First established in 1994, Leeds Older People’s Forum has been evolving, changing and growing for over two and half decades.
Timeline of events
- 1994 | Leeds Older People’s Community Care Forum launches in Leeds Civic Hall with 61 members
- 1997 | The organisation adopts a constitution and officially becomes a charity
- 1999 | The reconfiguration of services for older people begins in Leeds West
- 2000 | First International Day of Older Persons celebration held at West Yorkshire Playhouse
- 2001 | The organisation is renamed Leeds Older People’s Forum, to reflect the concerns that older people are much broader than ‘community care’. National Service Framework for Older People (a 10 year Government action plan) also launches in Leeds
- 2009 | Leeds City Council launches ‘A City for All Ages – developing a strategic approach to ageing’
- 2010 | Strategic plan of action to work towards an age-friendly city launches at a conference chaired by Leeds Older People’s Forum and Leeds Adult Social Care
- 2011 | Leeds Older People’s Forum publishes ‘Scanning the Horizon: the effects of spending cuts on Older People in Leeds’
- 2012 | A new campaigning role for Leeds Older People’s Forum is developed, focusing on issues such as the need for greater accessibility in Leeds city centre
- 2013 | Leeds Older People’s Forum champions intergenerational practice through various initiatives and publishes ‘Generations Together: intergenerational work in the city’
- 2014 | Leeds Older People’s Forum leads and wins the bid for £6m from the Big Lottery to tackle loneliness and social isolation in Leeds, after consulting with more than 800 older people.
- 2015 | Leeds becomes one of 14 Ageing Better areas, from 100 local authority areas applying. Time to Shine – a six year programme led by LOPF – is launched
- 2016 | Forum Central – a partnership between LOPF, Volition, PSI Network and Tenfold – begins as a collective voice for the health and care third sector
- 2018 | Leeds Older People’s Forum helps to bring more resources and expertise to Leeds for improving transport and housing and community links for older people through our key partner role in Age Friendly Leeds and with the Centre for Ageing Better
- 2019 | Age Proud Leeds campaign launched
- 2020 | Time to Shine is extended for an additional year, due to Covid-19 crisis
- 2021 | Time to Shine ends after seven years
- 2022 | Enhance programme begins, in partnership with Leeds Community Healthcare, Leeds City Council, and 14 delivery partners, as does Travel Connections (funded by Department for Transport) with 12 projects to reduce loneliness through transport.
- 2023 | Two more new programmes begin: BOSS (Be Online and Stay Safe, funded by Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport) and the Good Practice Mentor scheme.