Financial matters and health and social care are some of the common worries participants mentioned, along with the potential for loneliness. With the older adult population expected to continue to grow, and the numbers of people over age 85 to double by 2030, many believe that more needs to be done now to push for a change in social and political approaches to ageing.

For example, “The thinktank CentreForum has called for an ‘older people’s commissioner’ to champion the rights of older people, plus a specific older people’s minister with a place in the cabinet. CentreForum’s chief executive, Stephen Lee, says: ‘By giving older people a formal voice in Whitehall, we would see greater emphasis placed on age-proofing services, and policy that is generally more responsive to the challenges and opportunities of an ageing society.’”