Welcome to the first issue of Generations Review online. This is an important development for the BSG as part of its wider strategy to promote effective and interactive communications amongst all its members. The University of Reading is delighted to be involved in taking forward these changes, which are central to the future development of the Society, via our editorship of this newsletter.

The objective of Generations Review online is to provide a dynamic forum for sharing ideas, good practice, policy developments and research between BSG members at all stages of their ‘ageing’ career. In particular, we wish to enable all BSG members to engage with, and discuss, current developments in the field of ageing. The focus of Generations Review is therefore to promote our shared aim of improving the lives of older people through our contributions to research, practice, policy and education.

We are delighted that for our first issue we have articles that reflect the diverse experiences and roles of BSG members.

There have been many exciting developments in the ageing world in recent months. There have been some prominent launches including the British Council of Ageing (Chris Phillipson), the second phase of the New Dynamics of Ageing programme (Alan Walker) and the most recent BSG book ‘The Futures of Old Age’ (John Vincent, Chris Phillipson and Murna Downs) and we are delighted to have reports on all of these events. Changes within an information driven society are also reflected in developments in the journal Ageing and Society and Tony Warnes outlines changes to the journal from 2008 onwards. We also have information about future conferences and seminars that will be of interest to BSG members. This includes an invitation from Murna Downs to the next BSG conference Realities of Ageing: Research into Action to be held at Sheffield Hallam University , Sheffield, 6-8 September 2007.

One of the most important dates in the BSG calendar is of course our annual conference. Last year we met in the beautiful surroundings of Bangor. The theme of the conference was The Ageing Jigsaw: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Old Age. We were privileged to receive 5 plenary addresses from the internationally acclaimed keynote speakers Christine Fry, Julian Tudor Hart, Robert Taylor, Clare Wenger and Steven Zarit. We are delighted that all these speakers have submitted written papers in this review. This will be a great opportunity for attendees to return to the key issues from their papers and for members who were unable to attend to have the opportunity to engage with these excellent keynote addresses. The diversity and interdisciplinarity at the heart of BSG is reflected in these papers.

One measure of the health of any academic and practice based discipline is the development of ‘new generations’ of scholars as reflected by those studying at undergraduate and postgraduate level. Judged by the abstracts of recently completed PhD theses included in this edition our discipline is thriving and maintaining an essential multidisciplinary gaze upon the experience of old age and later life. We hope that contributions from students will become a permanent feature of our newsletter.

Promoting the voices of older people at a political level is another important theme. So we welcome contributions from people who engage with policy issues. In this edition Stephen Burke, from Counsel and Care, addresses the growing care gap for older people. He has a radical vision for future services and identifies changes that are needed to deliver a fair and accessible system of support. His proposals for the crucial 2007 spending review are designed to tackle the chronic problems of underfunding and the quality of care services for older people.

It is interesting to note in 2 articles in this review that both John Vincent and Kate Davidson talk about how important teaching undergraduates is to their working lives. We do not always have the opportunity to reflect upon and share these aspects of our work. The section of the newsletter ‘Education and Careers’ aims to fill this gap. This section first aims to be an important forum for sharing our ideas about teaching and education. It also aims to be an arena for sharing good practice about the support of emergent researchers and practitioners in our specialist area, as well as highlighting the significance of professional development throughout our careers. For this issue, Helen Bartlett and Mair Underwood highlight the significance of building our research capacity for the future by exploring the experiences and motivations of Australian PhD students. John Vincent reflects on his ten years of teaching ‘Sociology of Old Age’ and provides insights into the complexities of promoting our message in different contexts. This reminds us that the students of today are the future of BSG tomorrow.

This first issue does therefore reflect the diverse and interdisciplinary nature of age and ageing. We would like to thank all of our excellent contributors for their time, enthusiasm and willingness to participate in our new venture. We would also very much like to hear from any of our BSG colleagues who would like to contribute about their own areas of interest. The dynamic and up-to-date nature of the newsletter is reliant on everyone’s contributions. As the newsletter is no longer peer reviewed we have more flexibility with our content. We hope that the newsletter will encourage diversity in writings from all parts of the BSG membership. Naturally all contributions reflect the author’s own views and not that of the Society.

