2008
March - Members took part in consultation about 'All our futures... A Strategy for Later Life in Darlington'.
February - Twelve people took part in a 'trolley dance' to promote a positive image of older people and show us doing things we wouldn't normally do! The film was released on You Tube where it had tens of thousands of hits, and featured in the local press and on both regional news programmes.
Some members attended the 'Best of Darlington Awards' where one long-serving member won the award for Service to the Community. Congratulations!
Members took part in consultation about Social Services charging policy.
GOLD gave a talk to some of the people who live at Worsley Park. We were well received and had plenty of discussion particularly around what is available for people in their leisure time.
Members took part in consultation with the Fire Service about how the Service should be 'branded' in the future.
This month's Get Together had a talk from Mary Hall of Darlington Borough Council about the new LINks organisation which is to replace the Public and Patient Involvement Forum.
Members took part in consultation about Darlington's Supporting People programme and took the opportunity to ask plenty of questions about how this works.
January - Another visit was made to Sockburn Hall, this time with His Worshipful the Mayor in attendance. Another beautiful day (if chilly) and everyone enjoyed the visit and the chance to talk about history and learn what is going on there.
Members took part in consultation on the Sustainable Community Strategy, our chance to contribute to planning in Darlington.
2007
December - Another successful Christmas party with over 100 members attending, music, dancing, a grand raffle and good food and company!
Members were invited to meet Steve Rose for an update on the future for GOLD and the Project Workers.
November - Members visited 'Sockburn Hall' to find out what improvements are being made and to see how they could become involved if they wished to.
October - GOLD also attended the International Day which was held at the Music Forum in Borough Road. This was a fascinating day with lots of activities and music. Information about GOLD was taken by several members of the public who attended.
The GOLD Team were invited to take information about the project to the Supporting People Conference held at the Dolphin Centre.
Members of the Economy and Environment Group decided that they would like to raise awareness of what Fair Trade Products were available in Darlington and where they can be purchased. A Fair Trade evening was organised with samples of Fair Trade food and drink, including wines, fruit juices, and fresh fruit, which was used to make kebabs for a chocolate fountain. Marie Steward from Sainsburys and Veronica Piekosz from Traidcraft, both attended and brought samples of their products. Everyone who attended agreed that it had been a very interesting and informative evening.
Members were invited by His Worshipful, the Mayor, Councillor Marion Swift, to visit her in the Mayoral Chamber. This was a very interesting visit as her secretary, David Allaway, gave us a brief but entertaining talk about the history of Darlington Borough and the Council. Members got the opportunity to look at all the gifts and trophies in the Mayoral chamber and refreshments followed while everyone had a look at the photographs of the past Mayors.
Darlington Partnership hosted an Assembly to which GOLD members were invited to give their input and views on the Sustainable Community Strategy.
September - GOLD members joined the MacMillan 'Biggest Coffee Morning in the World' and a total of £178.80 was raised by selling drinks, a raffle, cake stall, Bring and Buy stall and a competition.
The GOLD Positive Health Day was once again very successful with more than 200 visitors attending the event at the Football Stadium. Over 100 of them tried a free 'taster session' of one of the alternative therapies on offer. Ten therapists kindly offered sessions of aromatherapy, reflexology, reiki, head massage, swedish massage, lymphatic drainage and iridology. Several people joined in the demonstrations of Tai Chi, Boccia, Kurling, GEM and Belly Dancing, all of which are gentle forms of exercise that can be done by older people, even those with mobility problems.
The Inaugral meeeting took place of the Social Club being set up by members of GOLD. After discussions at the Leisure and Learning Group, members decided that many older people would welcome the opportunity of having company to go to the theatre or for a meal with and by forming this group of like minded people they could find out what activities people would like to do. This group is a self managed group of GOLD members.
A second 'Bag Pack' took place at Sainsbury's Supermarket in Grange Road on 1st September, with a total of £337.25 was raised. More new members were recruited and many people stopped to find out what GOLD was all about.
August - The promised guided 'Tree Walk' took place in the South Park with Debbie once again providing background information, and even a list of their latin names, on all the trees in the park. The group finished their walk with a visit to the Cafe in the Park for refreshments.
A Community Strategy Conference was held at Darlington Football Stadium to discuss how community spirit could be developed throughout the Borough. A number of GOLD members were invited to attend to give their views, together with members of the Team.
