Connecting the Sector

Flourishing Lives is a vital and vibrant connector for the older people’s arts and wellbeing sector, offering opportunities for providers and practitioners to meet, share best practice, forge working partnerships, and cultivate a sense of community and proactive collaboration for the benefit of older people.

When we launched the coalition in 2016 and started the process of meeting with service providers of all shapes, types and sizes, we were astounded at the despondency and feelings of isolation amongst many staff (in even some of the larger institutions), and the fragmentation of the sector serving older people.

Flourishing Lives has proved a vital connector, combating fragmentation and raising the bar. One member of staff commented as we were leaving our first meeting with them, “I feel like the cavalry’s arrived”.

  • We deliver quarterly networking sessions and provide an online forum for practitioners to meet and connect.
  • We disseminate monthly newsletters sharing coalition activities, thought leadership and funding opportunities.
  • We provide consultations and forge working partnerships, connecting organisations to collaborate on projects, including the National Theatre’s ‘Public Acts’ project, partnering with eight community centres across London. 

We reduce the fragmentation of the sector by providing a central hub for providers, linking 350+ coalition member organisations, many of which had never connected before.

We also connect the coalition members with a wider network of international thought leaders, sharing best practice and creating a flourishing global community of organisations advocating for innovation and aspiration in service provision for older people.
 

Our next free quarterly workshop and networking session will be announced here soon so please check back for updates.

'Stable Connections: strengthening engagement in older people's arts & wellbeing during Covid'