Residents from East Yorkshire-based Pickering and Ferens Homes were given a glimpse into what 2017 will hold for Hull when the UK City of Culture chief executive spoke at an annual conference aimed at celebrating later life initiatives.
Martin Green featured as the guest speaker at The Residents’ Show, which is our annual conference for residents across the region. The event came hot on the heels of Older People’s Week and saw 150 people converge on The Guildhall for an action-packed day.
Pickering and Ferens Homes arranged a day featuring everything from real ale tasting with the Hull branch of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary, through to Laughter Yoga, poetry workshops with Wyke College students and even an IT and Biscuits session by KC in the Community to give residents an insight into digital technology.
Martin Green’s speech was eagerly anticipated by residents. Having overseen the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics ceremonies and torch relays, as well as acting as the executive producer of the Tour de France opening ceremony in Leeds, residents were left in no doubt that Martin and his team will ensure that 2017 in Hull will be a year they will remember forever.
Mr Green said: “We are on track to deliver an outstanding, transformative year of culture in Hull, and everyone’s invited.
“Early next year, we will begin recruiting the 4,000 volunteers we need to join our official cast and crew but I hope that everyone in the city, young or old, will want to get involved.
“Every single person is an ambassador for the city as turns its face to the world to say ‘come on in’. And everyone can contribute something to a great year. It doesn’t have to be anything big – it could be sharing old photographs and memories with your neighbours or organizing a street party – anything that unites people in celebrating this wonderful city as it turns to face the world in 2017.”
The Residents’ Show is in its third year and was launched by Pickering and Ferens Homes in order to place emphasis on the importance of residents’ health and well-being, as well as tackling loneliness and isolation by featuring activities such as Speed Socialising to encourage residents to meet new friends.
Pickering and Ferens Homes linked up with Gillshill Primary School’s choir for a second year, which saw dozens of children singing at the high profile event at The Guildhall.
Hull-based organisations such as Age UK and Environmental & Management Solutions (EMS), as well as national organisations like Housing Proactive, also took part in the day in order to offer a one stop shop advice service for later life issues, with EMS arming them with vital information regarding how to reduce heating and energy bills over the winter.
Pickering and Ferens Homes’ chief executive, Claire Warren, said: “The Residents’ Show has continued to be hugely popular among residents and, now it is in its third year, we believe this year was the biggest and best yet.
“We created The Residents’ Show concept to provide residents with the opportunity to speak to organisations about services that will benefit them. The show complements our priorities around tackling loneliness and isolation in later life, whilst also giving residents added insight into areas such as how we prioritise our budgets.
“We were absolutely delighted that Martin Green agreed to give our residents an insight into the UK City of Culture preparations – not only was it fantastic to see how 2017 will benefit our city, but it also gave our residents inspiration in terms of how they can get involved in the celebrations during 2017. Many of our residents have spent their entire lives in Hull, they have lived and breathed the city’s fortunes so they understandably want to be part of this exciting year.”
Wyke College’s principal, Jay Trivedy, was proud that students from the college attended to read poetry aloud to residents of Pickering and Ferens Homes. He added: “I am delighted that our students were able to connect with the community and share their love of poetry at this event.”