September update from Greater Manchester Ageing Hub
September has been an exciting month here at the Ageing Hub, with lots of fantastic activity going on.
Firstly, we would like to congratulate Paul McGarry for being named as one of the UN's 50 world leaders in healthy ageing. You can read more about Paul's achievement in the newsletter below.
The Hub has been busy putting plans in place to celebrate International Day of Older Persons on Saturday 1st October. This year, we are celebrating older women's resilience and contributions. Individuals and organisations across Greater Manchester have been hard at work putting on fantastic events and activities to mark the day. Please read more about how you can get involved below.
We have also been working with Independent Age on a campaign around winter and the cost of living. The campaign will include producing a printed booklet drawing on the Independent Age Winter Wise publication and the GM Keeping Well this Winter booklet. Please do get in touch if you can support the campaign.
Finally, we are pleased to announce the start of the Ageing In Place Pathfinder Project. Nicola Waterworth will be moving from her role at the Centre for Ageing Better to lead the programme. We are also delighted to announce that we will have 3 new members of staff joining the Ageing Hub over October as part of the project!
As always, thank you for your continued support.
Greater Manchester Ageing Hub team
News
International Day of Older Persons 2022: The Resilience and Contributions of Older Women
We are excited to be sharing with you the social media toolkit for this year's International Day of Older Persons (IDOP), taking place on Saturday 1st October, with the theme of ‘She Will Be Heard - celebrating older women's resilience and contributions’.
The campaign has been coordinated by the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, in partnership with local councils and partner organisations. We would like to thank all partners who have contributed to the campaign, including: GM Older People's Network, GreaterSport, Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester City Council, Talking About My Generation, GMCVO, LGBT Foundation, Bolton Council, Wigan Council, Age UK, Inspiring Communities Together, Salford Council and Dr. Amy Barron,
We'll be tweeting promoting the campaign and events through our social media channels @greatermcr and @GMAgeingHub. Please use the hashtags #IDOP2022 and #SheWillBeHeard.
Please promote the campaign using our full toolkit, which can be found on GMCA website.
Ageing In Place Pathfinder Project launch
On 1st October, in line with International Day of Older People, we will officially be launching the Greater Manchester Ageing in Place Pathfinder project.
The project is significantly supported by a philanthropic organisation and key stakeholders throughout Greater Manchester. The Pathfinder will test new ways of creating neighbourhoods that support up to 4,500 older people to age well, reduce loneliness and improve their quality of life. It is unique insofar as it places older people at the very centre of decision making.
A small core team has been recruited, with Nicola Waterworth starting next week as the Strategic Programme Lead. The other team members will join her later this month. Local teams are also being set up across nine neighbourhoods in eight local authority areas.
Over the next three years the pathfinder will demonstrate how best to create truly inclusive neighbourhoods that give older people better chances to thrive. The intention is that what is learnt in these nine neighbourhoods will be rolled out across wider parts of Greater Manchester in the coming years.
If you would like more information about the Pathfinder please contact us.
Paul McGarry recognised as part of the UN 'Healthy Ageing 50'
We are happy to announce that Paul McGarry, head of the GM Ageing Hub, has been recognised as part of the Healthy Ageing 50.
The Healthy Ageing 50 is a UN Decade of Healthy Ageing initiative that seeks to honour 50 leaders who are working to foster healthy ageing. The award aims to inspire others by celebrating individuals (and not their organizations nor affiliated entities) around the world who are aiming to improve the lives of current and future generations of older people.
Paul received the award in recognition of his decades-long work in fostering healthy ageing at all levels of government. A key element of the award was recognition of Paul's involvement in developing innovative forums where older people can come together to debate issues affecting them within Greater Manchester, as well as recognition of Paul spearheading the development of age-friendly environments across the Greater Manchester region.
Congratulations to Paul on behalf of everyone at the GM Ageing Hub and the Greater Manchester ecosystem!
New panel launched to champion older people’s voices in Greater Manchester
A new panel has been set up to champion the voices of older people from across Greater Manchester in key decisions on policies and services.
The Greater Manchester Older People’s Equality Panel will work closely with the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub at the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).
Made up of members from across the city-region, the panel will represent the voices and experiences of older people, and provide opportunities for influencing decision-making and policy development.
The Older People’s Equality Panel will:
Ensure that the views, experiences, and needs of older people are taken into account by Greater Manchester’s leaders, and that leaders are informed about how policies and services might affect older people in different circumstances
Build positive relationships with communities and neighbourhood groups in each borough to engage with older people across the city-region, and learn from existing projects and initiatives
Make key contributions to the development of Greater Manchester-wide policies, programmes and services, so that they can become more inclusive, effective, and impactful
The Older People’s Equality Panel is one of seven equality panels established and funded by the GMCA. The equality panels have been formed as part of a Greater Manchester commitment to make the city-region more equal and inclusive by ensuring all voices from our diverse communities are represented.