July - The second visit to the CCTV room at the Town Hall took place.
The long awaited Pergola at Mayflower Court Extra Care Housing Scheme in Yarm Road took place early this month. Staff and volunteers from Nubeck Nursery and Woodburn Nursery worked to design an area that would give the tenants at Mayflower a quiet, shaded area to sit surrounded by flowering plants. The funding for this project was raised by the GOLD Housing and Practical Support Services Group.
Once again the Tea Dance in the Market Square was very successful with over 550 people receiving a cup of tea and a cream scone and strawberries. GOLD volunteers spent a day and a half preparing all the food and are to be praised for all their hard work. The dance band encouraged many visitors to the square to dance, with the spot prize going to a gentleman who hardly sat down all afternoon.
The GOLD team joined with the Information Outreach Group in taking information about a variety of services and agencies out to members of the public to raise awareness of what is available and how to access them.
Darlington Partnership invited members of GOLD to attend their Doorstep Crime Assembly at the Dolphin Centre. Several members attended and found it very interesting.
June - Preparations for this year's Community Carnival began with 4 weekly workshops being held at Darlington Arts Centre. The theme was 'Celebrations' and GOLD were chosen to lead the parade on Carnival Day. Members worked alongside the artists and a giant champagne bottle was made. Volunteers on the day, wearing the dazzling 'carnival face masks' they made in the workshops, propelled the bottle round the parade route. In the East Hall GOLD held a 'Bottle Tombola' and cake stall, which were very successful. Everyone who took part enjoyed their day.
The GOLD Readers Group, who look at information available for people over the age of 50 to check if it is easily understood, clear to read, in plain English and kept up to date, were asked to give their opinions about the Housing Benefit forms by the Department Manager, Anthony Sandys. A number of suggestions were made by members to Housing Benefit staff about how the forms and information letters could be simplified and these suggestions will be taken back to the section and some of them will be implemented.
GOLD members were invited to have a look round the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) Room at the Town Hall. The members who attended found it fascinating and so many people expressed a wish to attend that a second visit has been arranged for July.
May - 35 of our members joined in the Local Motion 'Step out challenge' on a bright Sunday morning. The walk started in the Market Square, went through the South Park, into Geneva Woods and back through the park to the Market Square again. Refreshments of fruit juice and delicious flapjack were served half way round. A photograph of everyone who took part is shown on the front of Issue 24 of our newsletter.
April - At the April Get Together the cheque for £275.07, which was raised at the Walkington House GOLD coffee morning in February, was presented to Ian Whitfield for St Teresa's Hospice.
Members had a guided tour of the newly refurbished South Park which was very interesting. Debbie Hall, one of the Park Rangers, gave us information of the history of the park and has promised to take anyone who is interested on a 'Tree Walk' sometime soon, when she will give some of the background of some of the many trees in the park.
Richard Alty, Assistant Director of Development and Environment, was invited to tell members about future plans for Darlington over the next 20 years - called The Darlington Gateway. A hard copy of the main points of this talk is available from the GOLD Team on request.
Some of our members did a 'Bag Pack' on Good Friday at ASDA with a total of £193.10 was raised for the GOLD Funds. Members chatted to customers about GOLD as they packed and we recruited 5 new members and raised people's awareness about what GOLD does.
GOLD staff took information along to the 'Green Fair' that was held in the South Park. There were lots of visitors and a lot of information leaflets were given out. Some new members were recruited.
March - GOLD hosted its first Table Top Sale on St Patrick's Day at Havelock Street Community Centre. The event raised £213 which will be used towards financing events such as the Christmas Party and Positive Health Day.
Members were invited to attend a Doorstop Crime - Beat the Bogeyman Conference at Morton Park where a former senior detective from West Yorkshire Police, Brian Steel, talked about his experience of doorstep crime.
The Primary Care Trust asked GOLD members for their opinions about the 5 Year Strategic Vision for the Trust. Information was sent out before the meeting with Greg Burke from the PCT so that members had chance to formulate their questions and comments for him. These comments and suggestions were then taken back to the PCT.
Elaine Anderson from the Pension Service attended a GOLD meeting to talk about the function of the Pension Service, specifically the local service, and how it impacts on the over 50s in Darlington. She answered many questions from members and gave leaflets and information about Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance.
