IT is easy to fall into the trap of thinking of older people purely as victims.

Whether it is as actual victims of crime - such as distraction burglaries or street crime - or as victims of circumstance, suffering through privation with reduced incomes, this is a hard image to shake.

It may well be that some older people see themselves as victims, as this message is continually being reinforced by the media, whether in the pages of their newspapers or in fictional television shows.

Fear, whether of crime or of the unfamiliar, is a powerful force.

And then along comes someone like Blanche Harrison.

Mrs Harrison, who will be 101 next month, is rightly described by her 73-year-old daughter Audrey Purchase as "an inspiration".

Mrs Harrison has already travelled to Austria, France and Brighton this year, and is planning more trips next year.

She has, her daughter says, a passion to "live life to the full".

Despite living in sheltered accommodation, she does her own washing - the "old fashioned way", by hand - and cooks for herself every night.

Mrs Harrison is fortunate in that she has a good support network at her home and through the offices of Age Concern, which has organised her adventurous trips.

However, her zest for life comes from no one but herself and goes to show that it doesn't matter how old you are, you can still "live life to the full".

Whether it is through travelling, volunteering or just not giving in to the infirmities of age, older people have a lot to offer and a lot of life still to enjoy.