Age Friendly South Lakeland Awards its First Gold Standard Premises Award to Local Business
A Cumbrian business has set a new standard for inclusivity and welcoming environments by becoming the first recipient of the Age Friendly South Lakeland Premises Award. The award, created by Age Friendly South Lakeland, recognizes businesses and organizations that have taken steps to make their premises more welcoming to older people.
Lakeland, a flagship store in Windermere, was awarded the gold standard for meeting the checklist created by Age Friendly South Lakeland. The checklist includes 40 points covering four areas: physical environment, respect and inclusion, communication and information, and age friendly recruitment.
Katie Gatt, Age Friendly Coordinator, explained the importance of the award and its checklist in promoting age friendly communities. “The checklist has been created to help organizations, businesses and community groups to identify how they can make their services more inclusive for people of all ages,” she said. “Hopefully it will encourage firms and organizations to think about what they could do differently to improve the experience older people have when visiting their premises.”
Lakeland Chairman Sam Rayner and General Manager of the Lakeland Café, Julie Glandfield, were presented with a certificate and window sticker to display in their store by Katie and Annalee Holliday, Head of Grants Practice & Programmes at Cumbria Community Foundation. “It is an honor to not only be given this recognition and to be the first to receive it but also, to receive the gold standard,” said Ruth Fleming, Charitable Giving Lead for Lakeland. “At Lakeland, we take pride in looking after our customers, be it with customer services, providing products we are confident in or simply providing a safe environment for visits. After all, we wouldn’t be Lakeland without our customers!”
The Age Friendly South Lakeland Premises Award was established in 2021 with funding from an anonymous donor via Cumbria Community Foundation and the NHS Morecambe Bay Population Health Fund, with support from the Centre for Ageing Better. The steering group, made up of local representatives, oversees the work of Age Friendly South Lakeland and includes representation from Active Cumbria, Age UK South Lakeland, Carer Support South Lakes, Community Catalysts, Kendal ICC, Morecambe Bay CCG, South Lakes Dementia Community, and Westmorland and Furness Council.
Cllr Helen Chaffey, Chair of Westmorland and Furness Council’s South Lakeland Locality Board, praised the award scheme for its contribution to the council’s vision of making Westmorland and Furness “a great place to live, work and thrive.” She said, “We are delighted to support this award scheme that recognizes the contribution local businesses can make to our vision.”
Businesses and organizations interested in applying for the Age Friendly South Lakeland Premises Award can contact Katie Gatt via email at Katherine.gatt@gll.org or by phone at 07546 985705.
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.