On 5 June, I attended the launch of the Pride in Ageing programme by legendary actor Sir Ian McKellen who has just celebrated his 80th birthday. Based at the LGBT Foundation, Pride in Ageing is working to end the inequalities faced by older lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people in Greater Manchester. Cllr Brenda Warrington, portfolio lead for Age-Friendly Greater Manchester, spoke at the launch about our ambitions to be the one of the best places to grown older. We had fantastic media coverage of the launch including a slot on BBC North West.
It was also great to also be featured in an ITV Report, 'Are our cities ready for an ageing population?' which featured Manchester Victoria Square and Tung Sing an examples of city centre housing for older people.
This month I also had the opportunity to travel to Ljubljana, Slovenia to attend a meeting for an EU funded research project 'Adapting European Cities to Population Ageing: policy challenges and best practices'. Thank you to the many members of the GM ageing community who have fed into this research which will produce recommendations for EU wide policy on ageing populations.
And there are two opportunities to come and join us at the Ageing Hub. We're recruiting for a Project Officer and our partner the Centre for Ageing Better are recruiting for a Greater Manchester Partnerships Manager which will be based in the Ageing Hub (more details below).
Job opportunity: Project Officer, Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, GMCA
Fixed term until 31 March 2020
Full time
Grade 5 £22,911 - £26,317 per annum
Location Churchgate House, Manchester city centre
Application deadline 7 July 2019
Help make Greater Manchester a better place to grow older. We’re looking for someone with experience of delivering effective administrative support to deadlines and working on multiple areas of activity with changing priorities. You’ll also be experienced at drafting or writing communications material such as web content or news stories.
Job opportunity: Greater Manchester Partnerships Manager, Centre for Ageing Better
Fixed term until 31 March 2021 with review and potential for extension
Up to 37.5 hours/ 5 days a week (flexible working arrangement supported)
Salary from £42,902
Location Churchgate House, Manchester city centre
Application deadline 9 am 8 July 2019
In March 2016, the Centre for Ageing Better (Ageing Better) and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) entered into a five-year (to March 2021) partnership to develop an evidence-based, place-based approach to ageing across Greater Manchester. Governed through the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, the partnership’s overarching aims are to ensure more people can live a good later life in the Greater Manchester city region. Three years on, the partnership has matured, and we are now ready to recruit a partnerships manager who can help take our work to the next level. The post holder will support the partnership to deliver on its early priorities as well as secure new opportunities to achieve Greater Manchester’s ambitions as the UK’s first Age-friendly City region and Ageing Better’s vision of a society where everyone enjoys their later life
ITV Granada Reports: Are our cities ready for an ageing population?
What's it actually like to live in a city centre, over 60? How do we plan for old age? ITV Granda Reports speaks to residents of Victoria Square in Ancoats and Tung Sing, the UK's first purpose built housing for Chinese people over 60. Dr Mark Hammond, from the Ageing Hub and Manchester School of Architecture, talks about the need to promote the city centre as an environment for older people.
LGBT Foundation patron Sir Ian McKellen launched Greater Manchester's new Pride in Ageing programme on 5 June. Funded by Barclays Spectrum, the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub and Age Friendly Manchester, the programme will work to end the inequalities faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people over 50 in Greater Manchester and ensure that they have access to inclusive housing and care later in life.
Pride in Ageing also aims to tackle the social isolation faced by LGBT people over 50 in the UK, bringing people together to share their stories and experiences, and building community. Three in five older LGB people were not confident that social care and support services would be able to understand and meet their needs. More than two in five had the same concerns about mental health services, and one in six about their GP and other health services.
Greater Manchester’s Lead for Age Friendly and Equalities, Brenda Warrington, said, “Our ambition is to make Greater Manchester one of the best places in the world to grow older. The work of Pride in Ageing will help policymakers much better understand and meet the needs of older LGBT people when it comes to important issues like housing, health, and social care.”
Designing for ageing communities should be higher priority says new report
A new report by global engineering consultancy Arup argues that catering for older populations must be a greater deciding factor when planning the cities of the future. Informed by the WHO framework, Arup identifies four central needs of an ageing population: autonomy and independence, health and wellbeing, security and resilience, and social connectedness. It highlights the inescapable megatrends of an ageing population and increasing urbanisation, and how these will be major drivers of change for cities worldwide.
Greater Manchester is featured prominently in the report, including an interview with Paul McGarry, Head of the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, as a leading practitioner in age-inclusive cities. It also highlights projects across Greater Manchester as best practice case studies.
