New DVD aims to keep our senior citizens safe.

Over 30 of Dundee’s senior citizens will be going on a bus trip with a difference today (Thursday) when they head for the DCA to see the World Premier of a new DVD which aims to help them stay safe. They will be coming, from sheltered housing complexes in Balgowan Court, Camperdown Court, Fintry Mains, Turnberry Avenue, Dryburgh Gardens and Ulverston.

The DVD is a new addition to local charity Eighteen And Under’s multi award winning VIP (Violence is Preventable) Programme, and is the first in a number of planned resources aimed at senior citizens and other vulnerable adults.

Many of the attendees at today’s launch actually took part in the filming of the DVD, and will see themselves on the big screen for the first time. The DVD covers topics such as bogus callers, domestic violence, bad carers, safety in the home, misjudging youths and dealing with fires.

The VIP Programme for senior citizens has been running, as a pilot, very successfully in sheltered housing complexes and senior citizens clubs for the last year or so. Already it has received the Crime Stoppers 2006 Award and been a finalist in the Community Care Awards. It has demonstrated a marked improvement in the knowledge of the participants and their feelings of safety and well-being. The programme’s combination of songs, games, worksheets and fun activities has been such a hit, that it’s become a regular feature in many venues.

Laurie Matthew, co-ordinator of Eighteen And Under said, ‘PC Sandra Hutton, who is one of our volunteers, suggested that the programme which is running so successfully in schools all over the UK, might work really well with older people too, so we devised a pilot and the results have really been fantastic. We will be following up the DVD with a resource pack and games that anyone working with older people can use to highlight safety issues to a growing older population who, over the last few years, have been feeling increasingly less safe.’

The world premier is showing at the DCA on Thursday 4th October at 1pm.

For more information about the VIP Programme, please visit www.violenceispreventable.org.uk, or call Laurie Matthew on 01382 206222.

Some Statistics (From the WHO)