Weymouth and Sherborne Among First Age Friendly Dorset Towns

Four Dorset councils are the first to join a new county programme to make towns and villages better places to grow old. Gillingham, Sherborne, Weymouth and Shillingstone have signed up to Age Friendly Dorset, Dorset Council announced on Thursday. Sturminster Marshall helped design the approach.

Overview

• Who is in: Gillingham, Sherborne, Weymouth and Shillingstone councils, with Sturminster Marshall helping to shape the framework.
• What it does: each council looks at what already works for older residents, finds gaps and writes its own local action plan.
• What comes next: more town and parish councils are expected to join during 2027.

What the councils have built

The councils met over a series of workshops to design a framework that a large town council and a small parish council can both use. Dorset Council said the pilot is believed to be the first in the UK to build an age friendly framework specifically with town and parish councils.

Each council uses the framework to:

• record what already works well for older residents
• find where things could be better
• draw up a local action plan for its own community

Councillor Steve Robinson, Dorset Council’s Cabinet member for adult social care and health, thanked all five councils. “We want to see more towns and parishes join us on this journey as we build an even more age friendly Dorset,” he said.

Gillingham shows what it looks like

The council held up Gillingham as the example. The town has been a recognised dementia friendly community for more than ten years. Its offer for older residents includes:

• cardiac, Parkinson’s, and strength and balance classes at RiversMeet, the community-owned leisure centre
• swimming sessions for older and disabled residents, plus pickleball and badminton
• Coffee Companions and the Men’s Shed
• reading groups for people with sight loss, digital champions and carers’ support groups at Gillingham Library

Gillingham town clerk Julie Hawkins thanked the town’s voluntary groups. “They are a wonderful example of how communities can come together to help people live well for longer,” she said.

In Weymouth, the council pointed to the Blue Tits, a sea swimming group in Weymouth Bay, as an example of the kind of healthy, sociable activity the programme wants to encourage.

What older people in Dorset told the council

The programme builds on Dorset Council’s first Age Friendly survey. About 700 people aged over 50 answered it between October 2025 and January 2026. The report says 31% of Dorset’s population is over 65, against about 20% nationally.

Some of what they said:

• Parks: 84% could get to a park when they wanted to.
• Pavements: 44.5% were unhappy with the state of pavements near them.
• Toilets: 42% said there were no good public toilets locally.
• Buses: 52% did not think public transport was frequent and reliable.
• Appointments: 37% found it quite hard to get a health appointment when they needed one.
• Loneliness: 18% often felt lonely, and 17% thought no one would be there if they needed help.

The report also found 54% of respondents volunteer in their community. The council admits the sample has gaps: it had more women, more home owners and fewer disabled people than the county as a whole.

Dorset Council became the 100th member of the Centre for Ageing Better’s UK network of age-friendly communities in October 2025. In a blog published alongside the announcement, Cllr Robinson said the county now has 108 age-friendly ambassadors.

What it means for you

If you live in Weymouth, Sherborne, Gillingham or Shillingstone, your town or parish council will be writing a local action plan. Ask it how you can have a say on what goes in.

If your own town or parish is not yet in the programme, your council can apply to join the next group in 2027. Dorset Council asks interested councils to contact its Age Friendly Dorset team through the Age Friendly Dorset page.