Cross-party group calls for action to strengthen intergenerational solidarity

The Senedd Cross-party group on Intergenerational Solidarity marked National Intergenerational Week 2021 by calling on the next Welsh Government to take action to strengthen the bonds between generations and promote opportunities for intergenerational activities.

The group was established in November 2020 to promote solidarity and understanding between generations and to explore evidence and develop policy proposals that would benefit both younger and older generations. The group will also identify and promote projects and good practice that bring younger and older generations together to support the wider roll-out of successful intergenerational initiatives throughout Wales.

The Cross-party group has brought together politicians from across the Senedd with key academic researchers, practitioners with experience of running intergenerational projects, and representatives of older and younger people, including Wales’ Older People’s, Children’s and Future Generations commissioners. Its members include Centre for Innovative Ageing researchers Dr Deborah Morgan and Dr Carol Maddock along with Stephanie Green, ENRICH Cymru Coordinator and Dr Liz Jones from the Awen Institute.

The group has published a set of recommendations for the next Welsh Government, including:

  • providing funding for a national programme to support, promote and coordinate intergenerational developments
  • establishing a national grant fund for community groups to run intergenerational projects
  • ensuring consideration of intergenerational solidarity is at the heart of policy plans for recovery and reconstruction from Covid-19 pandemic
  • hosting a citizen’s assembly on strengthening intergenerational solidarity

The group has also set out the four priority areas it will be focusing on in its forward work:

  • tackling loneliness and isolation
  • opportunities for lifelong learning
  • tackling ageism
  • skills and the economy
More on the 4 priorities