GOPA - Growing older with dignity, giving people a voice in shaping their future.
Gloucestershire Older Persons' Assembly (GOPA) aims to provide a voice for all those aged over 50 living in Gloucestershire.
GOPA is an independent organisation, increasingly recognised across Gloucestershire as the voice of older people.
Make your voice heard through GOPA by joining us, it's FREE, and you can make a difference.
What we do:
- Consult: we organise forums and go out into communities to find out what older people want and need to help them enjoy dignified lives.
- Influence: health and social care providers as well as local, regional and national government are keen to listen to GOPA thereby enabling your voice to influence the future.
- Recruit and train: we recruit and train older people to act as Advocates for others, and Facilitators to gather information and to help develop stronger links between care homes and their local communities.
- Free Advocacy Service: we provide free advocacy services for older people in Gloucestershire. If you have an issue and are fighting to find your way around the social care maze, wish to make a complaint about care services, utility companies or if you feel your voice is not being heard on a particular issue that affects you, we are here to help. For details of our advocacy service click on this link
Our volunteers are being consulted by the county and local councils and the health service (Primary Care Trust) on a range wide range of issues affecting health and well being in your community.
GOPA is a key partner in a major Gloucestershire wide Government funded programme called Partnerships of Older People's Projects to influence improvements in care homes and to involve older people more in the future of care services.
Join us it's free!
Call 01452 313999, email or write to us at Freepost RRLS-CHUT-LLAC, GOPA, 14b Norbury Avenue, Matson, GLOUCESTER, GL4 6AH.
Partnerships for Older People Project (POPP): Introduction and Video
The Gloucestershire Partnership for Older People Project ( POPP ) is part of a national programme of pilot schemes looking at how services can provide support to older people to help them stay independent for longer. Gloucestershire Older Persons' Assembly (GOPA) was instrumental in securing the money from the Department of Health and are key partners in the project.
Learn more of about the Partnerships for Older People Project (POPP) and of the work that GOPA is involved in, by watching the short video below.
Mick Churchward from GOPA said: "We are so pleased that this Project has been given the go ahead, particularly as we were closely involved in making sure older people were consulted and that their views were taken into account in developing the bid. We will continue to ensure that older people are invited to express their views and provide a link into all the Partners of the Project, enabling older people to have a strong voice in shaping the future of care services in the County."
GOPA thanks the following organisations for their support:
Gloucestershire County Council, Gloucester City Council, Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust, Stroud District Council and Senseon.