Of course getting a newsletter to the point of publication requires a great deal of time, energy and commitment. We have many people to thank for this. First, is the support and commitment of the BSG executive committee under the leadership of Chris Phillipson for bringing this project to fruition. In particular, we acknowledge the key roles undertaken by John Vincent and Julia Twigg . We are indebted for the technological knowledge and support from Rachel Pitman, our website manager, and Helen Hughes, from Madcat studios, for working so diligently on the design and formatting of the newsletter. The ease of navigation and visual look of a newsletter is central to its success: we have spent a lot of time on making the newsletter as easy to navigate as possible.

We hope you enjoy your first BSG online newsletter. We have made a number of changes that may take a while to get used to. We are learning about producing a newsletter that is to be read in a very different format than we ourselves are used to. If you would like to help in the development of this newsletter we would be happy to hear from you, so please feel free to send any ideas or comments to website@britishgerontology.org

We look forward to hearing from you soon,

Wendy Martin, Sally Richards and Christina Victor

Co-Editors.

Wendy Martin is a Research Fellow at the School of Health and Social Care, University of Reading . Wendy’s background is in nursing and she has completed a BSc in Sociology and Anthropology at Oxford Brookes University and an MA in Sociological Research in Health Care at the University of Warwick . At present she is completing her doctorate into people’s own experiences and perceptions of their bodies, health and emotions in later life at the Department of Sociology, University of Warwick . Previously she has been engaged in a variety of research projects at Oxford Brookes University (1998-2002) that include the family lives of young people and the empowerment of older people with dementia. Wendy has belonged to the BSG since 2000 after attending her first BSG conference in Oxford . Wendy is a member of the BSG Executive Committee, a member of the BSG publications group and is co-editor of the on-line newsletter Generations Review.

Sally Richards, Lecturer in Social Work, Director of Postgraduate Research, School of Health and Social Care, University of Reading . Following a BA in Philosophy and Politics at the University of York , Sally stayed at York for her social work training afterwards working as a probation officer. Sally's research career began in Primary Medical Care at the University of Southampton , where she subsequently completed her PhD, on the process of needs assessment in older people. She was appointed lecturer in social work at Southampton in 1996 and moved to Reading in 2004. Sally is particularly interested in older people's encounters with social and health care practitioners, the development of practice learning in gerontological settings, spirituality in old age and in narrative approaches to the study of ageing. She is a member of the Editorial Team of Generations Review on-line.

Christina Victor is Professor of Gerontology and Health Services Research and is currently Head of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Reading . I started my academic career as a geographer with a particular interest in the spatial distribution of health and illness. It was whilst working at the medical school in Cardiff that I discovered my interest in gerontology. My initial interests were about health and health inequalities, an interest I retain, especially the benefits of exercise in later life. More recently I have developed a keen interest in loneliness and isolation! I was one of the ‘founding editors' of Generations Review with Leonie Kellaher. I have been actively involved in the organisation of 3 BSG conferences ( Durham , Royal Holloway and Roehampton), I have served on the BSG executive and contributed to a number of BSG publications. At present I am a member of the Editorial team of Generations Review online.

Rachel Pitman is the Information Officer for the Social Policy Research Unit(SPRU) at the University of York . She has a masters degree in Library and Information Studies and previously worked for the British Library as a manager in their cataloguing department. At SPRU Rachel works closely with the Adults, Older People and Carers Team who research many issues around the social care needs of older people, particularly how people can exercise choice and control over their lives and maximise their independence and well-being. Rachel has recently taken over the new position of Web Manager for BSG. She is also in charge of the membership database and formats the web pages for Generations Review.

Generations Review Online was designed by Helen Hughes, Creative Designer, Madcat Studios. Tel: 07929 342931