Tom Holloway passed away on Friday, 1 December in Oxford, England. Tom was a true PIONeer who worked meaningfully and tirelessly right through to the last breath. 

After retiring from a top job with a global computer company, he went to India to visit a friend in Hyderabad and that changed his life and set him on a mission to bring computer skills to the underprivileged in the city. This was in parallel with his engagement with U3A (University of the Third Age). From then on, and for the next 17 years, he spent 9 months of every year in India, where he ran classes teaching computer skills and presentation skills, mentoring literally hundreds of young people. Although ill health brought him back to the UK, it certainly didn’t stop his commitment. Tom continued to run his courses online from his home in Oxford where his Zoom room was open 7 days of the week non-stop. 

He created World U3A, a free Internet service - not a membership organization – providing online projects to all U3A groups or kindred organizations worldwide. He called himself a web monger and created well over 100 websites for U3A groups in the UK and around the world from New Delhi and Sydney to Singapore, Belfast, and Farnborough. 

For the Pass It On Network, he passed on his commitment to lifelong learning and helped us create the means through U3A websites and WhatsApp groups in Nigeria, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Botswana to carry on this work in Africa. Let us honor his memory by passing on the fire that kept him learning and sharing through to his last breath. Tom will forever live in our hearts as will his clear blue eyes, his uncompromising commitment to lifelong learning and his undaunting spirit.

There is a wonderful Jewish phrase: "May his memory be a blessing." What more can be said?

If you want to find the best way to boost the well-being of older people living with dementia, whether in the context of an assisted living environment or at home, we invite you to engage with Dr. Cameron J. Camp, Ph.D., the original developer of the Montessori approach for dementia care intervention. Dr. Camp's dedication spans three decades and has earned him international acclaim for improving the lives of those with dementia and memory disorders through applied and translational research in gerontology and cognitive intervention.  

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Every month Moira Allan, our co-founder and international coordinator, hosts an Open House for anyone who wants to find out more about our network. We offer a choice of two sessions to accommodate PION’s global outreach.

Americas, Europe, Africa
Tuesday, 9 January
 1pm EST / 6pm GMT  
7pm CET / 8pm SAST

Asia, Australasia
Wednesday, 10 January
 7am CET / 6am GMT
2pm SGT / 5pm AET

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Next steps in the process 

At the November briefing to the UN Member States of the Open-Ended Working Group on Ageing (OEWGA), it was stated that within the next two decades more than 50% of the global population would be over 60! The need for a UN Convention on the rights of older persons has never been more pressing. NGOs and Human Rights Councils around the world are stepping up their action to achieve this. Just two examples of why this is essential: one from Africa, where older people are among those who cannot afford to access health services and often have no choice but to forgo seeking healthcare, or face impossible choices between health and other basic needs, as pointed out by Ms. Rose Gahire, Vice Chair of NSINDAGIZA Organisation, Rwanda; and one from South America, where there is a vital need to reduce the digital divide, as highlighted by Ms. Eugenia Fernan Zegarra, Ombudsperson, Defensoría del Pueblo de Perú. 

We are all looking forward to next steps leading up to the April 2024 session of OWEGA at the UN in New York. 

2024 is election year in the USA, in France and in Europe

Age Platform Europe is already mobilizing its members across Europe to stand up and speak out for three major issues to achieve a Europe for all ages:

• promote age equality,
• foster participation and active ageing, 
• ensure autonomy and well-being.

Age Platform’s recently released AGE Manifesto for the 2024 European Parliament elections calls on candidate members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to include these priorities in their political agenda and to support concrete measures to make Europe a place for all ages. 

ILC-UK’s year-end Hat-trick  

The International Longevity Center-UK (ILC-UK) is entering 2024 with three events with global impact, the latest of which is the publication of their White Paper on Ageing at the beginning of December. Read... "One hundred not out.. a route map for long lives" 

An Age of Opportunity – ILC’s 5-year strategy – how does yours match up?

“As a society we are still failing to grasp the opportunity of longer lives,” said Nigel Waterson, Chairman of the International Longevity Center - UK (ILC) at the recent launch of their 2023-2028 strategy in London. ILC is a global network with 16 centers across the world. 

Wherever you are in the ageing field, this short presentation of ILC’s future view is thought-provoking and provides an interesting base to review one’s own thinking about the next five years. 

ILC focuses on the longevity of all ages – the life course – not only older people.  “We want to forge a new vision of the 100 years life where we all have the opportunity to learn across our lives and where new technology helps us to contribute more to society,” he said.  The aim, he said was, to place longevity at the heart of government thinking, planning and policy. 

ILC’s Global launch of the Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index alongside the World Health Assembly

ILC’s Healthy Ageing and Prevention Index, an online tool open to all that ranks 121 countries across 6 dimensions: life span, health span, work span, income, environment, and happiness. Listen to below video.  See the Index’s website here and enjoy finding the results that interest you. 

We have a triple reason to salute the work of the Agewell Foundation, New Delhi, India, a not-for-profit organization working for the welfare and empowerment of older persons. Agewell interacts with over 25,000 older persons on a daily basis through its nationwide volunteers’ network.

Agewell Foundation enjoys Special Consultative Status to the UN’s ECOSOC since 2011.

• The first reason is Agewell’s 24^th Anniversary
• The second reason is the foundation’s recent publication of a new research paper on Sleep disorders in its series of Emerging Health Issues in Old Age.
• The third reason is that the foundation’s founder and CEO, Himanshu Rath, has been singled out for the Social and Business Enterprise Responsible Award in recognition of his contribution to the transformative journey of the nation. This is also a recognition by business community of the importance of the silver economy.

ACAP Study Tour on Fukuoka-Care Challenges - 10-15 March 2024
 

If you want to learn about « Kaigo », the Japanese way of ageing in Asia and how the country with the oldest population in the world is supporting the independent lives of older people, you have a prime opportunity to do so with a select international group that will be hosted in Fukuoka, Japan from 10-15 March 2024. Since 2016, Fukuoka city has been actively striving to ensure well-being in the era of 100-year lifespans.

The study tour has been developed and will be led by Takeo Ogawa, Ph.D., Chairperson of The Fukuoka Council for Designing Society in Aging Asia, Professor Emeritus, Kyushu University and Yamaguchi University, representative of the Asian Aging Business Center, and founder of ACAP ) the Active Aging Consortium in Asia Pacific.

The program includes a seminar on sharing the Japanese way of Kaigo in aging Asia, site visits to a dementia friendly center, Dissemination Center for Practical Long-term Care, and a Laboratory of Care Robots.

Registration Fee with Lodging (5 nights, 5 Breakfast, 4 lunches, 2 Dinners, Materials, and Bus): US $700 (106,000JPY) per person. 

Register here. For further information: [email protected]

Congratulations to Ai-jen Poo and her team at Caring Across Generations in the USA for hosting the first-ever national CareFest to elevate care to the level it deserves. 

Adriane Berg’s new podcast: The Ageless Traveler

Adriane, a longtime friend of the Pass It On Network, is a tireless and passionate advocate for transforming the concept of ageing to one of good health, excitement, and accomplishment. She’s just launched a new podcast, The Ageless Traveler.  Listen in to find out about unique couples’ trips if one of you has a mobility or other physical issue, solo traveling, longevity and wellness travel, how to visit and enjoy remote and exotic places and a whole lot more. 

"When we are no longer able to change a situation - 
we are challenged to change ourselves." 

                                                                          Viktor Frankl