By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead PUT more than 100 over 50-year-olds into a room, and you get a vast wealth of knowledge, wisdom and experience – and the odd gripe. That is what happened last weekend when we brought over 50-year-olds together for the launch of the ground-breaking Torbay Over 50’s Assembly – the first of its kind in Devon and Cornwall. The … Continue reading Assembling an Assembly

More than 100 people attended the launch of the Torbay Over 50’s Assembly on Saturday in Preston. Over 50-year-olds from Brixham, Torquay and Paignton gathered to learn more about the Assembly, the first of its kind in Devon and Cornwall and to share concerns about a variety of topics. TOFA is currently recruiting members for its Assembly Action Group as well as setting up town … Continue reading TOFA – a First for Devon and Cornwall

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead Technology is the latest weapon in the long-running battle against loneliness and isolation in young and old alike Here at Ageing Well Torbay, we know only too well the misery and sadness that isolation can bring to the over 50’s in particular, and we are constantly looking for new ways to tackle it. Over the last four years … Continue reading Gearing up against loneliness

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead At the risk of blowing the Ageing Well trumpet too loudly – Torbay is very lucky to have this £6m lottery-funded project. Well, he would say that wouldn’t he, I hear the dissenters say, after all, I am paid by Ageing Well and have been for more than ten months, and in those ten months my mind has … Continue reading Ageing Well?

By Sue McDermott, Programme Manager Last week Comic Relief raised £63 million, but there was also criticism levelled at the BBC for an unrealistic portrayal of poverty in Britain. Was that criticism justified? I have managed projects funded through Comic Relief, so I know the difference it makes to local charities and people first hand. But Comic Relief’s action on poverty is nothing new – … Continue reading Kindness in the face of Adversity

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead Exciting times. We are now just a few weeks away from the launch of the Torbay Over 50’s Assembly. In one way it is just the beginning, but in another, it is the culmination of many months of hard work by a dedicated group of over 50-year-olds who are determined that their age group have a voice in … Continue reading Join us for the launch of the Torbay Over 50’s Assembly

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead. The best-laid plans of mice and …. a well known saying that takes on a whole new meaning when discussing plans for retirement Last week we spent hours in meetings in Torquay, Paignton and Brixham asking the question: “What do you wish you had known before you retired?” A simple question with seemingly an unlimited number of answers, … Continue reading Next Steps to retirement

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications Lead A date for your diary – Saturday, October 19th. It might seem a long way away now, but try telling that to the organisers of the Ageing Well Torbay annual festival who started work in earnest as soon as the last one finished. For them, it is less than eight months away and to get it right to … Continue reading Ageing Well Festival 2019

By David Gledhill, Marketing and Communications lead We need to talk about mental health. For some peculiar reason, we feel comfortable swapping stories about physical illnesses, particularly in Winter when the latest virus strikes, but never mental health We skirt around it using vanilla phrases such as I’m feeling a bit stressed or I am a bit down today, but whilst we would be happy … Continue reading Let’s talk about mental health