It is heart-breaking to hear older people say that they have no value and purpose anymore – something we hear almost every day at the Charity.

These are amazing people with a rich life history to share, yet for most they have no one with whom to share their wisdom and life story. Our aim as we move beyond the pandemic is to therefore provide opportunities for our members to feel valued; that they have a purpose and something meaningful to contribute to society.  One of the ways in which we intend to achieve this is through ‘The Ageing Journey’ Project.

The Ageing Journey Project is a collaboration between Time to Talk Befriending, the Centre for Social Work Innovation and Research at the University of Sussex and Engaging with Ageing. The project aims to:

* Learn from the wisdom of people in their later year about ageing and the ageing journey - the positives and the challenges including facing end of life.
* Understand current perceptions about ageing by hearing from people of all ages about what they consider to be old and how they would like to be when they are older.

Together with people of all ages we will co-design training and resources about the ageing journey based on lived experience and current perceptions about ageing.

Our goal is to:
* Change negative perceptions about ageing.
* Use the project as a platform to talk about the realities of ageing including the difficult stage of the life-course - death and dying.
* Build resilience in younger people in the hope to prevent loneliness as we age.

If you would like to find out more about the Ageing Journey Project please contact info@tttb.org.uk.