Acton Together

The project is led at a strategic level by Ealing Council by means of a multi agency partnership board. Operational delivery is managed by a voluntary sector organisation, Acton Community Forum. The Forum has worked with local organisations – schools, the youth offending service, day centres, sheltered housing and voluntary and community organisations – to deliver the Generations Together programme at grassroots level.

We have worked with over 30 organisations delivering a range of different projects. Four key themes – IT & Media, Health, Arts and Community Safety have enabled projects focusing on a wide range of topics. The programme has built on the ideas of local people and local organisations and has aimed to be fun as well as informative and educational. Highlights of the programme have been:-

  • Older people learning IT skills from High School students
  • Coming together of different activities and projects at a number of ‘open days’
  • Acton Broadway – a musical performed in public by local people to highly appreciative audiences

Key learning points:

  • Initially older people have been more eager to engage - as both volunteers and participants – than younger people.
  • People have enjoyed learning about new things and are keen to pursue these new interests.
  • Projects have worked best where there is something in it for all parties.
  • Some of the projects are very seasonal, eg gardening, so levels of involvement vary across the year