Bury Council is proud to be a member of the UK Network of Age Friendly Communities.
As populations age, care and support systems are vital for older people to continue actively engaging and enriching their communities.
The International Day of Older People on 1 October was set up by the United Nations to promote and recognise the rapid growth in the number of people reaching older ages and the importance of health, preventing, and treating illnesses throughout the entire course of life.
Bury is proud to be leading the way with initiatives such as Take a Seat, dementia care and the prevention of falls within care homes.
Take a Seat
‘Take A Seat’ is about raising awareness of how older people sometimes struggle to get out and about because there isn’t enough seating available for them to rest.
To encourage more older people to venture out to their local shops, Age Friendly Bury is helping local businesses to understand the importance of offering a seat to an older person should they need it.
Venues taking part have a ‘We Are Age Friendly’ sticker displayed in their window. or you can find out more at Take a Seat Bury | The Bury Directory
Falls prevention
An innovative digital health app is saving lives in our care homes by preventing falls and reducing the number of callouts for ambulances.
The Safe Steps app was piloted across 37 care homes in Bury using a deterioration management and multifactorial falls prevention app.
The Safe Steps app was developed by Bury Integrated Delivery Collaborative, Primary Care, the council, SafeSteps, and Health Innovation Manchester.
According to North West Ambulance Service data, falls in the care homes fell from 83 in Jan-Mar 2023 to 51 in the same quarter in 2024 – a reduction of 38%.
This meant a reduction of 35 to 15 ambulances treating patients at care homes (57%), and a further 12% reduction in patients being conveyed to hospital.
This compares with the rest of Greater Manchester which saw a 10% overall rise in falls in the same period.
Analysts predict the initiative could see one less person will die as the result of a fall and save NHS Greater Manchester almost £500,000 per year.
Supporting people with dementia scheme wins national award
Dementia patients and older people are being supported in Bury thanks to an award-winning service across the north of Greater Manchester.
Teamwork between health, care and voluntary organisations has successfully brought in new ways of supporting people needing emergency care and hospital admission.
The Frontrunner programme aims to move people quicker from hospital to home after treatment, as well as improve emergency care for people living with dementia.
It is funded by NHS England and is led by the Four Localities Partnership, which brings together teams from the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, the mental health services from Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, and adult social care teams, voluntary and mental health services across Bury, Oldham, Rochdale and Salford.
Frontrunner has won the Best Use of Integrated Care and Partnership Working in Patient Safety Award at the national HSJ Patient Awards for its services for dementia patients.
Events
This International Day of Older People there are a number of events taking place. Persona, The Fed and some of our care homes will be holding events for their residents.
Information stand
We will have an information stand at The Rock (Knife Angel Site) promoting their services on Tuesday 1 October between 10am-3pm.
Public Health, The Staying Well Team, Bury Live Well service, Revenues and Benefits, Housing and Healthwatch will be promoting services for older people and asking people how we can make Bury more age friendly.
Green Café
The Green Café in Clarence Park is hosting an event for older people and some of our care home residents at the café, with free coffee and cake, and a craft group and holistic group (hand massaging, deep breathing). For further information on how to sign up, please email Steven.Greason@personasupport.org
Prestwich Social Prescribing
Prestwich Social Prescribing will be at Nazareth House, Scholes Lane, Prestwich between 10.30am – 11.45am for a coffee morning and cake sale.
At noon they have their Welcoming Walk meeting at Church Lane community centre, Church Lane, Prestwich.
Between 1-3pm they have their social drop in where there will be more cake and the team from Bury Carers Hub will be joining them. Lunch will be available, and they’ll be talking about the fantastic older people in our community and celebrating the social prescribing volunteers.