Irvine Seniors Forum - 20/01/20

The speaker at Irvine Seagate Rotary on Monday was Rosemary Byrne, in her role as chair of the Irvine Seniors’ Forum.  The Seniors’ Forum is a voluntary organisation dedicated to raising the issues affecting older members of society, and also informing and helping the same people to get all of the benefits and assistance they are entitled to.  They meet on the last Tuesday of the month in the Woodlands Centre from 1.30 to 3.30pm, and also organise various events and activities to spread information and collect comments on the issues affecting older people. 

They liaise closely with the various relevant council departments and with other charities such as Age Scotland.  One of their recent campaigns was taking part in the petition against the scrapping of the free TV licence for over 75s.  In North Ayrshire, some £7m annually is not claimed in Pension Credit, representing around 3000 people not applying for their entitlement which averages about £50 per week.  Irvine Seniors’ Forum is trying to get the message out to the many low income pensioners who do not realise that they should be getting this government benefit.  Rosemary answered numerous questions, and a Vote of Thanks was proposed by Andy Slater.