How people of different ages and abilities work together

IT’S POSSIBLE NOW does not split people into separate groups by disability, age, health, ethnicity, culture, faith or background. People work together, learn together, share skills, build enterprises, serve customers and contribute together, and older people take part as contributors of knowledge and experience.

Difference without a dividing line

The principle is that difference is recognised without becoming a dividing line. Community cohesion is more than bringing different groups into one room. It comes from real relationships, built through shared work, shared responsibility and things achieved together.

Each of the three routes connects a person to something real: a trade in BUILD, a paid role in WORK or paid co-design in SHAPE. Shared work and shared responsibility are how the principle applies to them. The About page describes the same approach under “People work together”.

Skills that pass between generations

Older people take part as contributors of knowledge and experience, not only as people receiving a service. Younger people bring skills of their own. Each learns from the other.

What experience often brings

• Sewing
• Alterations
• Garment knowledge
• Quality checking
• Customer service
• Bookkeeping
• Business experience
• Trades
• Mentoring

What younger people often bring

• Digital skills
• Technology
• Media
• New kinds of enterprise

The word “often” matters. These lists describe what people commonly have to offer, and they do not sort anyone into a category. A person of any age can hold skills from either list.

Where the skills meet

Nuriqa is one of the settings where opportunities are developed. The kinds of work listed there are photography, preparing garments, product descriptions and listings, customer operations, stock, packing and fulfilment, repair and upcycling, alterations and accessibility testing. Hands-on garment knowledge and listing a product online are parts of the same business. The settings section describes each setting.

Mentoring appears twice. It is on the list of what experience brings, and it is part of BUILD, which involves mentoring and structured reviews for people starting a trade.

What this means for taking part

Anyone who wants to take part can register their interest, and so can people registering on someone’s behalf. Nobody has to fit a category to do it. The form asks how you would like to be involved and which route interests you, and it never asks for a diagnosis.

If you have a trade, a craft or years of business experience, say so in the message box. If you have digital or media skills, say that. The conversation that follows starts from what you can do and what you want to do, and the route is matched to you.

The full text of the principle is in the People work together section of How it works, and registering your interest takes a few minutes.