How our Ageing Better programme has improved social connections and wellbeing for people aged over 50

Launched today, The Ageing Better Programme: Summative Report, provides an overview of Ageing Better - a seven-year (2015 – 2022) £87 million programme, funded by The National Lottery Community Fund, bringing together 14 local partnerships across England to enhance the lives of people over 50 by improving social connections, addressing loneliness, and enabling people over 50 to be more engaged in the design of services for their communities.

Kate Green, Evaluation Manager, and Ellen Cross, Funding Manager, at The National Lottery Community Fund, highlight the key findings from this final report. We were delighted with the success of Ageing Better in meeting its aims for individuals, organisations, and systems. The full report is being launched at the ‘Ageing Better: A Celebration’ event today (Tuesday 28 June).

Almost 150,000 people aged over 50 engaged in Ageing Better. It was especially effective at engaging groups and people at particular risk of experiencing loneliness and social isolation, including older LGBTQ+ people and older people from ethnic minorities.

• 25% were from ethnic minorities, compared to 11% of a similar age group in the same areas
• 5% of participants were LGBTQ+ compared to just over 1% of a similar age group in England
• 49% were living alone, almost double the percentage living alone among all those over 50 in England (27%)
• 59% of participants had a longstanding illness or disability, compared to 54% of people over 50 across England
• 22% of participants were carers, similar to the proportion of carers among over 50s in Ageing Better areas (21%)
• 68% of participants were women and 32% were men
• 48% were aged over 70 and 78% were aged over 60.

Qualitative research also found improvements in people’s confidence and their sense of being in control of their lives, as well as increased resilience and skills. It also enabled them to broaden their social networks.

Being part of the Ageing Better programme had positive impacts on the organisations involved – for both partnership leads and delivery partners. Organisations’ capacity was built, new staff were recruited and upskilled through on-the-job and external training, over 5,000 volunteers mobilised, and a space was created for innovation and development of new approaches to meet the needs of older adults.

A key legacy of the programme is that many volunteers are continuing to deliver and support activities or groups beyond the end of the funding.

The programme has had a lasting influence on wider systems, particularly in the local partnership areas where we found evidence of these changes:

• Demonstrated the value of co-production, leading to key bodies – including local authority commissioners and delivery partners – adopting co-production approaches
• Raised the profile of loneliness and social isolation as a priority for local areas, and the need for action around issues which can increase the risk of loneliness, such as lack of transport or poor mobility infrastructure
• Forged more and better relationships across sectors in partnership areas, and led to on-going joint working
• Encouraged action to make communities more age-friendly
• Supported the development of new service models that have been adopted into mainstream delivery.

Ageing Better has also contributed a wealth of learning and evidence and practical guidance to support organisations interested in addressing loneliness and isolation among people over 50. More information can be found on our Ageing Better page.