Building Bridges Between Generations: Our Reflections on the Intergenerational England Report
- Rose Hill
- May 29
- 4 min read
Earlier this month, we had the honour of joining a powerful roundtable at the House of Lords for the launch of the Intergenerational England report. Now that the full report is out, we wanted to take a moment to reflect, not just on its findings, but on how it resonates with what we do here at Co-Creative Connection.
What Is the Intergenerational England Report?
The report, led by United for All Ages, sets out a compelling roadmap for a more connected country, one where people of all ages live, learn, and thrive together.
It highlights how the UK has become increasingly generationally segregated, with young and old living, working, and socialising apart. And it doesn’t shy away from the real consequences: increased loneliness, social mistrust, unequal opportunities, and fractured communities.
But it’s also a hopeful report. It’s packed with practical ideas for how to reconnect across age groups, through housing, education, public spaces, health systems, and culture. At its heart is the belief that intergenerational connection isn’t just “nice to have” - it’s vital to the wellbeing of individuals, communities, and society.
Why It Matters to Us at Co-Creative Connection
Co-creation is, by nature, intergenerational. At CCC, our projects often include children as young as two (and babies if you can count them), older adults in their 90s, and everyone in between. Whether it's a mural painted by a 8-year-old and a 81-year-old, or a workshop where stories are shared across generations, we see the power of creative spaces to build empathy, pride, and mutual understanding.
We’ve worked with groups like:
Housing estates, getting residents, families and individuals of all ages involved
Deafroots, supporting deaf and hard-of-hearing people
SKILLS, supporting adults with learning difficulties
DEX, supporting children with Down syndrome
NHS mental health services, creating murals in new wellbeing centres
And community-wide projects in Newham, Hammersmith, Hackney, and beyond
In all of these, we’ve seen how art creates natural spaces for dialogue and exchange, where age isn’t a barrier but a bridge.
What Stood Out in the Report
💡 Intergenerational work isn’t charity, it’s reciprocal.
One of the strongest messages in the report is that younger and older generations need each other. This isn’t about one helping the other, it’s about mutual value, shared insight, and collective care.
🏡 Spaces matter, but so does what we do in them.
It’s not enough to simply create shared physical spaces, we have to activate them meaningfully. That means workshops, events, murals, intergenerational design, opportunities for people to interact and co-create.
🎨 The arts are essential infrastructure.
Art helps people connect without needing to talk the same language, live the same life, or be the same age. It creates common ground. We believe public art should be recognised as a tool for civic connection and wellbeing, not just decoration.
Practical Ideas from the Report: How We Reconnect Across Generations
The Intergenerational England report doesn’t just raise the alarm, it offers practical solutions. Here are some of the recommendations that stood out to us:
🏠 Intergenerational housing models
Developing co-living designs, shared courtyards, or neighbourhoods that intentionally mix age groups, creating casual opportunities for connection.
📚 Lifelong learning in shared spaces
Whether it’s younger people teaching older adults tech skills or elders sharing crafts and stories, education can be mutual and community-led.
🎨 Creative and cultural projects
Murals, storytelling, music and workshops are low-barrier ways to foster pride and shared purpose across generations - something we see daily in our work.
🌳 Shared public and green spaces
Designing inclusive spaces for rest, creativity and play across all ages, and activating them with meaningful, accessible programming.
💼 Inclusive employment and volunteering
Valuing both lived experience and new ideas by creating opportunities for cross-generational teams, particularly in community-facing roles.
🧑⚕️ Health and wellbeing hubs
Embedding intergenerational connection into care settings, so that spaces for mental and physical wellbeing feel social and human, not isolating.
These ideas offer a valuable framework for anyone working in housing, education, the arts or health, and reinforce how important it is to intentionally design for shared connection.
What We're Taking Forward
We believe deeply in the power of intergenerational connection, not just as a theme, but as a design principle.
This report is a reminder to keep asking:
Who is missing from this space?
How can we make our workshops accessible across generations?
What stories are we telling through our murals, and whose voices are shaping them?
Want to Read the Report?
You can access the full Intergenerational England report here. Whether you're working in housing, education, health or the arts, we think you'll find it full of valuable insight and inspiration.
Let’s Build a More Connected Country, Together
If you’re a school, council, housing association, community group or funder looking to create projects that bring generations together, we’d love to talk.
Whether it’s co-designed murals, intergenerational workshops, or creative engagement in shared spaces, we’re always open to partnerships that put community connection first.
💬 Get in touch and let’s build something meaningful, together.
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