What does Leeds have in common with Manchester, Bristol, the Isle of Wight, Hackney, Camden, and 8 other local authorities around England?
The answer is that all 14 areas have a share in the £80 million grant distributed by the Big Lottery to these selected authorities for work on projects whose aim is to offset loneliness and social isolation amongst Older People. Collectively they are known as the Ageing Better Project.
Leeds Older People’s Forum, on behalf of Leeds City Council, has received £6 million over 6 years (2014-2020) and has just hosted a conference for the 13 other authorities at the Leeds Plaza Hotel. Delegates heard lots of new ideas from all over the country – ranging from special informational programmes on local radio to campaigns to extend the length of Green Man times at traffic lights, as well as the other encouragement of Shared Tables in local restaurants and many other ideas.
If you would like to learn more about available Leeds funds, please contact tts@opforum.org.uk or call 0113 244 1697 at Time to Shine (Leeds Older People’s Forum) as a new round of applications is about to start.
By Anne Forbes, Trustee