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Life Transitions

Logo HAIRE A

Healthy Ageing through Innovation in Rural Europe (HAIRE) was a project funded by Interreg 2 Seas and the EU’s European Regional Development Fund. It was led by the Social Innovation Group at the University of Exeter and ran until March 2023.

East Sussex County Council and Rother Voluntary Action were among a team of 15 project partners from across the UK, France, Belgium and Netherlands, supported by 20 ‘observer partners’ and the Joint Secretariat from Interreg.

HAIRE worked with older people in Robertsbridge and Rye to develop and test systems that empowered and enabled older people to:

  • define what support they need
  • participate in the design and delivery of services
  • develop solutions for themselves, supported by the voluntary, private and public sectors.

To help do this, the project developed a novel ‘HAIRE toolkit’ that helped local people and organisations find out about each other and their communities in new ways. This understanding was used to:

  • reduce isolation and loneliness and improve wellbeing in the 60+ age group
  • increase active participation of older people and the voluntary sector in service design and delivery
  • increase collaboration between local agencies and Voluntary and Community Sector Organisations (VCSOs)
  • create new models of service delivery
  • achieve widespread change to models of delivery across the 2Seas area and beyond.

Events

As part of the Ageing Well Digital Festival 2020, the project ran a series of one-hour events around the themes of healthy ageing. Please see our events page: HAIRE Ageing Well Festival events. 

Get involved

We have an exciting volunteer opportunity to help develop and test a new Life Transitions Service.  This will support people to prepare for significant changes, or ‘life transitions’, that occur in later life, such as retiring, moving home, experiencing changes in health/mobility, and finding new interests and purpose.

We are looking for people to be a part of this new development that aims to improve the lives of older people.

You don’t need to be an expert on any ‘life transition’ – you just need be keen to be part of a new project and be someone who wants to play a part in improving people’s lives.

Come and get involved, meet new people and share your experience and thoughts. Learn new skills and help make a positive difference to people’s lives now and in the future. 

For more information about the roles, read our volunteer opportunities leaflet  [32.8 KB] [docx]

To find out more or to get involved:

Email: Life Transitions Project Officer.