering on the health of older people.

Explore different methods of service delivery, income generation and sustainability through initiatives such as Time Banking and Social Enterprise.

The conference will be one day in duration (24th March 2010) and will be preceded by an evening reception for speakers and delegates on 23rd March and a focused dinner for speakers and selected guests on the evening of 24th March. It I hoped that the conference will be opened by Alex Attwood MLA, Minister for Social Development. The post holder of Older Person’s Advocate or Older Person’s Commissioner, if in place, will be invited to close the Conference Briefing for Speakers:

Theme One – demographic changes, meeting this challenge

Speaker 1 – (20 minutes) Dr Virpi Timonen – Director SPARC (Social Policy and Ageing Research Centre), Trinity College Dublin. Dr Timonen will give an overview of the demographic and social trends, challenges and opportunities offered by an ageing population from an all Ireland, European and International perspective.

Speaker 2 (20 minutes) Dr Brendan Murtagh – Queens University Belfast

Dr Brendan Murtagh is a Chartered Town Planner and Reader in the School of Planning Architecture and Civil Engineering at Queens University Belfast. He has researched and written widely on urban regeneration, conflict and community participation. His is the author of Understanding The Social Economy and the Third Sector. Brendan works closely with The Atlantic Philanthropies giving support on project evaluation and policy. He was involved in the development and evaluation of a number of urban regeneration programmes in Northern Ireland. Dr Murtagh is currently the Director of Research in planning at Queens.

Dr Murtagh will:-

Give an insight into the social economy opportunities and initiatives in relation to the third sector in general

Highlight the opportunities presented by an ageing population to organisations and communities in terms of social enterprise initiatives, time banking, and other sustainable funding streams.

Speaker 3 (40 minutes) Thomas Endres, Vice President Civic Engagement – National Council on Aging (USA) - TBC

The National Council on Aging (NCOA) is a nonprofit service and advocacy organisation headquartered in Washington, DC. Their mission is to improve the lives of older Americans.

NCOA is a national voice for older adults—especially those who are vulnerable and disadvantaged—and the community organisations that serve them. They bring together nonprofit organisations, businesses, and government to develop creative solutions that improve the lives of all older adults. Thomas will:- Give an insight into the partnership between government, voluntary sector and the age sector in providing services for older people (with focus on volunteer/civic engagement initiatives).

Give an overview of funding process and the direction and support provided to funded organisations by AoA and NCOA. How the issue of sustainability of initiatives is considered In relation to funding of projects, specifically the concept of revenue generation and successful examples of this social enterprise model.

Give an insight into some of the Respectability Initiative and give an insight into the strategy and some of the techniques to address the challenge of increasing the capacity of community-based non profit organisations take advantage of increased numbers and more highly-skilled older volunteers,(example of Legacy Leadership Initiative, University of Maryland)

Give an insight into the part played by Leadership Volunteers in the statutory services (museum, schools etc) and any NCOA/government strategies to respond to the impact of the „baby boomer‟ generation.

Present an insight into US government policy in relation to the impact of the baby boomer generation. How the projected increased demands on services are being planned for in relation to the demographic shift. Theme 2 – Civic engagement, as solutions in action. Speaker 4 (40 minutes) Lester Strong – CEO of Experience Corps U.S organisation Experience Corps places older volunteers as mentors within schools to assist students with reading. Many of the older volunteers are drawn from within these communities themselves which helps to improve intergenerational and social relations. Experience Corps has roughly 2,000 members (volunteers) placed in 170 schools across 22 cities, providing around 600,000 hours of support to young people each year. We would like Lester to:- Give an insight into the work of Experience Corps, particularly the input made by members (volunteers) to schools. Highlight benefits experienced by schools, students and individual members supported by University of Washington research study.

EC’s experiences of involving older volunteers in a statutory setting (schools in this instance) and the positive impact this has on the cohesiveness of often disadvantaged communities.

Impact of Experience Corps initiative on the wider community, sense of ownership and intergenerational benefits.

Speaker 5 (30 minutes) Barbara Huston – President of Partners in Care Partners in Care is a Time Banking project in Pasadena Maryland, United States, that enables older people to ‘age in place’. Barbara will:- Give an overview of the Partners in Care project, its aims and impact.

Give an insight into the challenges of establishing a fledgling Time Bank.

Give an insight into the practicalities of a ‘mature’ time bank and its impact on the entire community. This will challenge the perception of older people as passive recipients of services and illustrates innovative ways to engage all members of community.

Give a practical insight into the engagement of older people and the wider community through time banking. The impact of the time bank on ageing in place.

Speaker 6 – Wendy Osborne OBE – CEO of Volunteer Now – Local context, role of Volunteer Now and the Unlocking Potential project.