A Housing Listening Event was held at Havelock Street Community Centre where members of staff from Housing, Supporting People, Planning and Occupational Therapy departments were invited to tell members about their services and to answer questions put to them by GOLD members. The event was very successful and members felt they understood much more about how services within the Council are organised.
February - A coffee morning at Walkington House was organised by members of the Health Group to raise funds for St Teresa's Hospice. The event was very successful and the total raised was £275.07. There were bric a brac and cake stalls with a 'Guess the number of buttons on the apron competition'.
Mr Tim Haslam from the Driving Standards Agency attended the February Get Together to talk to members about what his work involves. Members found it very interesting and had many questions to ask.
January - The new GOLD website was launched by Councillor Bryan Thistlethwaite. It has lots of information from a variety of sources, articles about what GOLD members have been doing, what is planned and photographs. Please let us know what you think of the new website.
2006
December - The Christmas party was once again a huge success with over 100 members coming along. Most took part in the quiz and the raffle and many enjoyed the chance to have a dance - from the St Bernards Waltz to the Time Warp! There were festive refreshments and a grand raffle. Everyone who attended said how much they had enjoyed themselves and each person got a small gift from GOLD on the way out. We are already planning next years' party.
October - A Senior Safety Roadshow was organised by members of Darlington Borough Councils Road Safety Team, Co Durham & Darlington’s Community Safety Team and GOLD. It was held at the Fire Station and the Fire Service provided two practical demonstrations - one of a chip pan fire, and the other of what happens at a road traffic accident.
There were information stands from a number of organisations who work with older people and many interesting demonstrations and talks where members of the public got the opportunity to ask questions on any safety issues, from where to get electric blankets checked to how to prevent falls in the home. Everyone who attended hailed the event as a great success and it is almost certain to become an annual event.
The new GOLD website is launched, with news on the different task groups, links to useful organisations and downloadable information.
September - The Second GOLD Positive Health Day took place at Darlington Football Stadium with over 80 people having the chance to try a ‘taster’ session of an alternative therapy. There were many information stands, some of which gave the opportunity to have blood pressure taken and hand massages.
Darlington Borough Council invited all GOLD members to have their say about the Tesco proposal.
August - The final GOLD working group has been established with the first meeting of the Community Safety Group being very well attended.
July - Daisy Day was once again a massive success with many information stands and plenty of music, entertainment and a raffle.
June - GOLD members worked on preparations for the annual Darlington Community Carnival. The theme was Creating the Right Environment and members created a 16 foot long banner made out of recycled materials to ask if people were recycling. It was very impressive and made a great statement at the Carnival.
Members manned two stalls in Stanhope Park on the day of the carnival, a bottle tombola and a cake stall. Everyone had a great day and we are looking forward to next year!
May - Some members of GOLD worked in partnership with the Youth Service and Community Partnerships on an Intergenerational Project to produce a DVD showing the different attitudes of old and young towards each other.
All GOLD members were invited to express their views to the local Member of Parliament about the proposal not to renew the Post Office Card Account after 2010. This is a facility which many older people use to draw their pension. Over 190 replies were received and these were sent on to the respective Members of Parliament for the area.
April - The Primary Care Trust asked the Readers Group to review one of their leaflets and took on board the members comments.
March - The GOLD Team were invited by the Primary Care Trust to represent older people at the Mental Health Improvement Group.
Several members of GOLD attended the ‘Keeping our own front doors’ event in Gosforth and also the ‘Ageing Well’ seminar at the Sage at Gateshead which were hosted by the Institute of Ageing and Health. Both of these events were very interesting and informative.
The Town on the Move Team invited members in the Haughton area of town to review their leaflet and give their thoughts and views on the effectiveness of the scheme.
Members worked with the manager of the Odeon cinema to
promote the Senior Screen Programme. A feature advising people about the Senior Screen was included in the GOLD newsletter.
A new Arts and Health Forum has been established by the Primary Care Trust and the Councils Arts Development Department which, in partnership with various agencies and organizations is looking at ways that health can be improved through working with the arts.
Capita Symonds have been commissioned to undertake a consultation exercise on the Ring a Ride Service and invited our members to take part.
Funding for the Extended School Project at Hummersknott School has been secured and older people were invited to attend a meeting at the school to put forward their suggestions for the kind of activities and facilities they would like to have made available to the community at large.
February - A consultation meeting was held by the Primary Care Trust to find out older peoples views on the proposed amalgamation of the PCTs.
