Welcome to the Carmarthenshire Older People's Partnership Website.

Carmarthenshire Older People’s Partnership is an independent, non-political, campaigning organisation run by older people for older people. It started out as Carmarthenshire Pensioner’s Forum in 2000.but, with the launch of the Strategy for Older People in Wales by the Welsh Assembly Government in 2003, the forum instigated a partnership which would include other pensioner organisations, within the county of Carmarthenshire, thus strengthening the bargaining power of all older people.
In principle, the Strategy for Older People seemed to be the answer to the problems encountered by many of us as we grow older. Reaching old age is not difficult, you just have to live long enough to get there but life is much sweeter if you have the means to enjoy those remaining years.
Succeeding governments have promised much during elections; delivery of such promises has been slow while excuses for failing to deliver on services and pensions but increasing means testing, has been the cause of great frustration and anger to many of us.
Bureaucracy is a problematic monster that refuses to disappear. Here in Wales, too many local authorities are beset by too many bureaucrats refusing to believe in democracy.
They maintain the belief - ‘Don’t do as we do; do as we tell you.’ This appears to be the attitude in Carmarthenshire where, although the County Council boasts it is always listening to people, it either does not hear, or does not choose to listen to what its residents have to say.
At a public meeting in Newcastle Emlyn on 11th April 2006, a packed hall listened to three representatives of Carmarthenshire County Council, Cllr Kevin Madge, Executive Member responsible for Health & Social Care, Bill Collins, Head of Adult Services, and Bruce McLernon, Director Social Care & Housing, as they sat on a panel, on a stage, where the discomfiture of all three was soon apparent.
We were reminded of those mythological figures who cover their eyes, ears and mouths so they will not see, hear or speak any evil but we could have been forgiven for thinking all three men had vowed to remain blind so they could not see; deaf so they could not hear and pretend to say what the

audience would have them say whilst really being able to deliver only that which had already been decided by the office of their chief executive.
Members of the audience were angered by the threatened closure or reduction in opening facilities of Day Centres throughout
Carmarthenshire. These play such an important role in the lives of so many older people.

SOME OF THE AUDIENCE AT NEWCASTLE EMLYN

Searching questions were asked by those present, including Adam Price MP and Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM representing Carmarthenshire East & Dinefwr.
The panel maintained they were open to suggestions and promised to go away and give serious thought to those proposed by members of the audience.
They might have saved their breath. The current edition of the ‘Community News’, Carmarthenshire County Council’s own trumpet blowing, expensively produced publication, states that “…The council is now reviewing the service and is looking at operating for three days a week instead of five at some and providing others at different locations...”
Meanwhile, COPP receives letters and telephone calls from angry people, concerned about the steady stream of, increasingly whimsical projects generated by Carmarthenshire County Council.
These include:- the building of a totally unnecessary pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Towy costing £2.7m, the closure of St Catherine Street to suit the whims of Debenhams and the building of the Heritage Centre on the Quay. The latter cost £45.000, became defunct after two years and is now used as a very expensive storage facility!