Independent Age have added three more dates in October and November for the Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance training sessions, as part of the Pension Top Up campaign. The three dates are:
The one-hour, online course (via Teams) aims to give frontline workers in Greater Manchester an introductory overview of Pension Credit and Attendance Allowance, two key income top ups that can be life changing for people over state pension age (currently 66). Independent Age will also be demonstrating how to use the online benefits calculator ‘Entitled to Benefit’. Demand for places has been extremely high, so we recommend booking your place as soon as possible.
New job opportunities in the Age Friendly Manchester team
Two job opportunities have come up in the Age Friendly Manchester team as Project Managers.
The successful candidates will work with the Age Friendly Manchester Programme Leads to support the development, and successful delivery, of thematic areas of work. They will independently manage projects and pieces of project work, as well as supporting the delivery of wider programmes of work.
The post holders will have the flexibility to adopt innovative approaches and develop partnerships to help deliver the programme’s priorities and work plan. The deadline to apply is Thursday 6th October.
Operation Equality: LGBT Foundation armed forces befriending service
LGBT Foundation are currently running a befriending service for LGBTQ+ Veterans, Armed Forces and their families.
The befriending service was launched in June this year to provide a safe space for LGBTQ+ members of the Armed Forces and their families to speak to a trained volunteer.
Until 2000, openly lesbian, gay and bi people were unable to serve in the armed forces. And whilst technically there was never a ban on trans people serving, there were no known trans service personnel until 1999. Those who were open - most often outed without consent - were dishonorably discharged. Many were then forced to come out under shocking and distressing circumstances to family members and friends, all while losing their livelihoods and personal connections within the forces. In part, the befriending service aims to help LGBTQ+ veterans deal with the effects of the ban.
Good Practice Guide to delivering a Microfunding programme
GMVCO have released a new report on delivering inclusive microfunding to fund small projects in local places.
The guide is designed to support community workers and organisations to deliver a microfunding programme. It is based on learning from Ambition for Ageing’s seven year delivery of microfunding programmes across Greater Manchester, and it is hoped that hope that the guide will help when planning co-produced microfunding projects.
GMVCO will also be sharing further learning around microfunding at an online event on Thursday 13th October, 10:30am-12:00pm.
International Day of Older Persons in-person event - Manchester women’s walking football session - Manchester FA
Saturday 1st October 14:00-16:00
Older women in Greater Manchester are invited to get active at this #IDOP2022 event. Manchester FA will be running a Women’s Walking Football Festival on 1 October to celebrate the day! If your team is interested to join, email Leigh at support@manchesterfa.com to book your space. Free taster sessions are also available for those would like to try for the first time!
International Day of Older Persons in-person event - Age Friendly Salford - Inspiring Communities Together
Thursday 6th October 10:00-14:00
Inspiring Communities Together are marking IDOP with a range of activities and guest speakers to celebrate this year’s theme; the resilience and contributions of older women. This is a free event but you must book a place. Lunch is provided.
International Day of Older Persons in-person event - Uncertain Futures Interruptions - Manchester Art Gallery
Saturday 8th October 11:00, 12:00, 14:00 and 15:00
Inspired by the true accounts of women’s experiences of work and ageing gathered as part of the Uncertain Futures art and research project, 4 performance ‘interruptions’ will take place at Manchester Art Gallery. Come and eavesdrop of these intentional conversations performed by women over 50 revealing some of the key findings about the reality of work for women over 50. Each performance will take place shortly after the hour at 11 am, 12 noon, 2 pm and 3 pm. No need to book, just turn up.
In-person event - Trends in the Development of Housing for Older People in France – MICRA
Monday 3rd October 12:00-14:00
This in-person seminar, brought to you by the Manchester Urban Ageing Research Group (MUARG) and the Manchester Institute for Collaborative Research on Ageing (MICRA), will be led by Jim Ogg. The seminar will be followed by a lunch and networking session. Jim Ogg has been based in France since 1997 and was Head of the Ageing Research Unit at the French National Pension Fund from 2015 to 2020. He is currently an independent researcher and is undertaking work on poverty indicators as well as participating in a large-scale ageing and housing project research project.
In partnership with the Greater Manchester Funders Forum, GMVCO will be sharing more about delivering inclusive microfunding at an online event on Thursday 13th October. Attendees will be joined by Ageing Better in Camden and Greater Sport who will also share learning around their experiences of microfunding.
If you have any resources relating to older people and age friendly that you would like to share, please send them to ageinghub@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk.
Our mailing address is:
Greater Manchester Ageing Hub
Greater Manchester Combined Authority
1st Floor Broadhurst House, 56 Oxford Street
Manchester M1 6EU
United Kingdom