January - The existing GOLD Task Groups were re-configured and two new groups were established. The groups are:
Health, Economy and Environment, Positive Images, Leisure and Learning and Transport.
As part of the new group a separate sub-group from Positive Images has been established – the Readers Group, which reviews leaflets and information for agencies, organisations and departments within Darlington Borough Council.
Work began on planning a Senior Safety Roadshow to be held later in 2006 in partnership with Co Durham and Darlington Community Safety Team and the Darlington Borough Council’s Road Safety Team.
Representatives of the Darlington Arts Development Team and Equal Arts met with some of the GOLD Team to look at an Arts Taxis proposal.
Darlington Borough Council’s Transport Department asked GOLD members to comment on the new bus timetables.
2005
December - Darlington Borough Council’s Planning Department hosted a consultation event on Open Spaces when GOLD members were invited to give their opinions and views on whether open spaces within the town had been correctly identified.
Two GOLD Representatives were invited by the Primary Care Trust to take part in a Health Impact Assessment event held at the Dolphin Centre.
One of the GOLD Team and a representative began to attend the Falls Forum where work is being undertaken to produce a Falls Strategy. This work is currently ongoing.
The 4th annual Christmas Party was held at the Darlington and Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club and was once again a great success, with many of our members getting up to dance to the varied music played by our band.
The Zone Active Team asked for older people’s priorities at the Dolphin Centre as part of the refurbishment program.
The Council’s Planning Team attended a special meeting to let members know about the next stages in the Local Development Framework. Several members had attended the planning meeting when the Local Development Framework was initially started.
November - Kevin Edwards, the Arts Centre Development Manager, came to tell members about the changes at the Arts Centre and to ask for their comments and suggestions. A visit was arranged for members keen to see what facilities the Arts Centre has to offer.
Members began on an Intergenerational Art Project working in partnership with the Youth Service and Darlington Borough Council’s Community Partnerships. The film crew attended one of the GOLD meetings to shoot some footage and a DVD is to be produced.
October - The Rooting Out Age Discrimination Group devised and sent out to the GOLD database and beyond a questionnaire to establish what footcare services older people received and how they felt about the service provided. At the end of the survey a report was produced and given to the Primary Care Trust for their comments.
Members were consulted on the Governments ‘Your Health, Your Choice, Your Say’ document.
A questionnaire from Darlington Borough Council’s Rights of Way Department was distributed to GOLD members for them to give their views on the condition of pavements and footpaths throughout the Borough of Darlington.
Darlington’s Road Safety Manager asked if GOLD could distribute ‘See Me’ bags to older people in Darlington. They are a canvas shopping bag which has a reflective strip along the side for safety. We distributed over 500 bags and could have given out many more. Hopefully we will have another consignment in 2006.
September - Members once again worked alongside the Library staff on the People’s War Day Project where older people’s reminiscences were recorded for the BBC website and a book being published by the Library service.
The GOLD team hosted a consultation meeting for all members about the new proposed task groups and the changes within GOLD.
The Primary Care Trust asked GOLD members for their opinions and views on the Choose and Book system and a consultation meeting was held.
The new draft Social Inclusion Strategy, All Together Now, was given out to consultation and members attended a meeting at the Dolphin Centre to give their views on social isolation and how this could best be combated.
August - The Podiatry Service asked for a consultation meeting with GOLD members to find out their opinions on the proposed new Electronic Booking System.
A new Project Co-ordinator, Stephen Yeardley, was appointed.
July - Three GOLD members received Adult Learner awards for undertaking a basic computer course provided through Darlington College of Technology.
Daisy Day was once again a great success with plenty of interest from older people about GOLD.
GOLD members helped with the arrangements and preparation for the annual Tea Dance in the Market Square.
A representative of the GOLD Team was invited by the Housing Department of Darlington Borough Council to take part in the Task and Finish Steering Group to look at activities in relation to sheltered accommodation.
June - Members again took part in Darlington Community Carnival and a stall selling cakes and a bottle tombola proved very popular with old and young alike.
May - The Older Persons Partnership Board was established, taking the GOLD Strategy as the overarching strategy for older people. A number of members represent GOLD on this Board.
The Structured Information Steering Group met to discuss structured information provision in Darlington.
April - ‘Message in a Bottle’ was launched in the South Park with plastic bottles being released into the River Skerne and rescued by the Fire and Rescue Service, followed by an event in the Market Square.
