Age friendly Communities
The Scottish Older People’s Assembly (SOPA) is leading on Age Friendly Community work in Scotland to stimulate local and national action to achieve better outcomes for people in and approaching later life, using the World Health Organisation (WHO) Age-friendly Communities Framework
Read more about Age Friendly Communities on SOPA’s website and a flyer which you can share with your networks Developing Age Friendly Communities in Scotland
The UK Network of Age-friendly Communities
Age Friendly Communities is a growing movement, with over 60 places across the country committed to making their community a better place to age in. Almost 25 million people are living in an Age-friendly Community, including places like Greater Manchester and Cardiff. The Centre for Ageing Better works with the Network to provide guidance, connect places and offer support to member communities as they work towards making their services and infrastructure more age-friendly.
View the map of Age-friendly Communities here
Generations Working Together
We work closely with SOPA with our work continuing on breaking down barriers to connection between generations and tackling ageism and stereotypes and looking at intergenerational housing spaces and places in our communities across Scotland. We are keen to promote Age Friendly Communities (AfC) as places that are safe to grow up and grow old in with intergenerational (IG) work being a key part in that role. Our work using Matt Kaplans contact zones identifies places and spaces where younger and older people can come into contact in spatial zones for different generations to connect, get to know each other if they wish and even look at community issues that are important to them. IG spaces and places (contact zones) can help to enable IG connections which may strengthen relationships and assist the growth of age friendly communities. Intergenerational work can break down social isolation and loneliness and tackle ageism which will allow for a more inclusive Scotland.