The report identifies 14 strategies and 28 specific actions that developers, designers and civic leaders can take to better plan and design physical spaces to meet the unique priorities of older residents. Over 40 case studies show how places around the world have translated these strategies and actions into practice.
Evidence review on employment support for over 50s
A new rapid evidence review on employment support for over 50s has been published by the Centre for Ageing Better.
The review looks at the evidence around active labour market policies aimed at tackling the challenges of worklessness amongst those aged 50 and over. The findings show that much of the existing research is narrow and lacks high-quality data and analysis.
Based on report findings, the Centre for Ageing Better in partnership with DWP and GMCA, are seeking to pilot or trial new ways of working, implementing best practice to improve employment support for over 50s.
Recent employment rates for the 50-64 age group have hit a record high. However, in general, people aged 50 and above continue to face greater difficulty in accessing work-related training and re-entering employment than younger age groups. While some are not working out of choice, around 1 million people aged between 50 and state pension age are not working but would like to be.
Supporting people to be in good quality work for as long they want to is critical for their financial security now and into the future, and is a vital opportunity to help them manage their health and improve their wellbeing. Being unemployed can also have negative impacts on people’s health and wellbeing.
The Greater Manchester Older People's Network are really excited to be launching our new Positive Ageing Imagery Project. The project will be looking at why stereotypical images of wrinkly hands that reinforce negativity around ageing are used in the media to represent older people. We want to replace these images with more positive ones that celebrate older people and ageing. Helen Morris, who will be volunteering with the Greater Manchester Older People’s Network over the coming months, will be facilitating this project and is looking for older people who are interested in getting involved. If you would like to get involved in this project then you can do so by:
Joining our focus group
Becoming an online image reviewer
To get involved contact Liz on 0161 834 9823 orGMOPN@macc.org.uk
Oldham and Tameside members wanted for GMOPN Action Group
We are looking for some new members to join the Greater Manchester Older People's Network Action Group. The Action Group meets every 6 weeks to discuss ideas relating to older people in Greater Manchester and plan all aspects of the work of the network. If you are over 50 and from Oldham or Tameside and would like to join then we would love to hear from you.
Further information: Liz or Victoria - 0161 834 9823 GMOPN@macc.org.uk
Funding opportunity - Tech to Connect Challenge
The Tech to Connect Challenge is looking to help civil society develop their early stage ideas for tech that enables more or better interactions between people. Tech can be alienating or divisive for those that are isolated, so we want to help civil society translate their knowledge into good ideas for new ways to connect people. the applications are open to all charities, social enterprises and social ventures. There’s £500,000 worth of business support and £500,000 in grant funding available. Nesta Challenges will provide guided support to seven finalists, so they can develop their ideas into working prototypes. Submissions open from 26 June and the deadline for entries is 7 August.
Applicants will be asked to detail a problem related to social isolation in England and their idea for how technology can help to address it. The solutions can be direct (‘this is how we plan to change the interactions between people’) or indirect (this is how we plan to improve the service we offer people face-to-face).
Dr Julia Attias from Manchester Metropolitan University is conducting research on muscle power in older age. Julia is seeking individuals who are able to voluntarily contract their thigh muscles and perform a total of 12 jumps, with maximum effort. Volunteers should be:
Male or female
Over the age of 65
Recreationally active
Interested in their level of muscle function and how this is related to their ageing process
Free of any sustained, diagnosed injuries
Free of cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological disorder
The study will run through July at the Laboratories of the School of Healthcare Science at Manchester Metropolitan University and require not more than 2 hours of your time. Unfortunately MMU are unable to cover travel expenses.
Golden Years Caravan parks up in Greater Manchester
Art with Heart invite you aboard The Golden Years Caravan, a roving cinema and art gallery, which will be parking up in all 10 districts of Greater Manchester between 8-21 July.
Tired of the media’s portrayal of grumpy Grandad’s, passive pensioners and senile seniors, Art with Heart set about challenging the ageing conversation by creating a space to share the voices and talents of older people in their local community.
Grab a brew inside The Golden Years Caravan, a roving cinema and art gallery featuring a series of ambitious artworks which confront common perceptions of ageing and retirement.
The Golden Years Caravan is a celebration of the curiosity, creativity and culture of Greater Manchester’s ‘golden generation’ and shares stories of what it’s really like to grow older in Greater Manchester in 2019.
Do you have news, information or events to share on making Greater Manchester more age-friendly? Please send your content by close of play Monday 15 July to AgeingHub@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk our July newsletter will go out next week.
Our mailing address is:
Greater Manchester Ageing Hub
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street
Manchester M1 6EU
United Kingdom
