Blue Week: Seniors celebrate every day in Béziers

A meal that brought together 132 people launched this Blue Week at the convention center. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

Le défilé de mode des membres de l’office des seniors a enthousiasmé l’assistance. Midi Libre – Rodrigue Delpas

La Semaine bleue, dédiée aux personnes âgées, a été lancée au palais des congrès par un grand repas et un défilé de mode.

A meal served to 312 people, a fashion show, with music, performed by members of the Béziers seniors' office presenting clothes made by them… There was a great atmosphere on Monday, September 30, at the Béziers convention center: the launch of the Blue Week, dedicated to the elderly, was done in a good mood and in a festive atmosphere. And the Béziers seniors will be there, like cockerels in dough, every day until Sunday.

“The aim of this week is to take an interest in the elderly by offering them various activities,explains, with enthusiasm, Nathalie Clutot, director of the Communal Social Action Centre (CCAS) in Béziers. Before, apart from at Christmas, when they were given a gift basket, no one really cared about them. This Blue Week also helps to demystify the fact that we are getting older. It is important to promote the place of older people in society, where they are important from an economic and social point of view.

33% of the Béziers population is over 60 years old

Knowing that in Béziers, which has ten nursing homes, two municipal, one public and seven private, 33% of the population is over 60 years old. If the Blue Week is managed, among others, by the CCAS, Béziers retirement homes are also playing the game, offering many activities. This Monday, for example, at the Domitys residence, it was possible to participate in a visual arts workshop: “There are also community centers that participate, specifies Nathalie Clutot. This week is also intended to be intergenerational. On Thursday, a blue march will be organized with middle school and school children from the city center. The start will be on the forecourt of Saint-Nazaire Cathedral and participants will join the Nine Locks of Fonserane for a walk of around 5 km. Minibuses will follow and pick up those who don't make it to the end."

On Friday, participants in Blue Week (full program on the CCAS Facebook) will meet at the Salle des Abbés in Saint-Aphrodise for a competition entitled  "Our seniors have talent": "We also want to show that just because we're old doesn't mean we don't have talent,"emphasizes the CCAS director. On Sunday, a tea dance will bring everyone together at the Palais des Congrès. And throughout the week, we welcome people from all walks of life."