OLDER people made their voices heard yesterday at a meeting to discuss the state of health and social services in their area.

A large group of over-50s attended the day-long event at Bedale Hall, which was organised as part of the Better Government for Older People.

They had their chance to discuss health and social services matters with the "older people's champions" - people appointed by the local council, Primary Care Trust (PCT) and other organisations to look at the concerns of older people.

The group of about 50 was a mixture of town and district councillors and members of the Hambleton Over-50s Forum and the Richmondshire Senior Forum.

"The aim of these discussions is not to say 'please help us, we are old people' - absolutely not," said Jenny Clarke, chairwoman of Hambleton Over-50s Forum.

"We are intelligent and active people and we have something to contribute to society. Therefore, we want to see that we are getting the best services possible in our area.

"These meeting form part of the Better Government for Older People policy and we can have a real influence on services for older people."

The meeting is the second of its kind. The first was held in November and covered a much broader range of topics.

Many questions were yesterday fired at the champions about what had been achieved since the last meeting.

Rose Critchley, PCT champion, said improvements include the appointment of a consultant in older-people's medicine and a chiropodist in the community.

"It is a positive step. We need to hold more of these venues where the public can talk to us and tell us what they want," she said.

"We want to be able to make services more local and today's meeting has allowed us to hear what the older people need here in Richmondshire and Hambleton."

Neil Fisher, also from the PCT, helped organise the event and said: "These are ordinary people, living ordinary lives, who have come here to say what they think from the heart."