FOR pensioner's champion Jean Walker it is an ambition finally achieved.

Having a venue where she and her peers can meet weekly and socialise is something she has been seeking for many years - since winning funding for their idea on the ITV show Fortune: Million Pound Giveaway.

Now Jean and her colleagues from Bradford and District Senior Power are celebrating the start of the New Year with a new chapter - the opening of their City Centre Hub.

Located at 7 John Street, Bradford, in premises previously occupied by the Yorkshire Building Society, the hub is open from 10am until 4pm from Monday to Friday (excluding Bank Holidays).

Its aim is to provide information and support to older people on issues such as health and welfare. By linking up with other providers in the district, they also hope to sign-post people on so they can explore activities, events and social opportunities within their own communities too.

Says Jean: "It's a new challenge."

The hub will be initially run as a pilot scheme until March but according to Jean they hope it will become a permanent fixture - they just need people to support the new venture.

"We must get people to come in and support it because if we don't we will lose it."

Jean says the aim is to find out from those who attend the hub what they want in terms of activities. One of the main aims of the hub is providing a drop-in for those who feel lonely and isolated.

Loneliness and isolation is a major issue for older people. The impact it can have on their health and well-being has been widely reported but initiatives such as the BDSP hub aim to provide a place where people can socialise with others on a weekly basis instead of being confined within their own four walls which many are, day in and day out, week in and week out.

"Day after day when they only have the TV for their company or the radio is dreadful and today with all this technology it is moving more and more away from personal contact.

"It is moving towards computers, phone calls - they are better than nothing but they are not the best of things - there is nothing like human contact," says Jean.

"I love my T&A and read it cover to cover for local news and my computer, I would be lost without the computer, but it does not replace a friendly face or somebody coming and saying 'how are you today?'

She says for many people loneliness is brought on by the loss of a loved one. "When you lose your partner there is nobody to say 'Good morning' to or 'Good night' and nobody to say 'what have we got planned?' And my words it makes a world of difference to your life, it really does," she adds.

Jean, who was awarded the MBE in 2011 for her services to older people in the district, was one of the founder members of BDSP (Bradford and District Senior Power) when it launched in 2007.

The aim of the organisation was to provide a voice along with advice and support to older people in the city and district.

Two years later the group, including Jean, won £50,000 on the ITV Million Pound Giveaway show which they initially intended to use to create a venue similar to Age UK's Healthy Living Centre in Hull which had inspired them.

But over the years they had struggled to find suitable permanent premises within their home city of Bradford, setting up pop-up style venues instead to find out what older people want and the type of activities they may be interested in.

Now they are hoping their latest venture will be a success. Jean says the hub is also a reminder of the many people who have accompanied her along the way, sharing her vision, but who are sadly no longer here.

She says the hub is a memory of them and their hopes that one day they would achieve their dream of setting up a place for older people.

"It is like memories; it is inspirational because it is so many people who have been involved."

"It is partly our dream come true and you have to have dreams in your life. We cannot be negative, we have to have vision and dreams because that is what life is about. Dreams help you achieve," adds Jean.

For more information about the BDSP City Hub call 01274 921211.