People First: Grey Power

Record ID: 120053
  • Title: People First: Grey Power
  • Date: 16th September 1995
  • Summary: "Two things are needed for the mental health of the elderly: one of them is social action and the other is sex",said Maggie Kuhn,founder of the Grey Panthers. An old lady is refused breast cancer screening because she is not worth spending NHS money on,another pensioner is pushed to the back of bus queues by drivers who give priority to workers. For the pensioners interviewed in Grey Power this is an every day experience of ageism in Britain. Zelda Curtis may be 71,with Parkinsons disease but she campaigns actively for pensioners rights through AGLOW (Association of Greater London Older Women) and The Pensioner's Movement. Her heroine is Maggie Kuhn. Maggied died recently,but in a long old age she led he American revolt against the sterotype of old age. She founded the Grey Panther movement which campaigns for change in legislation in the USA - they have succeeded in getting the retirement age abolished. In Grey Power Zelda heads to the States in search of inspiration from Maggie,and having met her returns to Britain to look at how Grey Panther philosophy can work in practise. Maggie argues forcibly that the only way forward is to help the old and the young get to know each other better. Only this way,she believes,will pensioners be recognised for what they can contribute to society. Back in Britain Zelda finds Maggie's philosophy is being put into action in a community project in Bromley-by-Bow called 'Magic Me'. There we see children and pensioners taking photographs of each other as a way of challenging stereotypes. One young participant even has to admit that not all the pensioners he meets are "old and moany".
  • Description:Becoming disabled as a result of ageing is something many of us may have to confront. What happens to those people who already have a disability?
  • Broadcaster:Channel 4
  • Collection: Channel 4
  • Genre:Documentary and Factual
  • Producer:Unspecified
  • Programme Episode:Episode 1
  • Transmission Date:16/09/1995
  • Rights:On Request
  • Decade: 1990s
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