Ageing Well

North Somerset has a high and growing number of older people; 24% of people are aged over 65 (52,000), and 58% of the population is over 50. North Somerset is well served by opportunities for older people to improve their health and wellbeing, socialise and connect with their community; however, it is often the case that those who need support the most, e.g., the oldest old, older people living with frailty, older people from marginalised communities and those without family or existing community connections, are least likely to find out about and take up opportunities.

The Ageing Well programme works to build capacity in the voluntary and community sector to help meet the needs and improve the wellbeing in North Somerset.

The Ageing Well programme has five areas of work

1.     Information and engagement; a monthly bulletin is produced for VCFSE organisations, and the ageing well programme lead works with partners across the NHS, North Somerset Council, Alliance Homes and other organisations such as Access Your Care to look at how we can jointly improve services for, and the wellbeing of, older people

2.     VCFSE ageing well forum, which meets quarterly to look at issues around age and ageing

3.     Developing Age-Friendly Communities in line with the World Health Organisation model

4.     An older people’s panel to help with the development of new services, redesign of existing services and review of patient-facing literature

5.     A small grants programme for organisations and for projects led directly by older people