Age Friendly Vale Connection Cafe

Summary

Over 50 partners came together for the Vale’s first ever Age Friendly networking event aimed at building a stronger, more connected community to support older people across the Vale. Attendees included community groups, local service providers, charities, and third sector organisations, all united by a shared passion for making a positive difference in the lives of older people.

The event’s key purpose was to strengthen relationships across sectors, enabling long-term collaboration and a more joined up approach to support and services. Participants had the opportunity to discover who is doing what in the Vale, explore potential funding opportunities, and open up communication channels to work more effectively together. The morning also focused on uncovering the unique strengths within the community and sharing valuable knowledge and experience already present in the Vale.

The event directly supports the ambitions of the Vale’s Age Friendly Vale Strategy and Action Plan 2025-28. By building stronger networks and a deeper understanding of available services and existing gaps, we aim to deliver more holistic and coordinated support for older residents.

Feedback from the event was overwhelmingly positive. Attendees reported making useful new connections that would directly enhance how they work and collaborate in the future. Many expressed interest in returning to similar events, recognising the value of shared learning and partnership working.

Website: https://www.valepsb.wales/en/Our-Progress/Age-Friendly-Vale.aspx

Key facts

Main target group: Older people in general

Other target group(s): Stakeholders and partners such as public organisations, community groups and leaders, charities, volunteers, social care providers - anyone providing a service for older people

Sector(s): Education, Housing, Information and communication, Long-term care, Social protection, Transportation

Desired outcome for older people:
Build and maintain relationships

Other issues the Age-friendly practice aims to address:

Ageism
Accessibility
Ageing in place
Dementia
Disasters and emergencies
Elder abuse
Healthy behaviours (e.g. physical activity)
Intergenerational activities
Inequities
Inclusion
Participation
Technologies

Contact details

Name: Sian Clemett-Davies

Email address: snclemett-davies@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Age-friendly practice in detail (click to expand):

Engaging the wider community

Project lead: Local authorities

Others involved in the project:

Local authorities
Older People’s Association
Social or health care provider
Volunteers
Private sector

How collaboration worked: We worked closely with colleagues in the Council to secure a well known, iconic venue in the Vale, Penarth Pier Pavillion. The Pavillion is a vibrant hub for arts and culture that includes a cinema, art gallery, and café. The choice of venue added real value to the event, offering a welcoming and inspiring space that reflected the Vale PSB’s commitment to supporting older people in our community. To help encourage attendance and create a warm, sociable atmosphere, we provided a complimentary brunch for all attendees. The high quality of both the venue and catering elevated the event, giving it a professional and purposeful feel, and reinforcing that we are taking this work seriously. Age Friendly funding was used to cover the costs of room hire, brunch, and refreshments, helping us to deliver a well-organised and meaningful event that people were proud to be part of.

Older people’s involvement: Older people helped to implement the age-friendly practice

Details on older people’s involvement: Many older people are actively involved in community groups, and we were keen for them to attend the event to share their valuable knowledge and experience, and to take new ideas and insights back to their communities. A great example was ‘Aunty Gill,’ who spoke passionately at the event about how timely and worthwhile she found it. Aunty Gill highlighted the importance of bringing people together in this way and shared that she had made several meaningful connections she planned to follow up on

Moving forward

Has the impact of this age-friendly practice been analysed: Yes

Was the impact positive or negative:
Positive

Please share with us what you found in detail:
We found the event to be extremely positive and successful. It was inspiring to see people connecting at a grassroots level with individuals and organisations they might not ordinarily encounter in their work. These new relationships are already having a tangible impact. The event also allowed us to grow our Age Friendly Vale Network so we now have a larger and more varied network of people in the Vale. Feedback from the survey highlighted how quickly attendees followed up on the connections they made. Within just a few weeks, many had begun collaborating, supporting one another’s work, and signposting older people to valuable services they were previously unaware of. These outcomes are already contributing to more joined up support for older residents in our communities. Importantly, 100% of attendees reported making new connections on the day, with 40% making three or more and 100% of attendees said they would come to another Connection Cafe in the future. This level of networking and immediate action shows the power of bringing people together with a shared goal to improve the lives of older people in the Vale.

Feedback:
We sent a feedback survey out to all attendees 2 weeks after the event We asked “what did you enjoy most about the event”? Attendees answered – “Having the opportunity to meet others in the community that I don’t normally cross paths with” and “the range of organisations and groups gathered in one place, and the opportunity to talk to everyone”. We asked “What future impact do you think these connections will have in your work/communities”? Attendess answered “I have already had meetings with some of the people I have connected with to work more collaboratively” and “We have arranged to co work with one of the charities going forward” We also asked what we could improve for future events and attendees answered “I would like to see this grow and potentially be for a longer time. Maybe include guest speakers to talk about their service – so we can learn from each other” and some attendees answered that they would like more information such as a short bio about the other attendees as well as contact details to follow up on.

Expansion plans:
We plan to run another Connection Café event at the same venue, subject to the continuation of Age Friendly funding in Wales. Our aim is to make this an annual event, building on the success of this year and strengthening networks year after year. This would complement our existing Age Friendly Festive Get Together held each December, which also provides a valuable opportunity for networking, connection, and shared celebration in a warm and welcoming setting. Together, these events help create consistent spaces for collaboration, learning, and community building throughout the year.

Looking back

Reflections:
While we were unable to share full contact details for all participants due to some using personal email addresses, we’ve identified a simple improvement for future events. Going forward, when attendees complete the booking form, we will include a clear option to give consent for sharing their contact details. This will enable us to create and distribute a handout with attendees’ names, brief bios, and contact information, a valuable resource that will help strengthen post-event connections and collaboration.

Challenges:
We had arranged for a host and guest speakers, but unfortunately they were unable to attend at short notice. However, as Age Friendly Officers, we were able to step in and confidently host the event ourselves, ensuring it still ran smoothly and remained engaging for attendees.