Today St David’s Day Age Cymru is launching its own image library of older people living in Wales so marketing professionals can access images that are a genuine reflection of this older generation.

For a number of years, the charity has been dismayed at the common portrayal of older people as vulnerable individuals incapable of contributing to society or enjoying community-based activities. In many cases the portrayal is often reduced to a pair of wrinkled hands while the individual sits passively in a chair.

However, everyday Age Cymru interacts with older people who continue to contribute to their workplace, undertake millions of pounds worth of caring for loved ones, and form the cornerstone of much of the volunteering undertaken in Wales.

The collection contains more than 50 images of older people from a scooter riding skinhead to a mountain-sheep-farmer and from wild swimmers to allotment keepers with much in between.

The images in this library are free to use in a wide range of ways such as in newspapers, magazines, community newsletters, websites, recruitment adverts, and social media or anywhere that older people are being portrayed to help provide a more compelling story about older lives in Wales.

Age Cymru’s Kelly Barr who co-ordinated the project says, “This is very much a thought-provoking collection of photographs that breaks down some of the negative stereotypes of older people and better reflects the breadth of experiences and interests of older people in Wales.”