The Northern Ireland Housing Executive is the latest group to sign up to the Age Friendly City campaign aimed at making Derry a great place to grow older.
Waterside Housing Executive tenant Irish Bradley presents the Age Friendly Charter to Roslyn Colhoun, neighbourhood warden. Included are Jennifer Neff, Ilex and Eamon O’Kane, Derry Healthy Cities.
The HE commitment to place older people at the heart of planning, design, delivery and usage across the Derry City Council area coincided with International Day for Older People held yesterday.
The Age Friendly City initiative, led by Derry Healthy Cities and supported by Ilex, supports and promotes healthy ageing and is a milestone in the city’s regeneration plan, the One Plan.
Many organisations have signed up to the principles of the Age Friendly City Charter since it was launched by Claire Keatinge, NI Commissioner for Older People, in March of this year.
The HE were recently presented with the Charter by tenant and Waterside resident Iris Bradley after she praised the level of service she received from her local neighbourhood officer, Roslyn Colhoun.
Mrs Bradley said: “I do not know what I would do if I did not have Ros to deal with any problems that I have. My daughter does not live near to me and it is not always convenient for her to contact the Housing Executive.
“If I have any issues I know that I can ring Ros and she will come to my home. She is always prompt and takes time to explain various forms and correspondence to me and always deals with any issues arising from those.
“No matter what the issue is, I know I can ring Ros and she is always available for me. She reassures me if I am worried about anything. That’s why I keep her number beside my phone because I know I can ring her at any time.
“It is a comfort to me and my daughter to know that Ros is there and makes herself available at any time, no matter what the problem is,” she added.
Avril McAllister, local HE area manager, said: “We pride ourselves in providing an excellent service to customers through our public offices in Waterside, Collon Terrace and Waterloo Place. This is independently verified by a range of methods, such as exit polls, Mystery Shoppers and the UK wide Customer Service Excellence model.
“We consider ourselves to be particularly aware of the needs of older people who live on our estates and who call into our offices.”
She concluded: “I would ask older people to contact us if there is anything in particular we could do to make our organisation more age friendly.”
