Action on healthy ageing
The UK has a crisis – in large part, of its one making: declining healthy life expectancies.
Recent stats from the Health Foundation’s show that – over the last two years alone – the time we can expect to spend in good health has fallen by two years in the past decade.
This is not “new news”: the 2020 Marmot Report showed a decline in England over the previous decade of 1.7 years for males and 1.9 years for females. Things are simply getting worse.
There are some huge differentials along sociodemographic lines: women in the poorest areas can expect to spend more than 30 years of their lives in poor health compared to 23 years for men.
It’s also worth highlighting the fact that the average age when good health stops is now well before the new (and rising) State Pension Age.
The economic implications are huge: unless this trend is reversed, we will see more and more people having to leave the workplace well before they have saved enough for a comfortable retirement and becoming dependent upon the public purse.
The Government has stated that we need to enable people to work for longer… they certainly recognise the problem; but it’s positive action that is needed. And urgently.
Initiatives on exercise, diet, housing, preventative health, isolation… all these can play a part. And on these pages, we are highlighting some of the positive developments being driven by AAA members, as well as discussing the issues that are not being addressed.
Get involved
We believe constructive dialogue and informed decision making is always the way forward and so we hope to use this section to provide a forum for debate and a home for helpful information and advice… as well as providing a showcase for successful initiatives.
If you would like to contribute in any way, do please get in touch by emailing info@theageactionalliance.org.
The Age Action Alliance is supported by
Latest News
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A quarter of people aged 55-64 in England are physically inactive
New research from Age UK shows that lack of confidence and self-perception are holding many 50–65 year-olds back from group activities and team sports.
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Anchor residents keep clear of the sharks in unforgettable Virtual Reality experience
Residents at Anchor’s Pemberley Place later living development in Bath have been experiencing the wonders of Virtual Reality (VR) – taking them overseas, to concerts… and even underwater.
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From fitness to friendship: Why walking football is a win for Norwich’s Over-50s
Age UK Norwich walking football club is gaining well-deserved recognition after being featured on BBC Radio Norfolk – and it’s easy to see why.
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Age UK: “Millions in midlife put off exercise for life by school PE lessons”
A new campaign from Age UK is calling on the nation to “Act Now, Age Better”
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A decade of life and two of healthy life expectancy: how much living in the right areas of the UK now means
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released 15 April reveals stark gaps in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy between the richest and poorest in England and Wales.
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The nation’s healthy life expectancy continues to decline
The stark figures show new record lows for healthy life expectancy and a widening gap between rich and poor places.
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Mr Motivator urges fitness operators to rethink services for older adults
Derrick Evans MBE, better known as Mr Motivator, has warned that the fitness industry is overlooking older adults, one of the UK’s fastest-growing populations.
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All strength to your legs…
BBC features simple exercise device from AAA members Trainor Jim that “could save NHS billions”
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Launch of simple device to build leg strength in the elderly – reducing frailty and preventing falls
Falls are estimated to cost the NHS more than £2.3 billion per year. Now, a simple and inexpensive exercise device is being launched which the inventors say could radically reduce those statistics.
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10 million midlifers worry about staying healthy as they age
New research by Age UK reveals that three quarters (74%) of adults aged between 50–65 (equivalent to 10 million), worry about staying healthy as they age, and two thirds (65%) or 9.2 million worry about losing their independence as they age.
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The “Move it or Lose it” Annual Healthy Ageing Conference
If healthy ageing is what ticks your boxes why not join Move it or Lose it’s annual healthy ageing conference Please join us on Friday 19th September at The Studio in Birmingham with guest speakers including Tony Watts OBE.
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Living in the poorest parts of England can cost you almost five years of your life
Centre for Ageing Better’s State of Ageing 2025 report highlights the substantial variations in the experiences of growing older across England with the difference in life expectancy in the richest and poorest areas.
Latest blogs & comments
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Healthy ageing… let’s hear it for the men fitness instructors!
While the majority of fitness instructors are ladies, the success of coaches like Lance Fermor shows that there’s a real demand for more older men to join their ranks.
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How can the retirement housing sector achieve its full potential? By adding life to our years.
If the specialist later life housing sector is to play its full part in housing our ageing society, argues Tony Watts OBE, more developers need to focus more on how we age healthily.
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Six ways to look after your brain after 50
Is there anything you can do to stop getting dementia? It’s a fair question, writes Professor June Andrews.
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Extra care housing: can design help improve the health and wellbeing of older people?
Josie Dorling, an architect with Poynton Bradbury Architects, looks at how accommodation that is thoughtfully designed to promote social interaction among residents can help to combat loneliness and isolation.
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5 easy habits for a longer, healthier, happier life
The Open University (OU) is launching a UK-wide month-long national challenge, similar to Dry January but for ageing well: Take Five to Age Well.
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How can housing add years to our life… and life to our years?
This country hasn’t just got a housing crisis. It has a health crisis too. And, writes Tony Watts OBE, by addressing one crisis, we could make a massive impact on the other.
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Fitness doesn’t have an age limit
AAA member Jennifer Grumbley applies her years of knowledge as a pilates and fitness instructor to look at how we can best keep exercising throughout our life and into later years.
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It’s never too late to live a healthier life
Sarah Culpepper of AAA members Glass Sponge Coaching has some helpful advice to improve our healthspans as well as our lifespans… whatever our age!
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We are all paying the price for the nation’s poor and dangerous housing
Amongst all of the predictable hoo-ha around the PM’s call to end the culture of “sick note” Britain, it might well be forgotten that the poor state of our homes, plus crowded living conditions, is playing a key role in the rising tide of poor health in this country as well as startling levels of…