From Strategy to System Shift: How Bolton is Reframing What it Means to Be Age-Friendly

In Bolton, we’re not just writing strategies—we’re rewriting the rules on how we deliver them.

Our Age Friendly Strategy 2025–28 (opens new window) is more than a document. It’s a borough-wide commitment to building the conditions we all need to age well—now and into the future.

What sets our approach apart is that it doesn’t sit within any one organisation, service, or institution. It’s co-owned, co-produced, and co-delivered across the system: older people, VCSE organisations, statutory services, community champions, and system partners. The strategy is rooted in lived experience and shaped around four core themes—health and wellbeing, economic challenges, social implications, and transport—all critical to ageing with dignity, connection and purpose.

But let’s be honest: strategy is one thing, delivery is another. That’s the challenge we’ve set ourselves through the Age Well Partnership—the governance structure that holds this work.

We’re asking: what does it really take to turn intent into impact?

Too often, we get tangled in layers of meetings and governance that risk becoming the work rather than enabling it. We’re flipping that script. We’re organising for action—not admin. Prioritising collective accountability over bureaucracy. And championing the brilliant work already happening across Bolton—then building on it.

And we’ll be even more honest: we’re building the plane as we’re flying it. We don’t have all the answers, and we’re not pretending we can fix everything. But we are absolutely committed to giving it a proper go. We’re holding ourselves and each other to account, driving forward meaningful change, and ensuring that the voice of both current and future generations of older people is central to every conversation, every step of the way.

Our distributed leadership model brings this to life. Each theme has its own named system leads, empowered not just to discuss but to deliver. It’s what keeps the strategy alive—adaptive, rooted, and responsive to real-world change.

Because this is about more than services. It’s about creating a culture. A borough where ageing is seen not as decline, but as a valued chapter of life. Where older people are visible, valued, and supported to thrive.

We’re proud of what we’ve built—and even prouder of the way we’re building it: boldly, collaboratively, and always with Bolton's older people at the heart.

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If this caught your attention, the Housing LIN is pleased to host a HAPPI Hour webinar on Tuesday, 21 October 2025 (4pm–5pm), titled ‘Towards age-friendly futures: Local practice and perspectives,’ featuring Lauren as a guest speaker.

To access more tools and resources on age-friendly communities and lifetime neighbourhoods, visit the dedicated topic webpage on the Housing LIN’s Design Hub.