A LANCASHIRE charity has called on the government to act ‘urgently’ to stamp out age discrimination and promote the skills of older people as a woman struggling to get back into work speaks out.

Age UK Lancashire said that political heads should work hard with businesses to emphasise the ‘skills and experience’ that the over 50s can bring to the workplace.

Chief officer Geraldine Moore warned that a failure to act could lead to more people facing poverty in later life.

Her message also came on the back of latest figures which reveal that 6,600 economically active over 50s are currently unemployed in the county.

Nationally 191,000 people in the age group, 20,000 more than in 2010, have been unemployed for more than 12 months, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

She said: “It’s clear from these figures that older people who find them-selves out of work are being frozen out of the labour market with limited hope of finding a job.

“Few options for work combined with a rising state pension age and little opportunity to plan for their retirement, mean many are likely to find themselves facing poverty in later life through no fault of their own.

“We have called on the government and employers to take urgent steps to prevent age discrim-ination in recruitment and promote the skills and experience that older workers can contribute to business.”

Susan Freear, 61, from Elm Grove, Darwen, has been out of work since she was made redundant from her post as a community centre manager which she held for 20 years last October.

Ms Freear has since been volunteering at Mill Hill Community Centre alongside making several applications for jobs each week which have so far proved unsuccessful.

She said: “I have many years experience, training and now volunteering but I’m not getting anywhere.

“But I’ve had to cut down on everything and am now no longer able to visit my grandchildren who live further away.

“There needs to be a bigger effort to help older people back into work because long term unemployment can be really damaging psychologically.”

Jake Berry, MP for Darwen and Rossendale said: “Whilst figures for unemployment are encouraging we should not be complacent.

“Older workers have a huge raft of experience to offer employers and can bring huge amounts of knowledge to the workplace which should not be forgotten.”