As a member of the Readers’ Panel, you would help us by reviewing our resources, including our guides, webpages and other publications. This is to make sure our information is relevant, accessible and useful for older people.

Anyone interested can join. We welcome all viewpoints and experiences. That includes those whose preferred language may not be English, people with learning difficulties, and people from every community and background.

You don’t need to be an expert or have any qualifications to take part. We’re interested in hearing different views based on your personal experience of a subject – for example, any experience you might have had with scams or being bereaved – because that is most helpful to us.

We produce a wide range of information resources that you may review, including:

• advice guides – printed booklets that provide an overview of a topic
• factsheets – more detailed information about a specific subject 
• webpages 
• checklists 
• videos and online tools.

Reviewing is not just about reading – for example, we may ask you to comment on layout and design. Or we may want your help with something small but important, like a title. We may sometimes ask if you’d like to join a group call – online or by phone – or a focus group.

When we produce a new resource or make changes to an existing one, we’ll get in touch and ask if you want to help.

We usually send a draft of the resource – by email or post – and ask you to complete a short survey about it. We allow two weeks for this but if you need more time, just let us know. We won’t send a survey more than once a week.

You don’t have to respond to every reviewing request. If we send something that’s not for you, that’s fine. And if you just want to comment on one aspect of a resource – maybe a chapter that’s particularly relevant to you – that’s also okay.

Unless you choose to share your contact details with us in your survey response, our surveys are anonymous. This means that although we read all your comments, we can’t usually respond to them directly. We do try to let you know what we’ve changed because of your suggestions, but if you'd like to send or receive more detailed feedback, please get in touch.

If you’re already a member of the Panel, thank you for your help! Please call or email us if you’d like us to send you another copy of our Guide to reviewing.

Email Readers@IndependentAge.org or call us on 020 7050 6560 if you have any questions or need support.