Members were asked by the Primary Care Trust to take part in a consultation about Safe Medication.
Darlington Libraries Service hosted a ‘People’s War’ Day, when older people could relate their wartime memories to volunteers who would record them to the BBC website. GOLD members took part and talked to visitors and gave out information about GOLD.
The Supporting People Team asked if the GOLD Information Review Group would review the new Supporting People Draft Strategy and give their opinions on the content and layout of the document. Their comments were fed back to the Supporting People Team.
February - The GOLD Positive Health Day was held at Blackwell Grange Hotel. Despite terrible weather conditions over 70 older people came to see the health related information on display and many took the chance to sample alternative therapies.
January - Work began with a number of agencies and organizations working in partnership on the Message in a Bottle Scheme.
The Primary Care Trust asked GOLD members to give their opinions and views on the Out of Hours service.
2004
December - The third annual GOLD Christmas party was held and more people than ever attended. There was a quiz, music to sing along to and a demonstration of dancing from the Red Hall Dance Team. There was a buffet tea and everyone received a small gift on their way home. It was a very enjoyable afternoon!
October - Members worked alongside Teesside University on researching age discrimination at work.
A Voice and Choice Training session was arranged for members of GOLD and also for members of the Carers Group of Darlington Association on Disability.
The Osteoporosis Nurse from the Primary Care Trust asked if GOLD members would help her raise awareness about osteoporosis and its implications and how some simple steps can delay it and prevent falls. GOLD still publicise helpful hints on a regular basis in the GOLD newsletter.
July - GOLD members took information about their work to the Tea Dance which was held in the Market Square. There were strawberries and cream, scones and cups of tea for everyone. The day was a great success with a large number of people attending.
Daisy Day was once again a great success with our members giving lots of information and talking to many people about the work of GOLD.
June - The Ghost of North Road Station was the topic of the 2004 GOLD carnival float and a great deal of time was spent preparing the float. The residents of Darlington Manor Nursing home worked alongside GOLD members to recreate the story. There was also the usual cake and bottle stall and everyone who took part had a really good day.
Once again older people worked with pupils from Year 8 pupils at Branksome School. Both young and older people enjoyed the fun way of identifying discrimination.
April - GOLD hosted the Second Anniversary Event at the Kings Head Hotel. The day was an information day with representatives from many organizations and agencies bring their work to the attention of the visitors. The Darlington Orchestra provided a short piece of entertainment during the afternoon.
A consultation was organized by GOLD to establish the necessity of structured information provision within Darlington. A large number of organisations and agencies attended, together with many representatives of GOLD.
February - The Information Task Group worked on a mapping exercise to find out what activities took place in Darlington for older people. They researched what was on, where and who to contact to find out more details. This information was shared with Shirley Toulson of Age Concern Darlington, who had been employed to produce a report and directory of activities. The research done by our members is to be acknowledged in the final report.
The Primary Care Trust sought the views of older people on how successful they felt the advertising campaign for promoting Flu Jabs had been and asked for ideas on how it could be improved.
January - The Care and Repair Steering Group asked for members to represent GOLD to bring the older persons perspective to the group. Two members volunteered to sit on the steering group.
2003
December - For the second GOLD Christmas Party it was decided by the Promoting Positive Images Task Group that it would be good to work with some students on a play which depicted attitudes of younger and older people to each other. A number of members worked with pupils from Carmel Technology College, one of whom wrote the play, and it was performed at the party and received a great response. It was funny but also very true to life. The party was once again a great success and everyone enjoyed themselves.
November - Our members views were sought on the issue of Recycling by Darlington Borough Council.
One of the GOLD members was asked by Northumbria University to take part in a research project, funded by The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, about older people's involvement in services. This involved research into five very different projects throughout the North East and conducting interviews with people who have worked on each of them. GOLD was one of the projects chosen. The finished report shows how and why older people got involved. The report can be found on the Joseph Rowntree Foundation website.
September - The Street Environment was another subject which Darlington Borough Council consulted older people on to discover their views.
August - The Age Discrimination report was produced and is available on request. The findings were that perception of age discrimination is greater than actual discrimination.
In accordance with Local Action Point 1 of the National Service Framework the Information Task Group contacted all GP surgeries to find out what information was available in each surgery. The information was then scrutinised and the content of the leaflets was analysed for ease of reading, plain language and general quality of information. The findings were then relayed to the leaflet’s producers and some action was taken to correct any faults found by the group.
