Story so far

2016 

• Greater Manchester Combined Authority signed Memorandum of Agreement with the Centre for Ageing Better (external link) with an initial goal to help many more people aged 50 and over stay in work and get into work

2017

• Andy Burnham’s Mayoral Manifesto pledged to make Greater Manchester ’the best place to grow older’

• The first Greater Manchester Ageing Conference (External Link, PDF 1.6MB)

• Published The Future of Ageing in GM (External Link), to explore the changing demography and social condition of ageing

• Launched ‘Developing a Strategy for Age-Friendly Greater Manchester' (External Link, PDF 6.2MB) exploring policy and creating a strategy for Greater Manchester to become the first age-friendly city region in the UK

• Launched ‘Some Things Can’t Be Confined to a Box’ age-friendly culture in Greater Manchester

• Launched 'Take a seat' across Greater Manchester

• Launch of £10M Ambition for Ageing programme aimed at creating more age-friendly places in Greater Manchester (External Link) 

2018

• Greater Manchester's age-friendly strategy (PDF, 763 KB) 2017 – 2020 launched

• Mayor launches age-friendly challenge

• Strategic partnership launched with Centre for Ageing Better

• The Greater Manchester Local Industrial Strategy (LIS): Progress Statement (External Website) published with significant focus on an Ageing Society

• Contributed to super-ageing event in Tokyo

• Publication with Centre for Ageing Better of Rightsizing: Reframing the housing offer for older people (External Website), with Manchester School of Architecture

2019

• Mayor Andy Burnham officially recognised thirty-two neighbourhoods across Greater Manchester as being age-friendly and issued a new challenge to businesses

• Published first Ageing Hub Digest (PDF, 3.7MB)

• Greater Manchester Reform Board agrees to deliver Ageing in Place Programme (PDF, 3.2MB)

• Launch of the Pride in Ageing programme (External Website) at LGBT Foundation

• Secured £250k for new sector support body for the creative ageing field (External Website) with national partners

• Trip to Helsinki with Mayor (External Website) Andy Burnham for the Inaugural Global Silver Economy Forum

2020

• 53 neighbourhoods, across all 10 boroughs of Greater Manchester, have been recognised as age-friendly

• Launch of Advantage GM: Unlocking the longevity economy for Greater Manchester (External Website)

• GMCA, Centre for Ageing Better and DWP announce pilot scheme for Employment Support for over-50s in Greater Manchester (External Website)

• Published our Keeping Well at Home booklet (pdf)

• Distributed 70 thousand copies of the Keeping Well at Home booklet across Greater Manchester

• Greater Manchester's Keeping Well at Home booklet recognised by World Health Organization as case study

• Launched Keeping Well this Winter Campaign

• Shortlisted for UK Research and Innovation's (UKRI) national Health Ageing Challenge fund

• Distributed 16,000 copies of our Creative Care Kits for older adults

• Launched the Valuable Not Vulnerable campaign

2021

• Launched the first phase of the Pension Top Up campaign, which encouraged greater take up of entitlements and benefits for older GM residents and generated at least £3 million of additional income.

• Lead Greater Manchester’s International Day of Older Persons campaign, within the theme of ‘Older and Greener’.

• Helped to deliver the award-winning report COVID-19 and Social Exclusion: Experiences of older people living in areas of multiple deprivation.

• Published the Framework for Creating Age-Friendly Homes in Greater Manchester, which seeks to achieve a permanent cultural shift in thinking around housing in later life.

• With partners launched CADA, the national development agency for creative ageing.

• Helped to publish the Over 50s and Active Travel report, which considered opportunities to increase levels of participation in active travel among people in mid and later life, in order to increase physical activity levels.

2022

• Published Doing Digital in Later Life, an evidence-based practical guide for those working to get more older people online.

• Launched the second phase of the Pension Top Up campaign in partnership with Independent Age to promote take up of Pension Credit and other later life entitlements.

• Helped to establish the Greater Manchester Older People’s Equality Panel to advise, support and challenge Greater Manchester’s political leaders and policy makers to tackle the discrimination and disadvantage that cause injustice and inequality in society.

• Supported the development of the 'Greater Manchester Falls Prevention: Delivering Integration and Reconditioning' publication. This report focuses on the prevention of falls and enablement of reconditioning for GM residents who have been affected by the pandemic

• Co-produced Becoming an age-friendly employer in Greater Manchester: A toolkit, which helps businesses reap the benefits of a thriving and age-diverse workforce.

• Partnered in a project which developed effective approaches to providing employment support for over-50s.

• Paul McGarry, head of the GM Ageing Hub, recognised as part of the Healthy Ageing 50 - a UN Decade of Healthy Ageing initiative that seeks to honour 50 world leaders who are working to foster healthy ageing.

• Launched the Winterwise campaign in partnership with Independent Age including distribution of more than 300,000 printed guide across the city region.

• Hosted the 'Greater Manchester Ageing Well workshop' with over 100 attendees to develop system wide outcomes to support older people to age well in place.

• The GM Ageing Hub welcomed delegations from Norway, South Korea and Canada. The delegations visited Greater Manchester to learn about how age friendly perspectives are used in strategic planning, and to establish contact with Greater Manchester and its work on age friendly development.

2023

• Launched the Ageing in Place Pathfinder, investing £4 million over 3 years in eight neighbourhoods

• Launched animated film of Doing digital in later life: a practice guide (external website)

• Paul McGarry, head of the GM Ageing Hub, awarded the British Society of Gerontology Outstanding Achievement Award (external website)

• Contributed to Centre for Ageing Better's publication A good deal for all ages: How Mayoral Combined Authorities can make ageing better in England (external website)

• Ran co-design workshop with Herriot Watt University to contribute to Healthy Ageing in a Changing Climate: Creating Inclusive and Climate Resilient Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (external website)

• Provided evidence to the Women & Equalities Committee's inquiry on The rights of older people (external website)

2024

• Project partner on research from University of Manchester into The role of faith-based organisations in developing age-friendly communities (external website)