Ageing Well Torbay programme partners, Torbay Assembly, Torbay Council and the Health and Wellbeing Board have worked together since 2015 on an Ageing Well programme for isolated and lonely people over the age of 50. Joining the UK Age Friendly Network and then the Global Network is a key strategy for embedding and continuing our work in the Torbay Community for generations to come.

One of key features of our Age Friendly strategy is that it is lead by the Torbay Assembly who represent the voice of older people in the Bay – in partnership with other organisations and statutory bodies. Another feature is that the concerns raised locally include supporting people of all ages to age well.
This has been reinforced by our learning from the Ageing Well programme which shows that to make long term systematic and cultural shifts you have to work across all ages with the whole community – essentially a ‘community friendly‘ approach. This approach also requires consideration of the social, health, economic and environmental factors that influence our lives — this is reflected in the eight themes adopted by age friendly communities.
We are now an active member of the UK Age-friendly Network (joining in 2019). Our ambition is that older people’s rights are fully respected and we are able to live independent lives and participate fully in society. We want to continue to contribute to developing Torbay as an inclusive, thriving and vibrant community. We believe involving our community in the World Health Organisation’s Global Network of Age-friendly Communities is one of the steps to developing Torbay as a place that respects, acknowledges and celebrates older people. The baseline report has examples of best practice programmes that are running in Torbay.

2022: Ageing Well completed as a funded programme in March 2022 and we have continued our work through the Torbay Assembly and Age Friendly UK Network with contributions to the steering committee. We are delivering a Healthy Ageing Pilot base on Live Longer Better a national initiative on longevity, activity to improve physical, cognitive and emotional fitness. We are continuing with our charter work with the NHS Falls and Frailty, engaging with members to reduce isolation and give them a voice, contributing to planning and policy decisions and supporting, assisting with Torbay Community Helpline, Local Motion, Imagine This, Good Practise Mentors programmes and piloting an Age Friendly active travel / living communities project. We will be running an age friendly Festival 17 September and will add a report after the festival.