Case studies - LinkAge and its impact

1. 0
LinkAge is respected and trusted by older people across Bristol and we receive regular
requests for us to support developments in communities across Bristol. These are just
some of the regular comments we receive:
 Loneliness - “I wasn’t sure about coming on my own but the atmosphere was so
friendly I fitted in straight away, thank you.” Marian, 72
 Independence – “ACE changed my life, it makes you happier and more
independent. It’s taken me our of my shell and brought me out to see the world.”
Grace
 Health - “I've now got friends that literally live round the corner and I didn’t even
know they were there. You meet people you wouldn’t have met otherwise. It’s
done a lot for me and cancer just recedes into the background…it’s not important
anymore.” “It’s a funny thing to say but despite of if this these have been some of
the happiest years of my life.” Ann 70
 Active - “I love the social contact and the ability to move to music with
contemporary dance….you don’t normally have the opportunity. You know you
don’t want to stop dancing just because you’re getting a bit older.” Dance
 Fitness - “I joined the Hengrove walking groups in August 2013 because I really
needed something more. I spent a lot of time in my flat which got me down and I
put on quite a bit of weight. In the first 6 weeks I lost 8lbs and I have made lots of
new friends” David 62.
 Community - “At first I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it…I just said I’d be
alright in the house, but my daughter said no, I had to get involved in something.
That was it. She did bring me up to several of the activities and I really did enjoy
them….I enjoy it all and I’ve made a lot of friends. Got to know a lot of people
and it’s been great’ “… it makes you feel…you feel happier in yourself, instead of
getting very fed up and depressed. To sit in the house all day and just do like bits
and pieces and that, it’s not for me. I like to be out…The people I’ve met and the
people I’ve chat to and that now, it’s surprising.’
 Reason for living – “If it wasn’t for LinkAge things would have been entirely
different and I don’t know what would have happened. Its made life bearable.
Well, more than bearable – its made life life again.” Lyn
 Support - “I don’t know what I would have done without LinkAge.” Margaret
 Engaging - “Its just like a big family in a way. They’re not just walkers anymore,
they’re friends as well.” Pat 72
 Accessible - I’ve never been to an event where I was made to feel so welcome,
everyone’s so nice!” Sue 69
 Learning - “It gives me a reason to keep active. Its even changed the way I see
the world, everything is potential painting and sometimes I can’t wait to get home
and start to recreate what I’ve seen” Clifford – Art

2. 
The ACE Project is now called befriending plus
Local Henbury resident Grace Holmes used to live a very isolated life and would spend
days not leaving her home. She felt very alone since her divorce, and with all of her
family living in South Africa she felt that she only had one real friend in Bristol. Grace
received a leaflet through her door asking if she would be interested in taking part in
LinkAge’s ACE Project, which is a peer support programme created by the University of
Bath. The programme supports older adults by having a volunteer attend activities with
them, helping the person to become more active and engaged with their local
community. Grace decided that after years of feeling isolated and alone, she would give
it a go.
Through the project she met her volunteer ACE Activator Marilyn, who is now a very
good friend. Their first day together saw them meet in a coffee shop, where they tried to
find out abit more about each other, such as their interests. Grace said, “I liked Marilyn
instantly; I thought she had a nice, friendly face”.
After the initial meeting they arranged to meet each other weekly, as well as having
weekly phone conversations. The ACE Project encourages people to attend new
activities together, so Grace and Marilyn tried Chairaerobics, New Age Kurling and even
a Cookery Course.
Now 2 years on, Grace is a changed person. She attends weekly Line Dancing classes,
she can regularly be seen at New Age Kurling at the Henbury Centre and she has even
started a Monthly Coffee Morning where she lives! As part of the Coffee Morning, Grace
helps to organise day trips for people who feel isolated and wouldn’t otherwise have the
opportunity to get out of their house. She now
feels that she is part of the community,
and is always meeting new people.
Our ACE Activator Marilyn said, “The whole
experience for me was good and rewarding,
we have a real friendship now.”
Grace said, “ACE changed my life, it makes
you happier and more independent. It’s taken
me out of my shell and brought
me out to see the world.”
Now funded by the Department of Health –
delivered with the support of the University of Bath

