Bournemouth town centre square Bournemouth Square, the heart of the town.

This project will explore the experiences of people aged over 65 when visiting their local high street - what makes the experience easy and enjoyable, or challenging, and what improvements could be made? 

The perspectives gained will help to share new age-friendly training and guidance for businesses and service providers in Bournemouth town centre, with the aim of making it a more welcoming place for older visitors. 

Developing and evaluating age friendly customer services training 

The project will run in three phases: 

  • Phase 1 - Needs assessment 

Identifying the specific challenges faced by older customers or clients in accessing and utilising services via a survey to older people in the BCP area. 

  • Phase 2 - Development of training programme 

The development of training materials such as presentations, handouts, case studies and interactive exercises. It is likely that this will take the form of a 'train-the-trainer' model, with organisations putting forwards staff as 'champions' to attend the training, who will then cascade the training within their organisation. 

  • Phase 3 - Evaluation of training programme 

Assessing the effectiveness and impact of training sessions for staff members and using the findings to refine and improve the training programme. 

Get involved - complete our online survey

If you are aged 65 or over, we would welcome your thoughts about visiting your local high street by completing our online survey. 

The survey is being run by ADRC in collaboration with Rachel Woodward Carrick, a board member of Bournemouth Town Centre BID. It should take around 20 minutes to complete. Please note that there is no compensation for taking part.

Complete the survey