Book of You and Transform Ageing

I have just returned from a few days working with our Business Development Manager, Sara Burgess, who we took on to help roll out our Transform Ageing project in the South West of England. Sara has been working extremely hard since she started and she has made some excellent contacts with people who are keen to learn more about what we do, and also, more importantly, are keen to work with us.

So how did we become a Transform Ageing social venture and what does it involve? We successfully responded to an innovation challenge from communities in the south-west of England, and will receive funding and support to deliver lasting social impact in the region. Book of You are among the selected ventures supported by Transform Ageing, a first-of-its-kind initiative to change the way society approaches and designs services for people in later life.

Funded by the Big Lottery Fund, Transform Ageing takes a community and design-led
approach to improve people’s experience of ageing. It brings together people in later life,
social entrepreneurs, and health & social care leaders to define the challenges and to
support the development and delivery of new approaches to ageing. All ventures responded
to six distinct innovation briefs set by local people in Somerset, Devon, Torbay and
Cornwall.

Transform Ageing is focused on the south-west of England. It is being delivered by UnLtd,
the foundation for social entrepreneurs, The Design Council, Centre for Ageing Better and
the South West Academic Health Science Network. Delivery of the programme is supported
locally by four organisations: Community Council for Somerset, Devon Communities
Together, Torbay Community Development Trust, and Volunteer Cornwall to ensure the
challenges meet specific local needs.