OD&V were delighted to be involved in the planning, management and delivery of the Ageing Better Conference for a second year. The 2-day conference held in Margate, Kent attracted the largest audience yet, with over 100 people joining host Dave Martin, Associate with The Centre for Policy on Ageing, and various speakers at the Turner Contemporary gallery to listen to and disseminate the learning accumulated by the 14 national Ageing Better programmes over the past 4 years of activity.
The conference had an external focus in addition to the internal review which has been the approach in the past. Alongside delegates from each of the Ageing Better partnerships, the conference welcomed experts and professionals from a range of other organisations including the NHS, Campaign to End Loneliness, Royal College of GPs, Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and the Centre for Ageing Better.
Parallel sessions were held on both days in various locations around Margate. This included the local Feelgood Factory, the site of Ageless Thanet’s health and wellbeing project and The Drum at Droit House, home of the local Tourist Information Bureau. Hand held voting devices allowed for live feedback and polling to be collected throughout the conference, which fed into the day two content.
Delegates enjoyed amazing views of the Margate sands from the conference room and also while being transferred to various hotels and the evening venue. All transport and accommodation logistics were managed by OD&V internally.
An unusual experience for the networking dinner on day one saw delegates arrive under the rollercoasters of Dreamland Margate for a traditional ‘fish and chips’ evening in the arcade’s Roller Disco. The evening finished with some exciting roller disco activity.
Organised for the Big Lottery Fund by Opening Doors & Venues in partnership with Hall Aitken, the main aim of the residential conference was to encourage networking between programmes and share the learning of how Ageing Better work is helping to combat loneliness and social isolation for people over 50.