Transform Ageing Begins ‘Exploring the Challenge’

Following the four launch events across the South West in April, the Transform Ageing programme has been holding a series of in-depth workshops to ‘explore the challenge’.

Transform Ageing is taking a design-led approach to enhancing people’s experience of ageing in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset. It aims to give people in later life more choice and better services to improve their quality of life. Around 100 people attended a series of four workshops to consider the opportunities and challenges in each community.

The groups included people in later life, social entrepreneurs and staff from local health organisations and councils. They worked together using design techniques to identify project opportunities that could address ageing challenges in new ways, by planning and conducting their own research to look for areas of opportunity. Here’s what some of them had to say about the events:

‘An excellent programme, thought-provoking and fast-paced.’

‘I think it was very useful to have a mix of older people and carers with professionals. It was good to hear each other’s views and thoughts.’

‘It has been very interesting being part of the design process.’

The findings from the workshops will now be collated with further community research and ethnographic insight, and shaped into ‘project briefs’. In the autumn, social entrepreneurs will then be invited to respond to the briefs, with award funding available to support the development and scaling of their ideas.

Transform Ageing was awarded £3.65m from the Big Lottery Fund and is being delivered through a partnership led by Design Council, together with UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs, the South West Academic Health Science Network, and the Centre for Ageing Better. It is also being supported locally on the ground by Volunteer Cornwall, Devon Communities Together, Community Council for Somerset and Torbay Community Development Trust.