Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole have more older adults than the national average, and this group is growing faster than any other. The 2021 Census data shows that people aged 55-59 increased by 27.3%, and those aged 70-74 increased by 39.5%.

We have teamed up with partners to make our community more age friendly. We believe that talking about healthy aging and improving accessibility can help everyone, including future generations.

We are part of the Centre for Ageing Better's UK Network of Age Friendly Communities. They have a video that explains what an age friendly community is.

We also aim to become recognised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and join their Global Network of Age Friendly Cities and Communities.

Our Age Friendly Community vision

We want Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole to be age friendly places to live, work, and visit.

Our three priorities for 2023 to 2025 are:

• engage with older adults and our partners
• help older adults to participate socially and connect with their communities
• work with local employers on age friendly practices

We made an Age Friendly Community action plan alongside our partners, based on  recommendations of the WHO Age-friendly Cities Network and their 8 key areas. This plan covers our main goals until April 2025.

If you want to stay updated with our plans, you can subscribe to our Age Friendly Community email newsletter.

We'll also update this page with our latest progress reports. Our initial summary report shows our first actions, findings and meetings with our partners.

Independent Age has advice guides, factsheets and leaflets page that provide helpful resources for older adults, their families and carers. Independent Age is a charity that helps older people facing financial difficulties.