THERE is one thing all of us cannot fight... getting older. On the plus side, as medical knowledge improves, it means we are living longer.

In Colchester alone, one in four of the population will be aged 60 or over in just ten years time.

But age doesn’t have to be a burden.

Age Concern Colchester, which has been helping the elderly for years, has welcomed a new chief executive, Jonathan Moore, who is challenging people to think about old age in a different way.

He said: “It’s wrong to think you can capture old age in one person.

“It’s as varied as the number of people there are.

“The reality is you can have a person as young as 60 who has an illness which keeps them bedridden but you can also get a 90-year-old who goes bungee jumping.”

Over the coming years, as the population gets older, Jonathan said there are going to be some real problems we need to deal with.

But rather than see them as an issue for older residents, he said solving them is something we should all be thinking about.

Jonathan, 55, said: “As a charity, we are looking at helping people 60-plus but we are also looking at below that age as we look at those who are beginning to prepare for old age.

“The issues we are about to face are inter generational.

“Younger people are going to be critical to that. It’s easy to get into the stereotype that as you get older the opportunities begin to cease.

“The reality is 65 is the release of people into new opportunities.

“Many people look at going away for the summer and they are embracing retirement.

“What’s quite interesting is it might be the realisation you are getting older which gives you the freedom to express yourself.

“But what is clear is we are going to have a more demanding range of people who are reaching old age who are coming from a generation used to having the customer first.

“The older generation we have at the moment is from an era which is more accepting of what’s offered.

“All of this means, as a charity, we need to have a rethink what we do.”

Age Concern Colchester focuses on giving advice to older residents in the borough about where to go to access different services. It also runs classes and activities for the retired.

Jonathan said the charity was not going to change at its heart.

He said: “We are a major source of information and guidance, helping people find the route through a maze of problems.

“But we have got to be more innovative and look at ways of getting services delivered.

“What I would like to see is us working in partnership with others to give a lot more opportunities for older people.”

Ideas are still being worked on as to how this could be achieved.

But some which have been bandied about are an older person dating website and house sharing with younger people.

Jonathan said: “Older people want to maintain a quality of life they have had throughout their working years.

“Perhaps they don’t need as many bedrooms as they did before or perhaps the answer is the idea of a person sharing a house with someone, which would enable them to live in their house longer than they would otherwise.

“This sort of thinking does require change.”

It is ideas like these Age Concern Colchester is hoping to lead a conference on in Colchester later this year.

Dates have yet to be finalised, but the charity wants to see as much input from organisations including local authorities, healthcare and everyday people as possible.

Jonathan hopes the conference, called How to Grow Old in Colchester, will be the start of helping everyone to pave a way forward together.

He said: “Where everyone benefits from something is surely where communities work and grow. The same can be said of volunteering, both sides need to benefit from it for it to work.

“Older people are interesting. They have experience and knowledge that’s enviable.

“We really shouldn’t underestimate the quality of the older generation.”