A Good Life

'A Good Life' is an exciting initiative designed to bring community groups, businesses and volunteers together to tackle loneliness in later life.

Funded by the National Lottery Community Fund, the programme brings together public and voluntary sector agencies including Community Action Network, BCP Council, Bournemouth University, Help and Care, Poole Housing Partnership, PramaLife and Public Health Dorset.

The programme aims to increase awareness amongst the wider community of the challenges of loneliness and social isolation that older people face, and equip community groups and businesses to identify and engage with older people, ultimately developing their own solutions to local need.

It is our aim that through the programme, older people will have greater knowledge of community services and activities, participate in more activities, and so will experience improved health and wellbeing, and reduced loneliness.

Despite the pandemic, over the last 2 years it made a great difference to the older people it has supported in Poole and has successfully piloted some ways of working with them without the need for face to face contact. All the partners feel that A Good Life has a lot more potential and needs to trial the original method of working that relied on face to face contact with volunteers (Community Connectors) and development of supportive links within neighbourhoods.  Although the partners and the Lottery have been very happy with CAN’s management of the project, we at CAN have been thinking seriously hard as to whether we are the best lead to ensure that A Good Life can reach its full potential and be sustained. Therefore the partnership and the funder have agreed that the lead delivery partner will be PramaLife, rather than CAN, from 1 December 2021.

To find out more about A Good Life and Yours Sincerely, to refer yourself or someone else or to volunteer please contact Sue Warr, PramaLife Pathways Manger, 07867 354588, [email protected]