Last week, my organisation Zivot 90, a HelpAge partner, took part in the open-air youth festival Majáles, which is organised by university students from all over the Czech Republic.
Over 8,000 young people get together to celebrate the beginning of spring by listening to music, dancing and having fun!
We used this opportunity to engage young people about our Make it Ageless campaign, which aims to bring together generations, raise awareness of older people’s rights in developing countries and call on the European Union to put older people on their agenda.
Involving younger generations
To get people interested, we rented a stall, gave out campaign leaflets and encouraged people to sign the Make it Ageless petition. We also promoted the campaign on a huge billboard and the logo was featured on all the Majáles printed materials.
We collected 159 petition signatures from young people and encouraged others to sign up online. It was really interesting talking to them about their views on the campaign.
Some suggested we also work with older people in the Czech Republic and many expressed their displeasure with the EU.
Continuing the campaign
Overall, I felt very positive about our time at the festival. Many of the young people knew a lot more than we expected about the issues older people face. All the students who did sign wanted to know as much as possible about the objectives and aims of the campaign, which was good to see.
In the run up to 1 October, International Day of Older Persons, we will be working to engage as many young people as possible and gain their support for the Make it Ageless campaign!
How you can Make it Ageless
- Join the virtual march by signing the Make it Ageless petition
- Read more about our Make it Ageless champions in Europe
- Visit the Make it Ageless webpages to find out how you can involved in the campaign through Facebook and Twitter #makeitageless
- Visit YouTube and watch the Make it Ageless film