Making sure that poetry comes before a fall
Local authority and health organisations in Cumbria are determined to show that life after a nasty tumble need not go from bad to verse, especially for the elderly.
A new poetry competition being launched in Cumbria on National Poetry Day (October 8th) is helping to raise awareness about how important it is to take steps to prevent falls happening in the first place.
Would-be poets are being encouraged to enter a competition through their local libraries to put the issue of falls prevention into verse, through poems of no more than 20 lines.
There are six prizes of £30 book tokens, one for each district in the county, and entrants have to be over 16. The poems must not have been performed on stage or at a public reading before and entries must be submitted no later than November 8th. Judges will include Sue Allan from Eden Arts and Cumbrian writer Angela Locke. Eden Arts are hosts for the New Writing Cumbria project.
Some of the poetic contributions, from a county which has a rich literary heritage, could centre on major contributory factors in falls such as ‘sloppy’ slippers that badly need replacing, the need for regular eye tests and reviewing medication with GPs, keeping the home free of hazards and reporting previous unexpected tumbles.
Notes:
The county council is working closely with NHS Cumbria to raise awareness and prevention measures. Falls represent a significant public health challenge and are rising by 2 per cent each year, with increasing severity as the population gets older. In Cumbria, the issue is particularly important because the county has a significantly ageing population, with one in three people expected to be of retirement age by 2028.
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