WIREDGOV

The Big Lottery Fund has yesterday awarded a £50 million ten year endowment to The Centre for Ageing Better. The ground-breaking trust for our ageing population will be led by Chair, Lord Filkin.

The Centre’s primary aim will be to support a good quality of life in older age and promote the benefits of an ageing society by bridging the gap between research, evidence and practice. The Centre will form part of the What Works Centres network in England.

The Centre will be a key part of the Fund’s work to help people to live a healthy and active life in their older age. The endowment is a key dimension of the Fund’s £148 million investment in England to support better ageing, and its wider commitment to supporting ageing across the UK, including a recent £25 million grant to Addaction for an alcohol-related harm prevention programme for the over fifties.

The Centre’s approach will be based on placing older people at the heart of its work, and informed by three key principles laid out by the Fund - empowering communities, increasing choice, and taking a preventative approach.

The Centre’s key customers will be older people themselves and VCS bodies, in particular those that specialise in ageing, and practitioners from organisations which deliver services for older people such as councils, and health and wellbeing boards.  The aim will be both to help older people now and enable the next generation of older people to prepare for a better life.

Over its ten years, the Centre aims to help many more people have a better later life by addressing four fundamental areas where change is needed: better health, better finances; better social life and better places. It aims to be a force for evidence-based change that helps older people live a better life by developing the evidence base about what works to support ageing better; by funding projects that show promise; by helping proven projects to scale and by working with people, communities and organisations to bring about enduring change.

Nat Sloane, Big Lottery Fund England Chair said: “The number of people in the UK over 60 is expected to pass the 20 million mark by 2031, so I am delighted that the Centre for Ageing Better can now put into action our aims to utilise National Lottery funding to help people prepare to grasp the opportunities which this brings, and to address the challenges. We want to ensure people are empowered to stay active, healthier and happier for longer, whilst increasing the recognition of the positive role that they play in society.”

Lord Filkin, Centre for Ageing Better Chair said: “We are delighted to receive this substantial endowment from the Big Lottery Fund. We are here to bring about change that improves lives. We want our work to have lasting consequences to the lives of people as they age.

“The award gives us the chance to build practical evidence about what really works to ensure we all age better. Based on robust evidence, we will develop a credible voice for change, and be clear about the issues that need to be addressed and the best ways to address them.”

Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk and www.centreforageingbetter.com 
Twitter: @biglotteryfund #BigLottery and @betterageing 
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

BIG Advice Line: 0345 4 10 20 30

For Big Lottery Fund press enquiries call:
Press Office:  020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500572

For the Centre for Ageing Better press enquiries call:
Karen Riches or Carol Grant at Grant Riches on 07811 324193 or 0870 770 5258

For the Centre of Ageing Better general enquiries call:
07507 303139

Notes to editors

• There are 14.7 million people in the UK aged 60 and above (ONS 2014, Mid-2013 Population Estimates UK).
• There are over 22.7 million people aged 50 years and over, more than one third of the total UK population (ONS 2014, Mid-2013 Population Estimates UK).
• Three million people are over 80 (ONS 2014 Mid 2013 Population Estimates UK).
• The number of people over 85 in the UK is predicted to double in the next 20 years and nearly treble in the next 30 years (National population projects, 2012-based, Office for National Statistics, 2013.
• Age UK estimate that based on the General Lifestyle Survey 2008, ONS 2010 and mid 2010 based population predictions that if nothing is done about age-related disease, there will be over six million people with a long-term limiting illness or disability by 2030.

About Big Lottery Fund 

• The Big Lottery Fund is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised by the National Lottery.
• The Fund is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since its inception in 2004 it has awarded close to £6bn.
• In the year ending 31 March 2013, 28% of total National Lottery revenue was awarded to projects. Since the National Lottery began in 1994, £32 billion has been raised and more than 450,000 grants awarded.
• Since 2004, the Big Lottery Fund has awarded close to £118 million in grants benefiting older people through its demand led programmes in England such as Reaching Communities and Awards for All.
• In September 2014, the Fund awarded £82 million to 15 areas in England to reduce social isolation amongst older people to enable them to actively participate in their communities and shape priorities for local action.
• The £148 million investment in older people in England is Silver Dreams Fund £16 million, Ageing Better £82 million and The Centre for Ageing Better £50 million.

About The Centre for Ageing Better

• The mission of the Centre for Ageing Better is to make a better older age a reality for more people and not just the lucky few.
• It believes that later life can be a period of opportunity, in which people are active, healthy and connected.
• The Centre for Ageing Better will be part of the What Works Centres, including the National Institute of Excellence, the Education Endowment Foundation and a number of other centres.
• The Centre will be fully operational in 2015.
• The Centre’s principles: In all its work, it will be guided by a commitment to evidence-based change – to bring about change that improves lives, tackling inequality and placing the views and voices of real people at the heart of their work.
• The Centre’s approach: Its goal is to help identify initiatives and behavioural changes that can help people experience the opportunities and manage the challenges so individuals feel that they are ageing well, and the whole of society benefits.
• Additional information on the Centre is available www.centreforageingbetter.com