Innovation: The Second Half Centre

United Kingdom

AAI Domains:

• Participation in society (voluntary activity, social connectedness)

• Independent, healthy and secure living (lifelong learning, mental well-being)

• Employment (extending working life after 50)

The Second Half Centre is an innovative health and well-being centre aimed at people aged 50 years and over. It was established in west London in 2012 and is the product of the work of Jill Shaw Ruddock’s Second Half of Your Life Foundation which campaigns and fundraises for improvements in provision for older people, particularly older women.

Jill Shaw Ruddock wrote a best-selling self-help book in 2011, The Second Half of Your Life, and used her profile to influence West London Clinical Commissioning Group and the mayor of Kensington and Chelsea to support the development of the Second Half Centre in 2012. One of the main aims of the Centre is to reduce the social isolation and loneliness that can affect people of any age and to develop solutions to the challenges that an ageing population presents.

The Second Half Centre provides a range of courses and classes including ICT to bridge the digital divide, support for older people who want to return to work or start their own business, exercise in Zumba and yoga classes, a variety of cookery courses and a range of craft and hobby activities taught by volunteer tutors. The Centre has more than 1,500 members (membership is free) and regularly attracts more than 400 older people to visit the centre each week.

The Centre has mobilised more than 100 volunteers as part of Shaw Ruddock’s ambition to take a more positive approach to ageing. In 2014, the running of the Centre was taken over by the charity Open Age as the first step in a partnership with the Second Half of Your Life Foundation to roll out centres across London and then the rest of the country. The testimonials from members indicate that there is latent demand for such centres that cater for the varied needs of older people.

The Second Half Centre provides activities in a number of active ageing domains including voluntary activity, lifelong learning, increasing levels of physical activity, social connectedness, improving mental wellbeing and even extending working life beyond the age of 50 through courses on starting up a business. There is a strong likelihood that more such centres will follow in the future given the profile and commitment of Shaw Ruddock as patron of the charity.