A United Bermuda Party sponsored senior citizens' conference on ageing aims to start a revolution and to put senior citizens' issues on the front burner.

The conference, 'The Silver Revolution ? Building Secure Futures' will be held on Saturday. Topics include 'Ensuring a secure retirement', 'Seniors under siege ? the impact of Bermuda's housing crisis' and 'Health care solutions for seniors'.

Conference organisers Keetha Lowe and Hilary Soares are on a UBP subcommittee designed to look at the needs and concerns of senior citizens, and to find solutions to problems.

"The first solution is to actually get seniors' issues outlined and upfront," said Mrs. Soares. "We have to get them talking with each other and talking to the public. They have to be advocates for themselves."

Mrs. Soares said the movement for better senior citizen care and treatment is being dubbed "the silver revolution".

"We hope that it will become a silver revolution where seniors will now begin to speak up and ask for programmes and benefits," said Mrs. Soares. "They need to make their voices heard because there are hundreds of senior citizens coming up fast on the horizon. There are very few programmes specifically for seniors. They need now to be taken care of. They have built our community. We benefit from their energy and the job they have done for us."

At the conference, there will be a panel discussion, on subjects like financial assistance, social insurance and health insurance, among other things.

"After that there will be audience participation and we will discuss these things," said Mrs. Soares. "We want to see what they can suggest about providing services for senior citizens."

Speakers at the event include Ms Lowe, Claudette Fleming from Age Concern, Shadow Minister of Housing, Wayne Furbert, activist Rodney Smith, and keynote speaker Glenn Wachter, senior long-term health care ombudsman for the state of Oregon in the United States.

The mission of the long-term health care ombudsman is to improve the quality of life and the level of care for Oregon citizens living in long-term care facilities. Mr. Wachter's office serves long-term care facility residents through complaint investigation, resolution and advocacy for improvement in resident care.

"He is married to a Bermudian," said Mrs. Soares. "He is a very enthusiastic guy when you are talking to him. He is very keen on the subject of seniors and has a lot of information to offer. He is going to be speaking on the topic of 'Seniors in the Future'. That is one subject. Then he will speak again at the end. He is not a senior citizen ? he is probably in his 30s."

Ms Lowe said one of the subcommittee's objectives was to unite the community.

"We want to bring together both our youth population, our ageing population and our aged population so there can be greater sensitivity and greater support," said Ms Lowe.

People of all ages are invited to attend the conference.

"Anyone can come," said Mrs. Soares. "People should be planning for their own parents, or grandparents, or for their own future. This is a topic that effects everyone."

Although the conference is sponsored by the UBP, the organisers stressed that it is non-partisan.

"We are simply an interest group that is providing information for the entire community," said Ms Lowe. "Fundamentally, this is really about working together for common issues and common causes. Some differences have to be put aside. There are some issues must be prioritised. Seniors are within that priority."

Mrs. Soares said one concern of the subcommittee was the fact that benefits for senior citizens have not caught up with the cost of living.

"Now we have made poor people out of many of our senior citizens," said Mrs. Soares. "That is unconscionable in this rich society that we live in. Today on the news they were saying that at one rest home the residents have had their rent increased from $250 a month to $600 plus. That will take up the entire pension cheque of some of these seniors."

This conference is the first of many and the subcommittee wants feedback from it. In the months after the conference there will be seminars to look at the suggestions and ideas from the conference.

"This will be a very exciting start for us and we are hoping we can go from strength to strength," said Mrs. Soares. "We need the input and the advocacy of seniors now."