A community for all ages

Ross Beddoes explains how Creston’s recent distinction as an age-friendly community is a positive step for the valley

by Kristen Mitchell — June 03, 2013

A grandfather with a backpack on kneels down to show a boy something on his hand. They are on a hike.

1 of 2It's official, the Creston Valley is a great place for all ages. — Jupiterimages/photos.com

2 of 2Ross Beddoes has been a proponent of the age-friendly community distinction. — Photo courtesy Ross Beddoes

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“Thirty-three per cent of our population is over age 65,” said Ross Beddoes, municipal services co-ordinator for the Town of Creston. He has been behind the town's drive towards its recent distinction as an age-friendly community.

“Whenever you can do anything that benefits more than 30 per cent of your population, wow, you’re going in the right direction,” Beddoes said.

The age-friendly aspect became a part of Creston's recently completed integrated community sustainability plan (ICSP), known as Cultivating Creston. The town received a grant to give the ICSP an age-friendly lens, which they were able to combine with a 2008 assessment where over 200 seniors and their caretakers had been surveyed. An action plan was created and is now a living document with goals, initiatives and reassessment.

“The age-friendly action plan was based off the World Health Organization,” said Beddoes. “They have eight themes for an age-friendly community, so we built off that and overlapped those with the 10 themes that we had in our sustainability plan.”

The eight themes laid out in the action plan address everything from transportation to respect. Being named an age-friendly community has come with a grant to implement some of the changes. Beddoes believes that Creston already serves an aging population well thanks to an advantageous climate and access to health care and amenities, not to mention the laid-back lifestyle. Overall, he believes, the community as a whole can benefit from ensuring that there are initiatives to care for every resident.

“It’s a community partnership,” said Beddoes. “None of these ideas or actions have big monetary price tags on them. They’re things that we can do, things that we can improve over time with our community partners. We’ve got the rec centre, we’ve got several seniors groups in town, we’ve got TAPS (Therapeutic Activation Program for Seniors) . . . and the partners that are all working towards this.”