The Centre for Ageing Better is a new charitable foundation that works to help people benefit from the opportunities, and manage the challenges, of ageing. It aims to apply evidence of what works to public policy and drive changes in line with that evidence. It began operating in 2015 and has 16 employees.

The centre’s mission is to develop, share and apply evidence to help people age better, bring fresh thinking to the challenges and opportunities faced by society as more people live longer and bring about change to improve later lives.

By 2024, the centre says, there will be 4.9 million more people aged 60 and over compared to 2014 (an increase of 24%), and 0.5 million more people aged 85 years and over (an increase of 33%).

In 2013, the Big Lottery Fund announced support for the development of a ‘Centre for Ageing Better’, and in January 2015 awarded the nascent centre a £50 million endowment in order to help it identify what works in the ageing sector through bridging the gap between research, evidence and practice. The centre has received further development funding from the Department of Health and the Department of Communities and Local Government.

The centre is a member of the What Works network, a group of nine organisations committed to developing evidence that can inform better decisions aimed at improving public services. Other members include the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the Sutton Trust and the What Works Centre for Wellbeing.

The centre has several priorities for improving later lives (defined as people aged over 50). These include the ability to manage major life changes, to be in fulfilling work, to contribute to surrounding communities, to be physically active, to live in suitable homes and neighbourhoods and to live in age-friendly communities.

The centre is actively looking for partnership opportunities and has developed two partnerships already. In March 2016, it announced a five year partnership with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority in order to make Greater Manchester an ‘age friendly’ city-region and support people over 50 to re-enter the labour market. The centre has another partnership with Business in the Community which is aimed at making the case for age friendly workplaces.

The centre is seeking motivated and talented people to join its team. It offers a variety of opportunities including permanent roles, fixed term roles, secondments, internships, volunteering and lay involvement.