The Greater Manchester (GM) Active Ageing Programme was a £1-million initiative to explore new ways to encourage physical activity for those over 55. Funded by Sport England, the programme ran for a two-year period coming to an end in March 2020.
The programme needed to explore healthy ageing to tackle inequalities and the psychosocial barriers to physical activity amongst older adults. A series of pilots were developed across eight of GM’s ten localities with each using common principles to address local strategic need and provide opportunities. Each pilot was co-designed with older adults and local councils to ensure the provision met the needs of the local communities. Activities set up as part of the programme included;
- A Brew, Loo and Something to do
- Orienteering (not a walk in the park)
- Toddler yoga
- FitSteps Fab
- Canal-a-size
Overall 2,666 older adults took part in activities during the programme. At the beginning of the programme 71.1% of participants were inactive (less than 30 minutes of physical activity a week), however after six months this had reduced to just 14.5%. Across the programme, a number of key themes were identified that enabled successful design, implementation, evaluation and sustainability of physical activity provision for older adults;
- Co-design supports meaningful engagement
- Design and run varied activities
- Attracting older adults
- Volunteers
- Sustainability
- Evaluating the programme
The final report, developed and written by evaluation partner, The University of Manchester, is now available to read. We have also produced a 'learning report' to pull out the key headline findings from the programme evaluation.
Find the full evaluation report and the learning report here.
We hosted an event on 16th November 2020 to share the key learnings of the programme along with the future direction of Active Ageing for Greater Manchester. You can watch a recording of the event and download the presentation slides, session notes and questions and answers.
