Greater Manchester’s Age-friendly Strategy, 2024-2034 is a commitment from partners in the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub to delivering on the shared priorities, outcomes and objectives to address the opportunities and challenges of an ageing population in Greater Manchester.
The Live Well in Later Life programme delivers on Greater Manchester’s Age-friendly Strategy and the Greater Manchester Strategy’s commitment to Everyday Support in Every Neighbourhood (Live Well) to meet the needs of the city-region’s older population.
The Live Well in Later Life Blueprint (available in the Chest) has been developed with partners to set out a shared vision and approach that builds on the learning from the Ageing in Place Pathfinder and supports partners to “grow and spread” age-friendly approaches and impact for our older residents by:
- Growing social connection and community belonging
- Having a voice and participating in local communities
- Being active and healthy ageing
- Building financial resilience
- Maintaining independence in a place called home
Findings from the Ageing in Place Pathfinder, including the final report, Greater Manchester Ageing in Place Pathfinder 2022-25: Lessons to Live Well in Later Life are available on our web pages.
To support delivery of Live Well in Later Life and enable the dissemination of learning from the Ageing in Place Pathfinder, the GM Ageing Hub has successfully secured £1.94 million of external funding over the period from January 2026 to December 2028. Match funding requirements (cash and in-kind across partners) brings the total investment close to £5 million. A press release about the funding can be accessed here.
Grant funding is supporting the partnership with the overarching goals to:
- Improve social connection, sense of belonging and civic participation amongst the current and future older population of Greater Manchester to support healthier ageing.
- Directly address the challenges of a rapidly ageing and increasingly diverse older population, and the social, health and financial inequalities experienced by many of our older residents.
All activity is underpinned by three strategic objectives for system change identified through the learning and evaluation of the Ageing in Place Pathfinder:
- Creating an age-inclusive culture: older people’s voices are routinely heard and their experiences inform policy and practice across Greater Manchester.
- Place focused action: embedding age-friendly practice in all of our neighbourhoods, working at scales that are meaningful and building relationships and partnerships with residents.
- A movement for cross-sector collaboration: people, organisations and knowledge are connected and we are continuing to learn together how to create change. We are creating collaborative peer-to-peer relationships with residents in places that are enduring.
The Live Well in Later Life VCFSE sector support and Older People’s Leadership & Participation support elements are part of the collective and enabling approach across partners, working at a neighbourhood, locality and Greater Manchester level, to implement the Live Well in Later Life Blueprint.
Live Well in Later Life: Preliminary Engagement Event
10th June 2026, 1pm-2.30pm, Online
Interested parties are invited to register their interest in attending via the messaging function on The Chest by 5pm on Monday 8th June, include your name, organisation, job role, and email address in your message.
A link to attend the online session will be sent by email prior to the event.
A recording of this event will be made available shortly after the event.
Registration to this event should be via the messaging section on the Chest platform Project reference: DN817231
Please note : any upcoming procurement activity will also be co-ordinated via the chest portal The Chest: North West Procurement Portal
Purpose
The purpose of this Preliminary Engagement Event is to notify interested parties that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) is looking for organisations to deliver key elements of the Live Well in Later Life grant funded programme. Delivery will be between October 2026 and December 2028 and grant funding is available to support these activities.
GMCA invites organisations to attend who wish to bid for 1 or more of the following grant elements:
- Live Well in Later Life VCFSE Sector Support
- Live Well in Later Life Older People’s Leadership & Participation Support:
2a. Community reporting
2b. Leadership and skills development
2c. Learning and system change
The event will:
- Outline the Live Well in Later Life programme and purpose of grant funding.
- Set out the shared outcomes.
- Discuss the delivery requirements for the grant funded elements.
- Outline the evaluation criteria for grant bids.
- Set out the proposed process for grant award.
Following this event it is proposed that a competitive grant process is undertaken to award grants to undertake these projects. An invitation to bid will be issued on the Chest for all bidders, no later than 3rd July 2026. Bidders will have approximately 25 day period for submission, with a proposed deadline of 7th August 2026. Further details of the timeline will be shared at the event and in the bid pack.