It's not ageing, it's ageism: the people behind the campaign

Our new campaign highlights how ageism negatively affects the lives of people over 50.

The individuals featured in the campaign are all over 50 and passionate about challenging ageism.

Read about why this matters to them.

Fergus

A man wearing a suit and a red lanyard marked with the word visitor

It’s about attitudes, and often these attitudes about older people are negative. I’ve felt it myself. For example, my wife and I go to music concerts and sometimes people are saying ‘you’re going to be the oldest people there!’ Well, hey, that’s fine if we’re enjoying ourselves, and actually we’re never the oldest people there because older people are doing these things.

Colleen

A woman wearing a gold dress and holding a blue bag

This campaign is very important to me. I want to feel that I'm a person and not stereotyped as 'an old person that is capable of not much'. I’m over 60, I go to the gym, I love dancing, I love clothes, I love make-up. But we have this stereotype...that older people, over 60 or 50 even, they have no position in society.

Genny

A woman wearing a suit and holding a red folder

People make a lot of assumptions about older people. Sometimes, if I’m going out, people say to me ‘you should dress for your age’. But what does it mean, to dress my age? It’s about noticing what people are saying, the language that they are using, and having the confidence to say; you know what, I can stand up and say something about it.

Pritpal

A woman wearing exercise clothes and hoola hooping

I don't feel I am 74, I feel I am as young as I feel. I like to keep myself young by exercising, learning new things and always making a conscious effort to keep on going. I never let my age get in the way of anything, in fact it drives me to do the best I can everyday by turning up with a smile. Age is no barrier - it's all about how you feel.

George

A man holding a phone and wearing in-ear headphones

I was in my late 40s when I was looking for a career change and I remember being told several times that they’re looking for somebody younger with more energy and more fresh ideas. Which I find quite shocking because actually in your 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s you’ve got great things to offer in terms of experience, and energy and insight.

Mindy

A woman wearing a red leather jacket, silver bracelets and sunglasses

I’d like younger people to see older people as healthy, stroppy, vibrant ... all the range of things that other ages are too. Then hopefully they’ll be less scared of getting old. I want them to know that there’s still fun to be had, still a future. If everyone pushes for inclusion, acceptance and just keeps going, it will be better for everyone.

Kim

A woman in an exercise jacket putting on a helmet

At the moment we’re in that phase which says, actually this is a problem, this is something that we need to deal with … get everybody to understand the problem ... and then we can start to do ... something about it.

Read more about people’s experiences of ageism and ageing without limits here.