IT’S TIME TO PUT SAGA IN THE OLD FOLKS’ HOME

Nancy Dell’Olio leads launch of high50 – targeting new generation of fiftysomethings

London, 7th June 2011: high50 (say ‘five-oh’), an online community with cutting edge editorial for people who believe life really begins at 50 – launches with a lead column by Nancy Dell’olio on what turning 50 means to her.

The mortgage is coming to an end, the kids are leaving home, the anxieties and insecurities that bedevil the earlier years are beginning to slip away. It’s like being a teenager again, but with experience.

Reflecting this ideal, high50 will offer quality editorial that is relevant, cool and interesting. With a stellar line-up of journalists readers can expect everything from sex, shopping and sport to music, money and mischief, as well as thought-provoking pieces from the likes of Dominic Sandbrook on 50 years of British history.

High50 will be both inspirational and aspirational, and will source the best promotions and discounts for the discerning – partner brands include erotica boutique Coco de Mer, Champneys spa resorts and luxury travel operator Kuoni.
In what will be the first of many guest columnists Nancy Dell’Olio writes exclusively about what turning 50 means to her:
“This August I want to celebrate my 50th birthday with two days of partying in Puglia, in Italy, where I spent many of my childhood summers. Yes, my 50th: Barack Obama turns 50 this year too. I have something in common with him: everyone’s always asking to see our birth certificates!

50 – what’s not to like? I feel wiser, wittier and happier; I’m in the prime of my joy. It is, as I’ve said, a magical time, and magic has no age – just like my spirit. My spirit is the thing that will keep me vibrant forever. There’s an old saying that goes, “If the young only knew, if the old only could.” Well, huh. I do know, now, and I certainly can, still. Here’s to my fifties: you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.”

The 50-plus market will soon be the biggest, richest and most influential in the UK, by 2020 accounting for half the population. It is the fastest growing demographic using Facebook and Twitter, accounting for 31% of online users.

In the real world, the over 50s increasingly share interests – music, art, cinema, theatre, television, sport, technology, rock festivals – with people of all ages. Yet advertising, branding and editorial largely ignore them or assume their interests amount to buying end of life insurance policies and stair lifts. High50 looks to change this, and celebrate all that turning 50 has to offer.

Former Sunday Times Style editor and acclaimed author Tim Willis was appointed editor of high50 earlier in the year and has assembled a team of regular columnists which include some of the most respected journalists and writers in the UK, including: Sally Brampton, Linda Kelsey, Elaine Lemm, Julie Welch, Daniela Soave, Peter York and more.

In a year that will see the likes of George Clooney, Julianne Moore, Ricky Gervais, Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie, the Mini Cooper, the World Wildlife Fund, the lava lamp and the President of the United States of America all turn 50, it’s time to change our opinions of ageing.

WELCOME TO HIGH 50 | www.high50.com Anyone can access the high50 site – though registration will bring extra benefits.