3. A young LinkAge volunteer has landed a full time job working with older people after
being inspired by her work with the charity. Lauren Houslander, who was a key figure
behind the award-winning LinkAge cooking classes in Hengrove and she applied for and
was successful in gaining a job as a Care Assistant in a Bishopsworth care home.
She began volunteering with LinkAge whilst doing an apprenticeship in Business Admin
at a South Bristol leisure centre. With no previous experience working with older people,
she was apprehensive at first.
“I was asked to join in one of the walking groups and to be honest I thought it would be a
bit boring. But the older people were amazing – really friendly. I started going regularly,
because I looked forward to having a good chinwag with them!”
Lauren’s enthusiasm for the walks led to her being approached earlier this year to help
with the first LinkAge cooking club, a unique intergenerational project that brings
together socially isolated older people and young people from the local community. The
project has proved hugely successful for both generations, with the young leaders
gaining skills and experience in a work environment while the older people expand their
culinary repertoire and increase their confidence in the kitchen.
“The girls (Lauren and Jess, the other young leader) are terrific. They will help you if you
don't know how to use the scales or if you’ve never turned on a cooker,” says one older
gentleman who attended the cooking club. “They have been there all the time and we’ve
become more confident because we got to know the equipment.”
Lauren’s newfound skills and training helped her to get her new, full-time role as a Care
Assistant. Having never considered such a career path before, her work with LinkAge
inspired her to work with older people in a care setting.
“I used to think that old people in a care home would all be bed-bound and that I
wouldn’t have anything to talk to them about,” explains Lauren. “After working with
LinkAge I’ve realised that they are just like us, just normal people and they are fun to be
around.”
Lauren is even considering setting up a cooking club at the care home once she starts
her new job – something that LinkAge Intergenerational Community Development
Worker Ricky Bush is delighted to hear.

4. “She has been involved right from the start,” says Ricky. “The success of the project is
really credit to her and the other activity leader Jess – they worked hard to make it what
it was. Lauren made the older people in the group feel more confident, which is
important as some of them had never cooked before and none of them knew each other
at first. I’m genuinely really chuffed for Lauren, it shows that young people are really
getting something from the intergenerational work that LinkAge does – they are learning
new skills and using them to get work. It’s even better that she is working specifically
with older people!”

5. During 2015, LinkAge was independently evaluated by a Student from the University of
Bristol, in accordance with the requirements of the degree of ‘Master of Science’ by
advanced study in Nutrition, Physical Activity and Public Health in the Faculty of Social
Sciences and Law.
The final dissertation is in the process of being published and the paper attached at the
end of this article is a summary of findings by the student of the impact of LinkAge.
Please see key exerts from the paper below, which shows strong positive evidence, on
the impact of our work and our model.
“LinkAge activities are social at their core and it is that dimension that means they are
uniquely capable of helping improve the lives of older in Bristol. The activities organised
by LinkAge are ideally suited to address NICE guidelines that state tailored exercise
programmes are key to ensuring the mental wellbeing of older adults (NICE, 2015). This
research supports the idea that community activities in this format also ensure the
physical health of older adults. LinkAge not only provide specific PA Programmes but
make them available in a social format that encourages participation from both inside
and outside of the organisation. The social nature of all the groups means that members
feel comfortable trying new activities and also that potential new members may be more
likely to attend because the impetus in on being social rather than competence of the
actual activity.”
“The researcher found that many members took part in multiple LinkAge activities
because the members found they could rely on the quality of the organisation and the
friendly nature of other groups. This also resulted in there being a smaller than expected
solely social group. Many members commented on how they had chosen to go to a
group because they were interested in the activity such as a film club or walking football,
but then continued to attend because of the socialising and frequent occurrence of
making long lasting friendships. There are older adult activities offered throughout
Bristol, but not all of them offer the same social nature. A great advantage of having so
many activities under the same organisation is that members come to trust the brand
and therefore choose to try other activities. This is also likely to mean that someone who
joins a social club in LinkAge feels more capable of joining a PA group, partly because of
the brand but also because they may have created friends in the social group that attend
the PA group.”
*PA=Physical activity
http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/article/evaluated-impact-of-
linkage.aspx?ct=t(LinkAge_eNewsletter_February_2016)
This was covered in the February edition of the Campaign to End Loneliness
Research Bulletin (page 8). http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-
content/uploads/Research-Bulletin-Feb-2016-final.pdf

