Members' Business: 75th Anniversary of Age Scotland

That the Parliament congratulates Age Scotland on reaching its landmark 75th year; recalls its establishment in 1943 as the Scottish Older People’s Welfare Committee; notes the subsequent formation of Age Concern and Help the Aged, whose merger in 2009 led to a new charity dedicated to improving later life for everyone in Scotland; wishes the staff and volunteers of Age Scotland every success for the future as they work to promote positive views of ageing and later life, help older people to be as well as they can be and help to tackle loneliness and isolation; recognises the contribution made by its network of over 1,100 local groups, which allow older people to meet socially, discuss issues affecting their lives, raise awareness about the help and support available locally and promote their health and wellbeing through activities such as body boosting bingo, walking football and men’s sheds; acknowledges the range of innovative projects led by Age Scotland and Age Scotland enterprises based in the Glasgow Kelvin constituency with the aim of improving later life, including its Housing project, which focuses on housing needs, the Warm and Well project, which delivers advice sessions on how to stay warm and reduce fuel bills in the winter months, its Helpline, which provides information and advice annually to over 10,000 older people and generated £587,000 in previously unclaimed benefits in 2017, its Early Stage Dementia project, which seeks to raise awareness of early stage dementia and the signs and symptoms of the condition, and its Veterans project, which, through the Unforgotten Forces consortium, boosts the health and wellbeing of veterans aged 65 and over; recognises the positive value of lifeline services in Orkney, such as Age Scotland Orkney’s Good Day call service and the emerging partnership with Care and Repair Edinburgh; notes the work of its regional ambassadors, its policy engagement work, the Age Scotland Awards and its Annual Conference; commends its campaigning work on social care, access to transport services, particularly in rural areas, community facilities such as cash machines and public toilets, and the take-up of social security entitlements; pays tribute to the work of Luminate, Scotland’s creative ageing organisation, which is supported by Age Scotland, for its internationally-acclaimed festival and work to improve the lives of older people through the arts, and hopes that Age Scotland will continue to work positively on behalf of older people for many years to come.