Consultation with GOLD was held to discover what facilities older people felt should be incorporated into the new Primary Care Trust Walk In Centre.
The views of GOLD members were requested about the refurbishment of the South Park and members were invited to hear plans from Terry Collins for the improvements.
July - GOLD were invited to take part in DAISY Day in the Market Square.
June - Members worked with pupils at Branksome School looking at issues around equal opportunities which are important to older people, such as transport. The pupils prepared presentations which they then presented to their peers and our members. It was a very rewarding session for both young and old.
GOLD members worked alongside residents from Darlington Manor Nursing Home on preparing a float for the Darlington Community Carnival – the theme of which was ‘England’. Preparation work took place for five weeks before the event and some impressive art work was produced. Members also manned a cake and bottle stall in Stanhope Park – a good day was had by all!
The Transport Task Group devised and distributed a questionnaire to establish the feasibility and demand for a Coach Station in Darlington. A copy of the final report can be obtained by contacting the GOLD Project Team.
May - The Information Task Group was established to look at the provision of information for older people.
April - Members held the GOLD One Year On event at Morton Park with a series of workshops raising issues which were important to older people and were not being addressed. Peter Baron was the speaker for the day and it was a great success!
The Prevention Works group was set up, involving a number of agencies and organisations to try to alleviate social isolation among the older residents of Darlington.
A group of members worked alongside the Community Development Worker to decide the content for the GOLD website, which has since been updated.
February - The Rooting Out Age Discrimination group devised a questionnaire which was sent out to members and various agencies and organisations to find out if older people had any experiences where they felt they had been discriminated against because of their age.
January - Members were invited to take part in a working group by Hanover Housing Association and Darlington Borough Council Housing Department on the Extra Care Housing Scheme on the old Easthaven site in Yarm Road. They have been asked to choose a name for the scheme, and prepare a ‘Time Capsule’ to be buried on the site and opened in 100 years time.
GOLD members were invited to take part in some research into Falls undertaken by a mature student from Teesside University.
2002
December - A number of members undertook ‘Voice and Choice’ training which gave them more confidence in dealing with professionals.
The GOLD Transport Task group started by drawing up a list of issues which are important to older people, such as hospital parking, Bus Quality Partnership and Taxi Vouchers.
The GOLD Christmas party was held and was hailed as a great success with over 90 people attending. There was a quiz, raffle, buffet tea and music provided and every guest took home a small gift from GOLD.
November - The first GOLD newsletter was produced to keep people informed about the progress of GOLD and what was happening in Darlington for older people, particularly the invitation to the first GOLD Christmas Party.
August - Task groups started with Promoting Positive Images and Rooting Out Age Discrimination with members looking at important issues which were highlighted in the workshops forming the basis of the work for the task groups.
Work on the Single Assessment Process began with GOLD representatives being included on the steering group.
July - Community Development worker began her work with the GOLD members.
Two Patients Champions were elected and began training sessions to enable them to talk to people, address concerns and give them advice about services and where to obtain help.
GOLD members were invited by the Primary Care Trust to take part in working groups to look at Hospital Care, Strokes and Falls.
DAISY DAY took place in the Market Square and GOLD members manned an information stall giving their views and experiences with GOLD and enjoyed the entertainment.
June - Proposals to change the name GOiD to GOLD, Growing Older Living in Darlington, were accepted as it was agreed that this promoted a more positive image of older people, and that it also coincided with the Queens Golden Jubilee year.
May - GOiD worked alongside the Primary Care Trust, Darlington Social Services and the Nuffield Institute for Health at Leeds University on a project to consult on older people’s views on their Home Care Service. The aim was to find out, by speaking to service users of Home Care Services, how they felt about the services they receive, their experiences and their views. A number of focus groups involving GOLD members took place to find out their suggestions for improving services.
April - Interviews were held for GOiD Team members and the team was established.
March - As series of workshops were held to find out what issues were important to older people.
These issues were then to be addressed by the GOiD Task Groups.
February - The Integrated Strategy for Older People was launched by GOiD in the Dolphin Centre with over 400 attending. The guest speakers were Canon Spence and John Grundy.
2000
A group of older people worked together with the Primary Care Trust, Darlington Borough Council and Peter Fletcher Associates, over a period of many months, to put together an Integrated Strategy For Older People in Darlington.