Whalley Range has been officially recognised as an age-friendly neighbourhood by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
The Mayor announced the winners of his Age-Friendly Challenge during Greater Manchester “Doing Ageing Differently†conference.
Held, in February 2019, the event brought together over 300 key figures in ageing from across the country.
Whalley Range was one of 32 areas from across Greater Manchester to be recognised by the award scheme designed to showcase the best places to grow older in the city-region.
Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester said:
“I launched this challenge last year to unearth the positive work I know is going on in Greater Manchester, to find practical examples of what age-friendly really means, and to share best practice across the city-region.
The response to this challenge has been fantastic. The variety of age-friendly work displayed from all our winners clearly shows the commitment from our local communities to make sure that people in Greater Manchester are living not just longer, but happier and healthier too.â€
Chris Ricard from Age-friendly Whalley Range/Whalley Range Community Forum who applied on behalf of the area said:
“We are thrilled to hear the news that Whalley Range has been recognised as an age-friendly neighbourhood for 2019!
We will be celebrating this award with groups and residents of all ages as a neighbourhood committed to working towards making Whalley Range a great place to grow older.â€
The award recognises the hard work that organisations and older people in Whalley Range have carried out to make their area a great place to grow older.
An age-friendly neighbourhood is a place where: residents are committed to looking out for each other, older people feel they can have a say in what going on in their local area, and there are spaces where people can get together.
The award also showed that Whalley Range is committed to helping older people feel: independent, safe and secure, and informed about what is going on in their local area.
Submissions to Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge were reviewed by an expert panel chaired by Prof. Chris Phillipson from MICRA at The University of Manchester. Other panellists included representatives from Greater Manchester Older People Network, Ambition for Ageing, and the Centre for Ageing Better.
Notes to editors
Greater Manchester is the UK first age-friendly city region, as recognised by the World Health Organization.
The Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge represents a commitment to shape a city-region that recognises the contribution older people make and the value in keeping all residents socially, physically and economically active for longer.
The challenge was launched by Andy Burnham during Greater Manchester Festival of Ageing in July 2018, where he called for the voluntary and community sector, public services, and older people groups to submit their best age-friendly schemes and help deliver more age-friendly neighbourhoods across Greater Manchester.
The Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge was delivered by Ambition for Ageing on behalf of Greater Manchester Combined Authority Ageing Hub which works to improve older people quality of life in Greater Manchester, addressing the challenges and embracing the opportunities the UK is facing in response to a rapidly growing older population.
www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/agefriendlygm
Age-friendly neighbourhood information from Ambition for Ageing report Building
Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods in Greater Manchester.
https://ambitionforageing.org.uk/neighbourhoods
