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A celebration of teamwork

When Age Concern Isle of Man chief executive Penny Creighton MBE accepted the Charity, Cultural and Social Responsibility award at this year’s Awards for Excellence ceremony, she did so on behalf of all the team.  
 
Mrs Creighton said: ‘Achieving this award is a celebration of teamwork, and Age Concern’s team is the best around.  An organisation is only as good as the people in it, and at Age Concern we have some truly amazing people united in their commitment to create an age-friendly society where every older person counts…and sometimes these amazing people do this in the most extraordinary ways.
 
‘More than 7200 clients visit our Lifelong Learning Centres, where our manager Mike Justice and training officer Barry Hodge work tirelessly on digital inclusion programmes to ensure no older person is left behind in the technological race. The skills Mike and Barry teach are opening up the new and exciting world of communications technology to older people and I am indebted to the Department of Trade and Industry, in particular Andy Stewart from the training services team, for funding Barry’s training officer post for two years.
 
‘The input from our partners Manx Telecom has been invaluable, sponsoring broadband connections, providing training support to clients and for donating PCs. Also contributing to the truly amazing “Team Age Concern” is Ramsey Town Commissioners, in particular town clerk and chief executive Peter Whiteway for providing a room in the town hall for a Lifelong Learning Centre, a facility we could never have provided were it not for the support of Manx Telecom and the Commissioners. This is in addition to our computer drop-in centre in the town hall library where volunteer Danny Sayle offers clients outstanding training support.  
 
‘Thanks also must go to all the team at Age Concern HQ in Drinkwater Street and to our wonderful volunteers.  Without these two dedicated and highly motivated groups of people we could not provide the many vital services that help improve older people’s quality of life.  
 
‘Winning this award could never have happened without one other very special group of people – our clients. I’m so proud of what they have achieved and each time I visit one of our Lifelong Learning Centres I find it truly uplifting to see clients’ fingers zooming over the keys as they discover more and more opportunities presented to them by the digital age.’