This year’s Scottish Older People’s Assembly in Edinburgh on the 25 October 2011 was the first Assembly to use video conferencing.

You can now view the conference webcast of the day's event which includes videos of all the presentations and the question and answer sessions with Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy First Minister and Steve Webb MSP, Minister of State for Pensions.

Please share this information with your networks of older people’s groups and organisations, government and local authority contacts and all other contacts who may find this webcast of interest. One of the aims of the Scottish Older People’s Assembly Steering Group was to demonstrate that by using video conferencing and the webcast we could reach a wider audience, involve those older people who were not able to attend on the day and share information about the conference as widely as possible.

More information...
Gary Robertson from BBC Scotland facilitated the event. Our keynote speaker was Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Cities Strategy and Steve Webb MP, Minister of State for Pensions, spoke at the event via a video link from Westminster. The programme also included presentations via the video link from Highland Senior Citizens' Network and Dumfries & Galloway Seniors Forum and from House in the Park, Hamburg in Germany. The Scottish Youth Parliament and older people from Edinburgh's A City for All Ages group discussed "The Voice of a Generation - Are You Being Heard?"

The Scottish Older People's Assembly Steering Group will prepare a report summarising the events of the day and identifying some of the key themes and messages highlighted in the presentations, discussions and question and answer sessions. The final report will go to the Scottish Government and the Older People's Consultative Forum which involves representatives from older people's organisations from across Scotland. The Forum has regular meetings with Scottish Ministers.

See the Scottish Older People’s Assembly website for more information or you can go direct to the webcast using this link http://www.bit.ly/sopa_2011