Coronavirus crisis offers a chance to show Leeds is the best city to grow old in - YEP letters

Lee Ingham, CEO of BEA and OWLS

Since January 2011, Older Wiser Local Seniors (OWLS) has provided a similar service to elders living in Headingley, Burley, Hyde Park, Little Woodhouse and parts of Kirkstall. Last week, both schemes held their last activity for the foreseeable future.

Our response to coronavirus has been to keep calm, minimise risk and try to provide opportunities where we can. Regrettably, at this stage, we have run out of opportunities other than to collect shopping lists and offer ‘keep-in-touch’ phone calls to our 1,500 members.

The same thing is happening across the city with the other 35 Neighbourhood Network Schemes.

Leeds aspires to be the best city in which to grow old. The city’s response to the coronavirus is an opportunity to show that we are the best.

We will need to adapt and be creative in creating new opportunities for our older citizens. If possible, we need to use the coronavirus as an opportunity to better understand how we reduce loneliness once the virus has cleared. Hopefully, soon