WIREDGOV

Today heralds a landmark £70 million Lottery good cause investment to improve the lives of vulnerable older people by reducing social isolation and helping individuals deal better with change while building their confidence for the future.

A hundred Local Authority areas, where older people are at greatest risk of becoming isolated*, are being encouraged to bid for funding for projects that engage older people in key decision making and shaping priorities for local action.

The funding comes under Big Lottery Fund’s Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better programme, in association with the Daily Mail. The initiative will award funding of between £2m and £6m in around 15 to 20 local areas, over a period of up to six years. Voluntary and community sector organisations will take the lead in working with local older people, as well as public and private sector organisations in their area, to create communities that better support ageing populations.

The Campaign to End Loneliness has found that loneliness and social isolation have a similar impact on mortality as smoking, and can be more detrimental to health and life expectancy than obesity. They also report that social isolation has significant links to a range of chronic conditions, including hypertension, depression, and dementia – increasing the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by 50 per cent**.

Nat Sloane, Big Lottery Fund England Chair, said: “Fulfilling Lives: Ageing Better is a game changing opportunity that focuses our minds on the opportunities that an ageing society provides for us all. The Big Lottery Fund is turning what is a threat into a positive by placing older people in the driving seat of change. Older people and their needs will be at the heart of services for them, ensuring their voices are heard.

“This is coupled with seeding a legacy, investing in projects and initiatives that will help us all look ahead and plan for future generations to age better.”

Eligible local authority areas are being invited to submit an expression of interest by noon on 17 May 2013. Thirty areas will be shortlisted by late summer to identify a voluntary/community sector organisation to take the lead in working up a full funding proposal. Up to 20 successful projects will be awarded grants of between £2m and £6m in spring 2014.

Michelle Mitchell, Age UK's Charity Director General, said: "We are faced with unprecedented demographic change. As a nation we are living longer - the number of people aged over 85 will reach 2.8 million by 2030. The revolution in longevity is of course something to celebrate but also presents huge opportunities and challenges which policy makers have not yet woken up to and we as a society are ill-prepared to deal with. It is one thing to live longer but another to live well.

“We need new solutions and approaches which are based on evidence of what works and gives older people a real say. The Big Lottery Fund understands this and that's why I endorse their programme. It has the potential to demonstrate how we can embrace our ageing society positively and make later life a more fulfilling experience today and tomorrow."

Also announced by BIG today is a further £50 million which will lead to the creation of an independent Centre for Ageing Better***. The Centre, planned to be operational by early next year, will bring together and stimulate the growth of a wide range of evidence to share with older people and professionals involved with their wellbeing. By doing so, the Centre will provide the best evidence of what works in community-based solutions to the challenges and opportunities arising from our ageing population.

Further Information

Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf #ageingbetter
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund

Notes to Editors

•  *The 100 local authority areas have been selected based on a combination of national indicators measuring the number of older people in areas and isolating factors (including living alone, poor health and mobility, income deprivation, caring responsibilities, access to services and transport) produced for Big Lottery Fund by Local Futures
•  **http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org.uk/information-on-loneliness/threat-to-health/
• Since 2004, BIG has funded over £25.4 million in grants benefitting older people across England.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG 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 June 2004 BIG has awarded close to £6 bn.
• The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
•  ***The independent Centre for Ageing Better will also form part of the Government’s network of What Works centres, which was announced on 4 March.

Statistics on older people and ageing:

• There are 10.3 million people aged 65 and over in the UK. This is an 80 per cent increase over six decades, from in 1951. (House of Commons Library, Population ageing: statistics, Tom Rutherford, 10 Feb 2012)
• 51% more people aged 65 and over in England in 2030 compared to 2010 (Ready for Ageing? House of Lords, March 14, 2013)
• 101% more people aged 85 and over in England in 2030 compared to 2010 (Ready for Ageing? House of Lords, March 14, 2013)
• A survey of over 1,000 older people released this month (March 2013) suggest that people aged over-65s spend on average over 6 waking hours alone every day. (http://arcouk.org/2013/03/older-people-in-britain-spend-equivalent-of-over-100-days-alone-each-year/)
• The survey also found that 24% reported feeling lonely “some or most of the time” and 1 in 5 of respondents aged over 75 could go a whole weekend without seeing or speaking to another person.
• The survey found poor health was the biggest worry for older people
• It is estimated that 80% more people aged 65 and over with dementia (moderate or severe cognitive impairment) in England and Wales by 2030 compared to 2010 (Ready for Ageing? House of Lords, March 14, 2013)