Older People's Reference Group

If you use older peoples services in Leeds and want to have a say in improving the services you use, either as a service user or as an unpaid carer of an older person, and you live in the Leeds area, the older people reference group may be of interest to you.

Or perhaps you are a service provider who could benefit from consulting an expert group when you plan changes to your services. Contact Belinda Connolly for an informal discussion. 

This group meets monthly with an average attendance of 17 older people’s representatives from across the city. We share our experiences, and meet with different service planners involved in current older peoples health and social care service developments. We send older peoples representatives to the Joint Strategic Planning Boards for Older and Disabled people in Leeds including the Older Peoples Expert Advisory Group and the Joint Older Peoples and Disabled Programme Board where key decisions are made about older people’s service developments in Leeds.

If you are interested in joining the Older Peoples Reference Group, but are unsure if it is right for you, we welcome anyone who currently uses older peoples services in the Leeds area. Older peoples services might include stroke, or out patient clinics, day centres or GP services. You might recently have been in hospital or have a long term condition which will give you ideas for service improvements. You will need to be prepared to share your views with others in ways that improve services for all, but support and training can be given to help you do this. If you would like to get involved we can offer support with meeting and transport expenses. We particularly welcome people from different backgrounds including older people who may be new to this work. We currently have language support for Urdu and Punjabi speakers but can make our services accessible to other non English speaking communities on request.