Age-friendly Belfast

Age-friendly

Belfast was the first city in Northern Ireland to join the World Health Organisation's Global Network of Age-friendly Cities.

In an age-friendly city, organisations work together to make sure the quality of life for people is enhanced as they age.

We are part of the Healthy Ageing Strategic Partnership (HASP) which has been working for the last 18 months, consulting with over 700 older people.

Specific concerns were highlighted around maintenance of pavements, public toilets and outdoor seating and home heating.

HASP, which is part of the Belfast Strategic Partnership, has developed an Age-friendly plan to address these issues. These include:

• running an arts festival for older people
• continuing with the Older Volunteer Awards
• working with housing providers to communicate housing options;
• developing several age-friendly outdoor spaces
• developing an Age-friendly Belfast standard for businesses, and services to strive towards

To find out more call 028 90 502073 and request a copy of the Age Friendly Belfast Plan 2018 – 2021. 

To view the Age-friendly Belfast profile visit the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency website.

Intergenerational guide and toolkit

We've produced a guide and toolkit aimed at bringing younger and older generations together.

They're designed for leaders of young and older people’s groups, helping them engage with older and younger people, promote participation and a sense of belonging. 

The guide and toolkit are easy to use, and broken into sections that give practical examples of activities, tools and templates for planning and running intergenerational projects.

The benefits include:

• increased self-confidence
• a sense of belonging in the community
• opportunities to influence government policy and community planning
• more positive perception of people from different generations
• new skills development like lobbying, cooking, IT and creative arts
• further participation in the community and stronger feelings of citizenship
• mutual understanding and increased sense of empathy between generations

If you would like a copy of the toolkit, call 028 9050 2073. 

Positive Ageing Month

Positive Ageing Month is a festival of events and activities for older people. The festival has online and live events in Belfast from 1 until 31 October 2020.