Wiki bekijken

Combatting loneliness for the people aged 70 – 79 and people with second residencies in the area by using especially improved communication tools and offering targeted leisure offers. The partners (Lead = Westtoer) and the city of Oostende would like to find new methods how to engage with the elderly, and specifically second residents. In 2016 Westtoer published a report on the ‘Impact of second residents on Coastal tourism’. The report included quantitative information of possible communication methods. This pilot aims to apply new methods based on this research and needs assessment. E.g. there is an interest of 41% of second residents to have more contact with local residents.  20th of June: focusgroups with elderly and second residents older then 55 + who visit the Belgian Coast: 10 participants  6th of July: A Sea of time: citizens, experts and local entrepreneurs  19th of September: focus group ‘Vrijetijdsmobiel’ (‘Leisure Mobile’): sports department, contact point seniors in need, the district manager of the city centre, S-Plus, the culture department (UiTPAS), the library of Ostend, the cultural centre ‘De Grote Post’ and the elderly and volunteer policy coordinator. Pilot beneficiaries of the pilot are:  Workgroups ‘neighbourhood residents’  Second residents  Local business providers, such as restaurants, hotels, attractions providers The goal is to have an increased participation in leisure activities using especially improved communication tools and to involve elderly and second residents more to prevent loneliness. 8 ideas were concretely developed during the focus group with second residents:  Extension cultural offer for second residents  Inclusive community network  Meet and greet  Welcome in our community  Reduction voucher  Fidelity card for second residents  Workshops with starters kit Below are the values detected via the focus groups:  Flexibility: second residents want to decide themselves when they participate. They don’t want to enter into an agreement to participate e.g. on a weekly base.  Being active: participants expressed that they wanted to join a local cycling or hiking club  Involvement: participants would consider to be a volunteer and to get to know their neighbours