A project documenting the lives of old Hackney residents in two films and a booklet was launched in an event that included a free lunch, film screenings and two Q&A sessions, on 31 October at Frampton Baptist Church.
Connect Hackney, a programme that aims to reduce loneliness and isolation among local residents aged 50 and over, spoke to people from different communities, including disabled people, LGBTQ+ people and BAME people, to create the project Diversity: Stories of a Hackney Generation.
In a welcome address, Tony Wong, programme director at Connect Hackney, emphasised the importance of the programme to “change the narrative around older people and recognise the positive contributions that they make”. He added that the project shows a “true sense of community and pride in being able to call Hackney home”.
Antonia Folivi, featured in Diversity, said that “you have to have inter-generational connection because that is our future,” giving the example of her granddaughter helping her with computers.
During a Q&A session, members of the audience raised concerns about what they felt was a lack of appropriate social housing for older people and spoke of the difficulties for young people in finding accommodation.
Panel members, including three subjects interviewed for Diversity, urged audience members to lobby the Council to resolve the issue.
Clair Battaglino, co-founder of Rainbow Grow, a Hackney-based community gardening initiative for LGBTQ+ people, said: “I want to grow old here. I hope you can join me.”
