How it started

The Community Retirement Programme was developed after research conducted by BS3 Community in partnership with the University of Bristol. This research identified decisions and actions, taken at the point of retirement, which were key factors in whether older people could lead happier and more fruitful later lives, or not.

The Community Retirement Programme was designed in a way that allowed people from a local community to meet together to work out how they could lead a better retirement, taking into account what could be experienced or developed within their local area.

What is involved

The Community Retirement Programme consists of an introductory session, where the participants share their understanding of what are the important issues following retirement from full time work, followed by 5 follow-up sessions where they work together to explore them.

Start your own programme

We don’t want to be prescriptive about this programme, in fact we welcome your thoughts and ideas however, we do ask that this programme is delivered not-for-profit and that you provide an open common, respectful and confidential space. We ask that sessions are delivered without leading participants towards one set idea of retirement but rather are open and co-produced forums to consider different ways of viewing retirement.

In our toolkit you will find a template for each session, along with our advice on how to successfully deliver the programme as a whole and it is provided for free. You can download the toolkit here.

For more details please call Jacqui Tel: 07956962422 or email ilop@bs3community.org.uk