Age Friendly Campaign
Local Council Elections 2019
Download list of elected Age Friendly counsillors here
On 2nd May 2019 voters in Northern Ireland will go to the polls to elect Councillors to represent them in their Council areas. Election time provides an opportunity to seek a commitment from candidates about what you would like them to deliver for you if they are elected. For this election we are asking candidates to pledge that if elected, they will work to promote and galvanise “Age Friendly” work within their councils. We have chosen this campaign topic because older people have told us it is important to them.
Ask candidates in your area to pledge to be an Age Friendly Champion in your council.
Why being Age Friendly is important
Age Friendly is a framework developed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to support the development of Age Friendly communities. An age friendly world enables people of all ages to actively participate in community activities and treats everyone with respect, regardless of their age. It is a place that makes it easy for older people to stay connected to people and things which are important to them. It also helps people stay healthy and active even at the oldest ages and provides appropriate support to those who can no longer look after themselves.
Age NI believe that everybody should be able to live in an age-friendly world that enables people of all ages to participate in the life of their local community, connected to each other and to opportunities in their local area, valued for the contribution they can and do make to their local community. This is why we are seeking commitment from election candidates in the form of a pledge.
Support the Campaign
There are a few ways you can support the campaign:
1. On the doorstep – ask candidates to sign the pledge.
We are calling upon candidates in the 2019 local election to pledge that if elected, they will be “Age Friendly Champions” in their councils. When candidates are out canvassing ask them to become Age Friendly Champions and sign our pledge. We have a pledge card which you can print out and give to candidates to encourage them to become Age Friendly Champion.
2. Write to the Candidates in your constituency
Councils must provide a list of all candidates on their website, these documents are called ‘Statement of persons nominated and notice of poll”. There is one for each electoral area and they list the names, postal addresses and political affiliations (if any) for each candidate, in each area. You could write to the candidates in your District Electoral Area (DEA) highlighting the campaign and why Age Friendly communities are important to you.
You can check who your local candidates are, by visiting your council's website and clicking on your District Electoral Area. Here you will find all the postal addresses of the candidates in your area.
We've included direct links below for each of the councils in Northern Ireland.
Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council
Ards and North Down Borough Council
Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council
Belfast City Council
Causeway Coast & Glens Borough Council
Derry City & Strabane District Council
Fermanagh & Omagh District Council
Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council
Mid & East Antrim Borough Council
Mid Ulster District Council
Newry, Mourne & Down District Council
Find out more
If you are interested in finding out more about our campaign download our briefing pack or contact michele.smyth@ageni.org