I wasn’t surprised to see a story in the Mail recently that Countryfile presenter Miriam O’Reilly is sueing the BBC for age discrimination after she was axed from the BBC show. There’s been a number of similar criticisms aimed at the broadcaster in recent years including the high profile departure of Arlene Phillips from Strictly Come Dancing after she was replaced by younger model Alesha Dixon. It’s sad but this is far from an isolated incident.
My Age with Attitude programme focuses on the ‘8 Attitudes of the Successful Mid Life Woman’ revealing some of the common myths associated with women approaching mid-life including ‘I’m too old to have what I want’, ‘I’m not good enough to compete with younger models’ and ‘I need surgery to feel good about myself’. I’ve come across many women who have been in Miriam’s position and they especially benefit from a module which focuses on the ‘I am good enough’ attitude, where we provide the tools to work on their self-esteem and feeling of self worth. After this, women will feel more empowered to compete against their younger counterparts and come out on top.
What I really want to achieve with my programmes is to empower women to take a stand and be more confident in challenging their employers if they feel their age is being used against them. One such delegate was 66 year old Margaret Caiger-Watson who wanted to stay on in her job beyond 65 and subsequently secured an extension at her workplace after attending the Age with Attitude pilot programme last year.
Afterwards, Margaret said, “I was so much more confident after the programme that I felt I could take on anything that was presented to me.”
What has happened to Miriam is one of the reasons why I was inspired to develop this programme. I want to challenge the image obsessed media like the BBC to take a different perspective on their midlife workers, who I know still have so much to offer.
The Official Age With Attitude Blog 