We have seen an interesting article in SAGA Magainze about the Prince of Wales' PRIME initiative www.prime.org.uk/ that is aimed at helping people over 50 become self employed.
It seems that this initiative does not get the same level of publicity that his charities for younger people enjoy. It's a pertinent reminder of Prince Charles' major point. The Prince of Wales speaks about how the UK has a tendency to undervalue older people and that the skills acquired over a lifetime of work can be invaluable in the creation of new enterprises. I am sure that if you say "entrepreneur" most people will think of young, thrusting and driven people ready to take on the world, (or Richard Branson of course) but PRIME runs an entrepreneur of the year competition for the over 50's and all the short list are ideas that could have been created by people of any age.
Together with the ingenious rotary washing rain cover one lady has designed a software system to help anyone write their autobiography – it's quite expensive to take out the subscription but it did strike us that writing that autobiography and creating that for your family is a brilliant way to ensure that family memories and history are not lost when perhaps someone goes on to suffer from dementia or Alzheimer's and their precious memories are lost. Just goes to show that creativity and business savvy don't desert us when we pass the 50 mark (thank goodness, as quite a few of our team are well past that milestone already!).
PRIME started us thinking about new products and services that companies in the mobility products & incontinence products area could offer – we have found over the last few years that there have been very few innovations from the large companies in the incontinence sectors. So we have had to look far afield. We have imported some innovative SoSecure swimwear for people suffering from incontinence and are hoping to be able to import new swimwear for people suffering from a range of conditionswhere their limited mobility means standard swimwear is not practical for getting on and off. But ideally we would love to find more new useful things sourced from closer to home that are relevant for people with conditions such as Arthritis, Stroke or Parkinsons.
We are keen to support people who are coming up with new products that serve our market. We would love to hear about products that perhaps you have come across locally or indeed when you have been travelling – things that perhaps are not available in the UK but could make a real difference to people who suffer from mobility or incontinence issues. Or perhaps you have had an idea but don't know how to make it into a product – maybe we can help?
Kind regards
Incontinence UK Team
