We will be launching a £3 million programme of work to make Greater Manchester’s neighbourhoods more age-friendly and need your help!

Do you have expertise or evidence on the things that need to be done to help people participate in the life of their community and stay connected to the people important to them?

Ambition for Ageing is a £10.2 million Greater Manchester level programme aimed at creating more age-friendly places and empowering people to live fulfilling lives as they age. It is funded by the Big Lottery Fund’s Ageing Better programme, which aims to reduce social isolation of older people. 

The Story so Far

We have already commissioned ‘Local Delivery Leads’ (LDLs) to work with older people in 25 target wards to help make their neighbourhoods more age-friendly.

What’s Next

£3million is set aside to deliver scaled up projects between April 2017 and March 2020, based in part on the most successful projects so far.  Alongside this learning being generated through the work of the LDLs, we want to gather as much information and evidence as we can to inform the design of the scaled up projects. Once evidence has been gathered we will then look for providers to deliver these projects.

Why We Need You

Ambition for Ageing is focused on the concept of ‘Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods’. We view ‘Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods’ as places that are good for people to grow older in. This could be due to the physical place, assets that the neighbourhood has, activities on offer, economic opportunities or anything else that make somewhere a better place for older people to live. We need people to tell us about existing projects, ideas, research or anything else connected to Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods. In particular we are interested in:

1. Age-friendly places and spaces – this can include green spaces, buildings, other aspects of the built environment
2. Age-friendly economy – how do places support older people as consumers, workers and with developing their own businesses
3. Cultural participation – engagement in arts and the cultural life of a community
4. Age-friendly information – how people learn about what’s on and what services are provided locally

The evidence can be provided in any format but we would expect to see reports, case studies, evaluations, annual reports, project write-ups. They can be from your own work or the good work of other organisations that you are aware of. We welcome contributions from organisations and individuals.

Submissions can be made via email to nathalie.long@gmcvo.org.uk or post to Nathalie Long, GMCVO, Ardwick Green North, Manchester, M12 6FZ.

The deadline for submissions is 5pm, Friday 4th November 2016