I was delighted to be invited to the First Anniversary Celebration of the Parish of St Clare Relax and Craft Group yesterday. Fr Stephen celebrated Mass and Sr Catherine gave a reflection starting with the Gospel reading – the story of Martha and Mary. Sr Catherine said the Relax and… Continue reading
The Church is possibly one of the few places in our society where different generations can mix, outside our families. Older people have a vital role in supporting and encouraging younger generations to encounter, develop and deepen a relationship – with each other and with God. Leeds Older Peoples’… Continue reading
The Sacred Heart & St Joseph in Hemsworth is now the 6th Parish in our Diocese to start the process of becoming a dementia friendly parish. Thank you to everyone who attended ‘Becoming a Dementia Friendly Parish’ session on Wednesday 27th September. Growing Old Grace-fully was given such a warm welcome, which… Continue reading
International Day of Older People is celebrated worldwide on the 1 October each year. Leeds Older People’s Forum supports the Day by stretching the celebration out over a week to allow organisations to hold events to celebrate the contribution that older people make to the city. Here is the link… Continue reading
People from around the Harrogate Deanery came to explore our new Guide for parishes this week at St Mary’s in Knaresborough. The evening started with an introduction about this gift of years we have now – as people are living longer – and went on to think about what we… Continue reading
We were delighted to be invited to present our new Guide to the members of The Grail Society at their AGM this month. The generous support of The Grail helped to fund the development of a professionally presented resource and we are very grateful for that. To help open the… Continue reading
Radio 4 hosted a discussion programme last week about our ageing world which raised many interesting questions, including at what age can we really be said to be old. The discussion was led by Professor Sarah Harper, a gerontologist, and Bishop Richard Holloway of Edinburgh and you can hear it… Continue reading
The impression we often get from the media is that older people are a burden on society. Parishes can highlight how their wisdom, experience and prayers can help us all to appreciate the gift of life. Read the full Parish Practice article by Growing Old Grace-fully’s project co-ordinator, Rachel Walker, here:… Continue reading
Dr Georgina Binnie, Impact and Research Fellow (Writing Back Project) at the University of Leeds’ School of English is looking for older Yorkshire residents to be pen pals with University of Leeds students. All costs are covered and letters are sent via the School of English at the University of Leeds. Pen… Continue reading
Rachel Walker from Growing Old Grace-fully and Rachel Beedle from Catholic Care Older People’s Services led a short session to explore how the parish of Blessed John Henry Newman might continue to celebrate the gifts of older people, as well as support people in some of the challenges that may… Continue reading
