Feedback from local people is being used to help shape services and support for over 50s in Calderdale, as the results are in from the 2025 Ageing Well survey.
The Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Board met on Thursday 26 February 2026 at Halifax Town Hall, where the theme of the meeting was ‘Ageing Well’.
Local leaders on the Board, including from Calderdale Council, the NHS, the voluntary and community sector and clinical and community service providers, received an update on the borough’s Ageing Well priority, ensuring older people are socially connected and live in healthy, vibrant communities.
As part of this, the board considered the results from the 2025 Ageing Well survey and how they support the aims of the Calderdale Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2022-2027(external link). The goal for older people is that they have strong social networks and live in vibrant communities.
Calderdale has an ageing population, with four in ten people aged 50 or over. One in five are over 65 years old.
In October 2025, people aged over 50 in Calderdale were invited to take part in a survey which asked how connected they feel to their local area. The survey aimed to understand whether older people feel they belong where they live, feel connected to their neighbours and are happy with their local area.
Over 500 people completed the survey, and overall, 64.2% of respondents felt that they very strongly or fairly strongly belonged to their neighbourhood. Over 56% of respondents agreed that people in their neighbourhood pull together to improve the area – this figure was significantly higher in the Upper Valley.
However, people from LGBT communities felt a lower sense of belonging, with only 35.5% feeling like they very strongly or fairly strongly belonged to their neighbourhood. This was also lower amongst those with limiting long-term conditions (43.1%).
Whilst the results are useful in guiding work to support the Ageing Well priority, for example understanding what would enable LGBT people, or people with long-term conditions to have a greater sense of belonging, the sample was over-represented in certain groups. This means the findings could be skewed towards people who are already socially connected.
To try and achieve a more representative survey sample in future, the Health and Wellbeing Board agreed that the survey should be conducted every two years, with an emphasis on reaching more people and additional effort to understand more behind the findings of the survey.
Cllr Tim Swift, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Health, said:
“We’re proud of the progress Calderdale is making to become a truly age‑friendly place, shaping services through the lens of older residents. We know that everyone feels differently about ageing depending on the circumstances of their lives, and so although some people feel 50 is far too young to be considered old, this isn’t the case for everyone.
“We have an ageing population, and we want to ensure that Calderdale is a great place to live and grow older. Over the past year we’ve strengthened our partnerships, listened closely to residents and invested in the spaces, services and communities that help people stay connected and live well for longer.”
As well as considering the Ageing Well Survey results, the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting covered the following topics:
- How the Ageing Well Dashboard is supporting better use of data and helping to focus efforts where they’re most needed.
- How a new Falls Prevention Network is bringing housing, health and community partners together to reduce avoidable falls.
- How steps taken to develop an Age-Friendly Network are ensuring that older people are actively involved in the development and delivery of Age-Friendly Calderdale.
To find out more about Age-Friendly work in Calderdale, visit https://new.calderdale.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/jsna/ageing-well(external link)