Appleby Blue Almshouse offers an exciting opportunity for the charity to develop and extend our role in research. The unique features of Appleby Blue provide a fantastic opportunity for learnings in areas such as the value of a ‘whole person’ approach to older people’s housing and social needs; the value of intergenerational activities for community cohesion and wellbeing; and the continuing and unique contribution older people can make to their community.
Our Partnership with The Dunhill Medical Trust
We are excited to be working closely with The Dunhill Medical Trust as they seek to fund cutting-edge research into healthy ageing, and we are looking forward to being a host organisation for two projects on their recent funding call: building and delivering suitable living environments and communities for an ageing population.
Impact of community-based food model on health, wellbeing & social connectedness of older people
The aim of this research will be to explore how multigenerational socially-inclusive activities can be co-created with older people around food growing, cooking and meal sharing to improve their health, wellbeing and social connectedness. Food is a social leveller. It unites people and overcomes community divisions. The food-based activities will be inclusive, culturally-tailored, diverse, reflect differences in ethnicity, and culture, ensuring a range that will be of interest to people from different backgrounds.
Almshouse Resilient Communities for the Future project
Grounded in the context of inadequate social housing in the UK for older people, ARC for the Future is working with seven community partners who provide high-quality accommodation for older residents, and investigate the potential of the almshouse charity model as an alternative to private or local authority provision. The project has a triple perspective, focusing on social, built environment and governance resilience.
We believe a range of different areas of work at Appleby Blue would make excellent subjects for study, from architecture and design, to technology, support and care practices, and many more. To find out more about research opportunities, please click here
The Appleby Kitchen is ‘the heart of the home’ for our residents and wider community. Find out more about our approach to intergenerational activities and connections and please let us know if you are interested in getting involved by emailing info@ustsc.org.uk.
