The Dunhill Medical Trust is now the Vivensa Foundation
As our Network members are already familiar with the TAPPI and Amar Bari, Amar Jibon projects - both funded by the Dunhill Medical Trust - we wanted to share an important update: the Trust has changed its name to the Vivensa Foundation! (opens new window) This new name better reflects its mission as a funder and impact-intentional investor in research and social innovation for ageing well.
While the name has changed, the Vivensa Foundation remains the UK’s only charitable funder solely dedicated to ageing-related research and social innovation, tackling under-funded and under-addressed areas.
Vivensa Foundation Annual Symposium 2025
The Housing LIN team was pleased to attend yesterday's Vivensa Foundation Annual Symposium 2025 at the Wellcome Collection in Central London, featuring their research showcase and announcing their 2025 Academy Excellence Award winners.
It was a pleasure to hear from the day’s chair, Professor Carmel Hughes (Queen’s University Belfast), along with a lineup of outstanding guest speakers who highlighted the breadth of work supported by the Vivensa Foundation. Dr Alison Pooley (University of Suffolk) spoke on almshouse resilience and the ARC project; Dr Elizabeth Graham (University of Leeds) discussed digitally excluded older adults and the tailoring of interventions to meet their needs; Dr Amy Roberts (King’s College London) explored X chromosome inactivation with age and its links to disease risk; and Dr Peter Jones (City University of London) introduced a new initiative focused on glaucoma assessments in care homes.
Susan Kay, Chief Executive of the Vivensa Foundation, closed the event by announcing the Foundation’s Flagship Programme for its upcoming strategic plan period. Developed in collaboration with the Housing LIN, this initiative will focus on creating practical resources and providing funding for testbed locations to put ideas into action. By fostering partnerships between local authorities, developers, community organisations, and older people themselves, the programme aims to build on over a decade of learning from HAPPI, TAPPI, the Commission on the Role of Housing in the Future of Care and Support, the Older People's Housing Taskforce, and others.
Jeremy Porteus, CEO of the Housing LIN, commented:
"We are honoured to be recognised by the Vivensa Foundation as one of their key strategic partners and are immensely proud of their commitment to support the Housing LIN over the next five years.
Building on the strong foundations laid by our HAPPI and TAPPI programmes - and informed by the recent Older People’s Housing Taskforce report - we are excited to develop a new programme.
This initiative will provide a more dynamic platform for shared learning across our networks, drive innovation and improvement across the sector, and strengthen the evidence base for why suitable housing for an ageing population is vital to the UK’s housing market."