Everyone loves a rewards scheme. In Thanet, they've taken that idea and run with it to promote age friendliness all over the city.
Ageless Thanet is one of the other 13 Ageing Better areas all over England that—like Time to Shine—have received funding from the Big Lottery to address social isolation for older people.
One of their most successful initiatives has been their rewards scheme: any resident who's over 50 can sign up for free and then start claiming the rewards. It might be 15% off a haircut, a free cup of tea in the afternoon, discounts on taxi fares or even a free yoga class.
An easy-to-use app (available for both Android and iPhones), lets you know where the nearest participating business is and what kind of perk you can expect to find.
A entry from the Ageless Thanet app. Tea and cake for just £3.50 during certain times of the week.
Older people have a lot of spending power. According to a Centre for Economic Business and Research report, 47p of every £1 spent in the UK is spent by someone over 50. This means there's not only a public relations interest for businesses to be age friendly, but a financial incentive too.
Could a similar scheme work in Leeds? Time to Shine is currently recruiting businesses to sign up to Come In and Rest, which encourages older people to pop in and sit down for a few minutes without having to buy anything. Maybe we should be asking the businesses to offer discounts too.