Age Unlimited

Read about our Age Unlimited programme, where we supported 10 projects aimed at helping older people stay active in later life.

At Nesta we see older people as a hidden source of innovation, whose assets – time, commitment and insight – can play a critical role in solving social challenges. Our Age Unlimited programme, which ran from 2010-2012, sought to harness this potential to create new services aimed at helping older people lead better lives. Here's how we got on...

What did we do?

We looked for ideas that addressed two specific challenges: how to prepare people in their 50s and 60s for retirement, and how to enable older people to continue contributing to society, through work, volunteering and the sharing of assets.

In 2010, we selected 10 projects to receive funding, advice and support to test and develop their ideas over an 18-month period.

In each project, older people played a key role in the design and delivery of the services. To get an idea of how this worked in practice, check out this video of one of the projects, Forward Thinking, a people-powered network of social groups and activities for men aged 50 and over, developed by Age UK Hackney and commonground:

As well as backing our 10 projects, we also:

- Published a number of research reports into the role of work in the second half of life:

• The grey economy
• Preparing for ageing
• The new old age

- Supported 20 older entrepreneurs looking to set up a business through our Age Unlimited Scotland programme.

- Designed a guide for older entrepreneurs looking to start a business, which you can download here: Rooted: A guide to growing your own social venture.

Want to know more?

Click on the links above and to the right to read our write-ups on what we learned. Our Age Unlimited programme has now come to an end, but our work in this space goes on. For all enquiries about our current practical ageing work, contact: vicki.sellick@nesta.org.uk or visit our Ageing and Innovation section.