6. March 2012 Campaign to End Loneliness’ ‘Combating loneliness - a Guide for local
authorities’ –Link to their resources page http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/for-local-
government-and-healthcare/
June 2013 Beth Johnson Foundation requested LinkAge support the critiquing of their new
‘European Certificate in Intergenerational Learning’.
July 2013 Campaign to End Loneliness’s website tool kit
http://campaigntoendloneliness.org/toolkit/casestudy/bristol-linkage-evaluation/
July 2013 Relate and the New Philanthropy Capital’s report ‘Who will love me when I’m 64?
the importance of relationships in later life’ –. The report is
available http://www.relate.org.uk/policy-campaigns/publications/who-will-love-me-when-im-64-
importance-relationships-later-life House of Lords Launch
October 2013 The Centre for Social Justice report (specific report on
LinkAge) http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/uploads/documents/centre%20for%20social%20justice
%20report%20-%20linkage%20oct%202013.pdf
November 2013 – National evaluation of Silverline, LinkAge mentioned as a positive
community engagement model that would complement Silverline.
http://www.thesilverline.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Evaluation-of-The-Silver-Line-
Helpline-pilot-_When-I-get-off-the-phone-I-feel-like-I-belong-to-the-human-race_.pdf
Feb 2014 Medical Research Council – (Project ACE focus)
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/research/initiatives/lifelong-health-wellbeing/people-projects/
March 2014 - AVON NET (Bath Uni, Bristol Uni, UWE)- Promoting Physical Activity in Older
Adults (project ACE focus)–http://ageactionalliance.org/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2014/03/AVONet-report-2014-March.pdf
April 2014 - CentreForum – Ageing Alone report (LinkAge is one of the case studies)-
http://www.centreforum.org/index.php/mainpublications/612-ageing-alone House of Lords Launch
May 2014 – The Guardian brief mention and link to our website
http://www.theguardian.com/social-care-network/2014/may/12/answer-combating-loneliness-lies-
community
June 2014 – South West Age Action Alliance – Second meeting
http://ageactionalliance.org/theme/south-west-age-action-alliance-network/
October 2014 – mentioned in the Care and Support Statutory Guidance Issued under the
Care Act 2014
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/366104/43380_239
02777_Care_Act_Book.pdf
October 2014 - Medical Research Council – case study on ACE and mentioned LinkAge.
http://www.mrc.ac.uk/documents/pdf/llhw-ace-case-study/
November 2014 – Spoke at the Public Service Transformation Conference London – Elders
as Assets
November 2014 – Spoke at the Inaugural learning network Meeting – Campaign to End
Loneliness
November 2014 - mentioned in ‘Steps to Solving inactivity’ by Public Health England and
presented to government week commencing 10th Nov. http://www.ukactive.com/policy-
insight/steps-to-solving-inactivity-report
November 2014 – helped to launch the South West Senior Network Meeting and South West
Forum of Ageing Conference. Malcolm X Singers, LinkAge Line dancers – talk by local LinkAge
Volunteer and Advisory Group member
December 2014 – Supported AgeUK (National) with filming

7. January 2015 – Campaign to End Loneliness and AgeUK – Promising Approaches Report
http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-content/uploads/Promising-approaches-to-reducing-
loneliness-and-isolation-in-later-life.pdf
January 2015 – Supported and spoke at the SWFOA, SWSN, SW AAA Collaborative
Conference with Lord Filkin. Launched by LinkAge Happy Notes.
February 2015 – Supported Public Service Transformation Service with filming of LinkAge
participants for a case study for them to use on their national website
May 2015 – ITV coverage of Say No to Loneliness launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4nsEtKyF8
September 2015 – LinkAge support the launch of the Assisted Living Facility Launch at the
Robotics centre – featured on Points West https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSgd18x6HoI
October 2015 – LinkAge were nominated this month, for the Outstanding Contribution to Sport
and Physical Activity Award at Wesport's COSE Awards Ceremony
November 2015, Festival of the Future City ‘health day’. You can see a video of the section
that LinkAge took part in focusing on reducing isolation and mental wellbeing
http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/article/linkage-and-the-festival-of-the-future-
city.aspx?ct=t(LinkAge_eNewsletter_November_2015)
November 2015 - We have just returned from being guests at an international symposium in
Hamburg that looked at the Potentials of Old Age (organised by the Korber Foundation).
http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/article/linkage-in-europe---potentials-of-old-age.aspx
December 2015 - One of our Advisory Group members was on Aljazeera TV discussing the
impact of loneliness with an international panel http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201512011502-
0025103
December 2015 - LinkAge’s work as an Earth Champion will be featured as one of 8 local Bristol
projects and will be shown at the climate talks in Paris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABISE9VOWTw&feature=youtu.be
February 2016 – mentioned in the Campaign to End Loneliness research bulletin
http://www.campaigntoendloneliness.org/wp-content/uploads/Research-Bulletin-Feb-2016-
final.pdf
March 2016 – LinkAge was a key note speaker at the national ‘Generations Working Together
Conference’ http://generationsworkingtogether.org/downloads/567932a03aabf-
GWT%20Agenda%202nd%20MARCH%20%202016%20(Final).pdf
March 2016 – LinkAge was the focus of one of the Bank of Irelands and The Telegraph’s
‘Inspiring Partnerships’ series. http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/article/linkage-featured-as-an-
inspiring-partnership.aspx?ct=t(LinkAge_eNewsletter_March_2016)
March & April 2016 – LinkAge had a two month exhibition, ‘Step into My Shoes’ in the Engine
Shed.
April 2016 LinkAge hosts an international learning visit from ‘The Association of the Creative
Initiatives’, a Polish organisation who wanted to learn from our intergenerational practice
Formal evaluation by UWE (conclusion – people more socially connected, less isolated,
increased well being (ONS Happiness Index), more physically active. Please see attached report
LinkAge in St George.
Centre for Social Justice –
http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/uploads/documents/centre%20for%20social%20justice%20report
%20-%20linkage%20oct%202013.pdf
Befriending evaluation -
http://www.linkagebristol.org.uk/uploads/files/LinkAge%20Befriending%20Evaluation%20PDF.pdf

8. Claire Miller, Chief Executive www.LinkAgeBristol.org.uk
Tel: 0117 353 3042 Mobile: 07891488483
E-mail: clairemiller@linkagewestofengland.org.uk
Address: Create Centre, Smeaton Road, Spike Island, Bristol, BS1 6XN