We are all, I am sure, hoping for a happier new year, which is tricky at a time when public services are failing all around us and no-one seems to be listening. Is it time I wonder for those of us of a certain age to start protesting more?
I am sure many of us are upset by the lack of any movement from the government on dealing with the problems in the NHS, lack of social care, failing public transport – all issues which perhaps affect the elderly more than most. But there are other issues which also cause great concern.
I was really moved this week when I walked into a building society (not in Rye) and met an 80 year old woman in tears. With banks closing and making savings so they can increase their profits, there had been great excitement about the opening of a new building society. A physical building with people behind the counter who could help her set up an account. But no! All she was asking for was an appointment so that a member of staff could give her training and help her set up an account with them. It all has to be done digitally and apparently it’s not something they could help with "Ask your son to help you" was the response from the woman behind the counter. Her son, it appeared was "as useless as she was" and didn’t even know what an 'app' was.
Those of us in the queue scratched our heads to find ways to help her. She had been thinking about approaching some local IT specialists. That might be one solution but should we be encouraging the elderly to give all their passwords and financial information to people who are not employed by the financial institutions who are benefiting?
It really affected me – seeing her despair about not being able to have a bank account that wasn’t set up on the phone, iPad or computer. I suggested Citizens Advice but there must be so many people wanting to see the Citizens Advice in the midst of all the problems around us.
We know the closure of banks and digitalisation of financial management has been a problem for the elderly and those who don’t have or can't afford these devices. Closure of banks has been much talked about on Rye News, but isn’t it time we all started to get angry and do something about it. Does anyone know of banks or buildings societies who are offering training and support for those who need it? Surely with the enormous bonuses going to already rich bankers, often for poor performance, these organisations can afford to provide training and support for those who need it?
Shouldn’t we all be asking our MPs what they are doing about this continuing problem of having to be a) online and b) digitally competent? Even if we were competent in our earlier lives, what happens when eyesight fails and we can no longer access these so called services? We have become such an uncaring society and maybe those of us of a certain age have to call out these institutions and politicians who don’t seem to be addressing our needs at all. We can't go backwards but we could collectively be demanding better services?
