Age-friendly West Cheshire

In Cheshire West and Chester, we want to ensure longer life expectancy is matched by quality of life; enabling people to live active, healthier and fulfilling, independent lives, for as long as possible. Our approach has been developed with, and shaped by, local people and communities and endorsed by the Borough’s Health and Wellbeing Board. It is our aim to make the Borough a great place to grow older for everyone, valuing people of all ages and bringing generations together.

Cheshire West and Chester joined the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities and the UK Network for Age-friendly Communities in 2018. The collaborative Age-friendly Cheshire West Partnership was formed and the Baseline Assessment was completed in 2020 by the University of Chester’s Centre for Ageing and Mental Health.

After a pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Age-friendly Cheshire West Partnership (AFCW) was reconvened in 2022. The Partnership’s Strategic Group is now chaired by a member of the University of Chester’s Centre for Ageing and Mental Health, with representatives from the voluntary sector, local businesses, the University of Chester, NHS Cheshire & Merseyside, the Council, and people with lived experience. AFCW reports to the Health & Wellbeing Board and the Place Leadership team.

Aims

We are working alongside older people and partners to develop our Age-friendly model and agree key areas for action from the priorities identified in the baseline assessment. Together we are seeking to inspire change and mobilise communities and organisations, to ensure no one is marginalised through poverty, isolation, loneliness, cultural stereotyping or lack of accessibility or opportunity. We are working together to change attitudes to ageing and older people, enabling ageing to be viewed more positively, valuing older people and recognising everyone’s unique contribution, strengths, skills, knowledge and experience.

Development of the Age-Friendly Partnership

The Partnership is currently developing its Strategy and Action Plan to capture the priorities and implementation of the work to meet the above aims.

A borough-wide recruitment drive in the Autumn of 2022 resulted in over 50 individuals attending a workshop in February 2023 to form Delivery Groups with the following objectives:

• improving services and access to advice and information
• creating more accessible and supportive places
• reducing social isolation and loneliness
• becoming more dementia friendly and inclusive
• reducing food and fuel poverty

Three Delivery Groups representing the WHO age-friendly domains of ‘Community Support and Health Services’, ‘Communications and Information’ and ‘Civic Participation and Employment’ were created with volunteers, Council and NHS staff, and these groups are now working on various projects to deliver the above objectives.

The Borough has a vibrant voluntary and community sector and the Council has a strong foundation of partnership, working closely and cooperatively with residents, businesses, the voluntary sector, education and other public sector agencies to improve the lives of older people including:

• The University of Chester’s Centre for Ageing and Mental Health provides research, consultancy and education, with the aim of promoting innovation in health and social care services for older people.
• Age UK Cheshire is helping to ensure that all older people across Cheshire have the opportunity to enjoy a better later life.
• The Corporate Disability Access Forum (CDAF) established in 2013 is a partnership of local and regional disability organisations and the Council. The forum played a pivotal role in the City of Chester winning the 2017 Access City Award; an initiative to promote accessibility in the urban environment for Europe’s growing population of older people and people with disabilities.
• The West Cheshire Dementia Action Alliance supported by the Alzheimer’s Society, brings people and organisations together from across the borough to take action to improve the lives of people affected by dementia.