Healthy Ageing Through Innovation in Rural Europe (HAIRE) commenced in 2019 and is due for completion March 2023. RVA’s involvement will cease in December 2022 with our delivery partners, ESCC, producing the final report early 2023.

HAIRE is an innovative research and community action project that empowers older adults, 60 plus to say what support they need and take part in designing new services and aims to reduce loneliness, improve health and wellbeing, and help shape their community for the future.

The project is funded by the Interreg 2 Seas programme and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The expected change in HAIRE pilot areas across Europe include:

  • reduce isolation & loneliness & improve wellbeing in the 60+ age group,

  • increase collaboration between participating agencies and Voluntary & Community Sector Organisations (VCSOs),
  • improve rural community vitality,
  • increase active participation of older people & voluntary sector in service design & delivery,
  • create new models of service delivery and
  • achieve widespread change to models of delivery across the 2Seas area and beyond.

Progress to Date

During the Covid 19 Pandemic the following was achieved:

  • 16 volunteers were recruited and trained,
  • Those volunteers have held 76 Guided Conversations with older people.
  • This generated over 200 hours’ worth of information about Health and Wellbeing which has been analysed and a community report produced.,
  • Events have been held around the key themes that emerged from these conversations, reducing loneliness, accessing information, managing change (transitions) and staying active.
  • These events were attended by volunteers, project participants, the wider community and representatives of local services and groups.
  • As a result, some of the ideas that were identified through this process are due to be piloted in 2022. This will include developing a transitions project, exploring the potential of pop-up information hubs and community events.