Reducing social isolation focus of new round of funding

Residents enjoying socialising at the borough's new dementia hub

The community and voluntary sector will be able to apply for funding to reduce social isolation for older people when applications open next month.

The Connecting You: Development Fund offers grants between £2,000 and £20,000, with a total of £200,000 being awarded in this round of funding.

The purpose of the fund is to provide short term funding to support the development of innovative approaches that improve the health and wellbeing of our residents. The fund will invest in effective projects that work directly with our community and promote sustainability of services.

The fund, which is managed by Rochdale Borough Council and NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group, targets specific themes for each round of funding. The themes mean efforts will be focussed to make a real and positive difference to people’s lives.

This round’s theme is reducing social isolation for older people. By 2020 it is estimated there will be 13,500 people over 65 living by themselves in the borough of Rochdale.

Living alone can result in loneliness and isolation which is very harmful to health, with 12% of people over 65 in England reporting feeling persistently or chronically lonely.

Applicants should demonstrate how the proposal in their application contributes to reducing social isolation for older people. Applicants can also highlight how their project makes a contribution to:

• Supporting the borough of Rochdale to become an ‘age-friendly’ place
• Supporting people with dementia
• Supporting access to flu vaccinations
• Promoting self-care within older people
• Targeted projects in neighbourhoods with significantly higher levels of isolation

Future funding rounds will be available in Spring 2019 and Autumn 2019, and the themes will be released at a later date.

To register your interest in this round of funding for reducing social isolation for older people, and to be told what date the funding opens, email:

• developmentfund@rochdale.gov.uk