SILVER POWER

We urgently need to help the environment on all fronts and, while there are thousands of environment-based groups across Australia, many struggle to get enough volunteers or funding to maximise their impact.

Our project aims to activate as many retirees as possible to help the environment through volunteering or financially supporting or donating resources to established environment groups.

The younger generations are well catered for in climate and environment motivating content. However, retirees or the 55+, at 29% of population, are the generation with the most time and ability to donate to help environmental groups. Many retirees don’t know where to start, and this project addresses that issue.

Silver Power aims to shift the narrative to show that people 55+ have the experience, time, and resources to drive environmental change.
Phase 1 is producing and screening 6 films across Australia in partnership with local environmental groups and organisations working with older people, including festivals. The website will allow people to enter their postcode and areas of interest, oceans and wildlife etc. They will receive a list of local and national groups of specific interest to them.
Phase 2 will support community screenings.
Phase 3 is to take the film to online communities.
We aim to create a media buzz, build a social media audience through short local stories and to activate our audiences wherever we go.
The project’s success will be tracked through screening numbers and engagement, website traffic, and social media interactions. We aim to spark a nationwide conversation in Australia. The initiative is designed to expand globally, including Silver Power UK and USA.

The project aims to inspire retirees to join their local environment group to give back and find power in their retirement.
We hope the films will inspire people who know climate change is real but who don’t know where to begin.
Our goal is to create a large spike in volunteers and donations going to environment groups across Australia and to create a base of new people dedicated to leaving a legacy for their grandchildren.

Ros Walker is an experienced producer in her early 60’s and knows the demographic well, including making and touring Everybody’s Oma, a film about dementia, producing a successful online series about centenarians with over 8m views and even having toured environmental films for Seniors Week with COTA.
Director Lara van Raay has directed and run impact campaigns for several short films about retirees including Grey Power, about retired activists and Road Kill Warriors about a retired woman tackling the issue of road kill in Tasmania. She is an expert in short documentary.
Both producers have been building and fostering a relationship with community groups across Australia for this project and are very active in their local environment groups.
The producers are working with other directors who have direct access to their stories and understand their local area.

The call to action is simple – join the fight to save the planet through joining a local environment group or supporting them financially.