McLean Care is organising three days of concerts, activities and opportunities for McLean residents over April 4-6 at the RSM Club, and a $3000 grant from the NSW Department of Family and Community Services will help it along. 

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall paid the community a visit on Monday afternoon to formally announce the grant, and said the older generation was the fastest growing demographic in the electorate.

He valued his elders, and felt as people are living longer, it was a chance to learn from their journeys in life.

“I think they’re a great asset, not utilised to their full potential in terms of the experience, the wisdom, that they can impart, but also as people age and people are healthier later in life, that they can actually still make an incredible contribution to the community,” Mr Marshall said.

McLean chief executive officer, Sue Thomson, said they have invited 26 Inverell organisations to take part, from KCL Day care, the Inverell Art Gallery, University of the Third Age, Toastmasters and the Inverell Men’s Shed.

Sessions planned will range from art, computers, demonstrations, education on issues related to ageing, healthy eating and engagement with students of all ages.

Ms Thomson said the focus of the festival is about the reablement of our elders.

“Our society is flooded with images and negative messages about what it means to age, and it’s time that we stopped viewing seniors through a lens of decline and diminished value,” Ms Thomson said.

“McLean Care want to celebrate the rich and often untapped potential of seniors throughout the New England and North West region.”