Member Article

Wates improves mobility for older people in Manchester

A series of benches and resting areas have been installed throughout key access routes in Old Moat to enable older residents to move more easily between their homes and local services. This is in response to research around the needs of older people commissioned by Southway Housing Trust.

Affordable housing contractor, Wates Living Space, donated time and resources to complete the work after joining a campaign to improve the lives of older people in South Manchester.

The contractor also made a donation to the local Age-friendly Transport Subgroup, which aims to improve transport provision for older people in the neighbourhood and Didsbury Good Neighbours to help them with their on-going support of the Dementia Café in Didsbury Park.

Forty three per cent of Southway homes contain at least one person over the age of 60, with a high proportion living on low incomes or suffering from illness or a disability.

The Age-friendly Strategy is a partnership between Southway Housing Trust and the Valuing Older People Team at Manchester City Council. It aims to address the environmental and social factors that contribute to healthy ageing in communities such as Old Moat.

Lee Sale, Regional Business Manager for Wates Living Space, commented: “It is important to us to use our presence in communities to understand the real issues affecting tenants and establish what we can do to help. The population in South Manchester has a high percentage of older people and in Old Moat; these residents were struggling to access vital services due to poor mobility. The installation of these benches and resting areas is the first step of a programme of improvements we are delivering to tackle issues such as this in partnership with Southway Housing Trust and Manchester City Council.”

Local MP for Manchester Withington, Jeff Smith, added: “The work of the Valuing Older People team to bring together partnerships in the city is making a real difference as this work in Old Moat shows. We are going to face more challenges in the future as the population ages so it is important that we can look ahead, prepare and ensure that we involve older people to identify what we can do to help and support them in their communities. This project is a great example of collaborative working.”

Catherine Morris, Age-friendly Project Officer for Southway Housing Trust, explained: “The research we have undertaken is unique in its approach and the first of its kind to look at how neighbourhoods can be made more age-friendly. The key to its success was the involvement of local older people who were central to the research. By sharing their views and experiences on how their neighbourhoods and communities can support them as they age, we were able to identify a range of recommended actions to achieve this. The benches are one example of relatively small-scale improvements that can make a big difference to people’s lives. The support from Wates has been great.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Wates .