Organisers of the Over 50s Forum’s Winter Fair were thrilled to see a record number of visitors last Friday.

Medical professionals, dance teachers and therapists found themselves swarmed by 300 attendees at the forum’s fifth annual fair held at Enfield County School.

The guests were able to explore a variety of stalls run by community organisations and even had the option to get their blood pressure checked.

The main message at the event was that it wasn’t just about living longer, but living a healthy life into old age. Speakers included Enfield Council Cabinet member Cllr Krystle Fonyonga, Dr Manish Kumar, Chair at Enfield Local Medical Committee, Stuart Lines, Enfield’s new director of Public Health and Kiran Saindo from the charity Independent Age.

Cllr Krystle Fonyonga spoke about her own 61-year-old mother, who is a member at the Over 50s Forum who has been encouraged to exercise through walking. She started with ten minutes a day and now walks for an hour.

She said that almost a third of the NHS budget was spent on health conditions that could be avoided or ameliorated by people eating, drinking and exercising the right way.

Dr Kumar said that in his experience there has been more illness this year and it was taking people longer to recover. He warned that too many older people had not received the flu jab and said his message was to get protected next September.

As well as offering information and educating the visitors, there was plenty of entertainment on offer. Activities ranged from folk dancing to singing lessons and jazz sessions. The Walkabouts Rambling Group were also on hand to recruit new members to their club.

Enfield Over 50s Forum is a non-political organisation for citizens in the Borough. Through the group, the members can make their views known to MPs, the local council, the Enfield Strategic Partnership and other bodies responsible for making decisions that impact the lives of the local community.

The forum focuses on matters such as health, education, leisure activities, transport, housing, age discrimination in employment and pensions.