The broad definition of volunteering, given by the NCVO, includes any unpaid activity which benefits the society or other people. This could be formal activity, undertaken through a service provider or informal activity within the community. Typically, formal volunteering involves a recruitment proc...
Stories
Encouraging Diversity, Building Community - in a Care Home and Beyond… “In this day and age, when people are more open and able to speak freely about their sexuality, some of the older generation are still a little bit more reserved with it. It’s important that once they’ve come out and been ...
If you are from the black country, we urge you to sign up to this important Cabinet Office Policy Lab Workshop On Friday the 15th June the Office for Civil Society is organising a workshop with speakers from organisations such as the Jo Cox Loneliness Commission and the Cabinet Office. D...
New Birmingham project seeks to increase social connections between older carers and the wider community We are pleased to announce that Making Space for Carers has been awarded to Forward Carers Consortium. Making Space for Carers is a 2-year project that seeks to increase social connections betwee...
National statistics on wellbeing 2017 The Office for National Statistics recently published its 2017 report which reveals the positive news that the general quality of wellbeing in the UK is rising. This is reflected in the findings that ‘average ratings of happiness and feeling that the things done...
Are you over 50 and isolated? Do you know of someone who could benefit from meeting new people and making friends? Here at Ageing Better in Birmingham we support people who are over 50, based somewhere in the city and who would like to get to know people in their local neighbourhood. W...
Well we can start by looking at what we can do together! That is exactly what citizens of Birmingham have done. By starting new or expanding on existing community groups, people in Birmingham are organising activities for isolated older people. A movement is underway which we hope will continu...
Ageing with Pride awarded to Birmingham LGBT The project, one of several within the LGBT Community Local Action Plan, is co-designed with older LGBT people. It is an intensive campaign through effective marketing and communication approaches using community development and active citizenship....
Born 1954, Michael shares his experiences of being gay and staying in the closet for much of his life. In this great blog post, we get to know a man who felt he had to confine to the norms of society, which at the time he grew up was not accepting sexuality outside the heterosexual spectrum.Speaking...
Exciting new project in Sparkbrook Connect Sparkbrook: Addressing Older People’s Social Isolation is a two-year, ward-wide project, capable of reaching all parts of the Sparkbrook Ward and all its communities. The project will have two work streams: Connecting Communities with a focus on place, toa....
Caring for a loved one, particularly one who is suffering from dementia, can be lonely and isolating, so it’s good to be able meet with others who are in the same position, talk about shared experiences and offer support and guidance to one another. Located at the border of Sandwell and Birmingham, ...
Ageing Well in Birmingham Birmingham City Council in partnership with Birmingham and Solihull Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) invite you to an engagement event about the development of a new Birmingham Ageing Well Strategy. This Ageing Well event has two main aims, and they are: To provide...
The Ageing Better community is invited to attend Hearing Birmingham: A Debate on the City's Future On the 24th May, The Hearings, a not-for-profit organisation co-founded by the founders of Intelligence Squared, The Week and openDemocracy are organising an event which will expl...
National Express West Midlands is offering FREE workshops around using their digital tools when travelling by bus. The bus company, one of the largest bus operators in the UK, will support you in becoming a ‘tech savvy’ senior or an overall ‘bus genius’, to help make traveling by bus as easy ...
A Group for 60+’s that was Reborn, thanks to Ageing Better In Birmingham funding The Pathfinders Domino and Craft club runs every Friday lunchtime at the Birmingham Community Association in Small Heath – members are treated to a tasty lunch and then they can relax and play dominos, “make and create”...
Birmingham Community Innovation Fund is welcoming new proposals which can support the three priorities: supporting social participation and loneliness; carers; and preventing homelessness. The fund is delivered by Birmingham City Council in partnership with Crowdfunder to match funds raised by proje...
Citizens rewarded for their “life-changing” work Kind-hearted neighbours who have “changed the lives” of the lonely and isolated across Birmingham have been rewarded for the work they are doing to boost the physical and mental health of those most in need. Citizens at the heart of our programme, hav...
"The sun came out and shone on us all on the 26th of March 2018" On Monday 26th March 2018, Ageing Better in Birmingham held its annual Spring Forward event that is coordinated by Groundwork West Midlands and the Age of Experience group. The aim of Spring Forward is to celebrate the positive ...
Two charities in Birmingham among eight winners of the 2018 GSK IMPACT Awards. A prestigious national award for improving health and wellbeing in communities across the UK, has been awarded to two charities from Birmingham. Birmingham LGBT, who provides a wide range of health and w...
Google's Digital Garage in Birmingham is offering new learning opportunities! Google's Digital Garage is arranging short workshops to offer digital skills coaching from beginner’s level to more advanced levels in relation to Spreadsheets, Staying Safe Online, Writing for Social Media and Digi...