The Big Lottery Fund has today awarded a £50m ten-year endowment to the Centre for Ageing Better.
The organisation, which expects to be fully operational this year, has an anticipated lifetime of ten years. Its approach is to place “older people at the heart of its work”. The Big Lottery Fund will be the organisation's main funder, but it hopes to supplement this with funds from other contributors.
A spokeswoman for the charity said it was “still working out the details of its business plan”, but that it will be providing grants to organisations and individuals, commissioning services and carrying out its own research.
The Centre for Ageing Better’s first chief executive, Sharmila Nebhrajani, left the role after just three months in the job, it was revealed last week. The organisation is currently recruiting for an interim chief executive, which it hopes to appoint in the next few weeks, before going on to appoint a permanent chief executive in late spring.
In its business plan that was submitted to the Big Lottery Fund, the organisation says it will this year recruit a “small number of high-quality staff” around the chief executive to form its “core team”.
It has said that its “key customers” will be voluntary sector bodies, particularly those specialising in ageing, and older people themselves. In its ten years, the organisation aims to address four areas where it believes change is needed. These are: better health, better finances, better social life and better places.
It will form part of the government's What Works Centres network in England, which uses evidence to make better decisions to improve public services. Other centres include the National Institute of Excellence and the Education Endowment Foundation.
The Centre for Ageing Better is chaired by Lord Filkin. He said: “We are delighted to receive this substantial endowment from the Big Lottery Fund. We are here to bring about change that improves lives. We want our work to have lasting consequences to the lives of people as they age.”
Nat Sloane, chair of Big Lottery Fund England, said: “The number of people in the UK over 60 is expected to pass the 20 million mark by 2031, so I am delighted that the Centre for Ageing Better can now put into action our aims to utilise National Lottery funding to help people prepare to grasp the opportunities which this brings, and to address the challenges.”
The endowment, which was first announced in March 2013, forms part of BIG’s £148m investment in England to support better ageing. It has also invested £16m with the Silver Dreams Fund and £82m with a separate programme called Ageing Better.
The organisation is in the process of registering with the Charity Commission in order to become a charitable foundation.
Solutions for an ageing society
Separately UnLtd in partnership with the Coutts Foundation, announced the launch of a pilot venture from to deal with the “challenges faced by an ageing population”.
The Solutions for an Ageing Society Awards Programme will offer strategic support and cash awards from £5,000 to £20,000 to 19 social entrepreneurs who tackle the challenges and opportunities presented by a growing ageing population.
UnLtd and the Coutts Foundation believe “radical new approaches” are needed to address the challenges and opportunities associated with our ageing population, including poverty and disadvantage. The programme is open to applicants from across Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and Wales
