Silver Sunday was founded 12 years ago by one the Sir Simon Milton Foundation’s Trustees, The Lady (Christabel) Flight. Christabel was also the Older People’s Champion for Westminster City Council and she saw first hand how the Westminster Tea Dance was able lift the spirits of older people, introduce them to new people and help them to try something active. From this small acorn, Silver Sunday grew and rapidly burst beyond the boundaries of Westminster until it became a national event.
Silver Sunday is now the national day for older people with over 2,000 fun and free events for older people taking place across the UK last year with the potential for many, many more. We are hugely grateful to all of the amazing people who have supported us over the years, who have helped make Silver Sunday the success it is today.
The Sir Simon Milton Foundation is a small, Westminster-based and focused charity. We have helped Silver Sunday to grow every year to what it is today, but for some time we have recognised that we do not have the breadth and reach required to achieve Silver Sunday’s full potential. We knew that we needed to find a home for Silver Sunday, a home that has a shared vision of what Silver Sunday can be and a home with the reach, breadth and resources to enable Silver Sunday to achieve its full potential.
We are therefore delighted to announce that Age UK, the UK’s leading charity for older people, has agreed to take on the future development and growth of Silver Sunday.
“The Sir Simon Milton Foundation has had great success with Silver Sunday and we are delighted that they asked us to take it on and develop it further. With our national reach and expertise, I believe we have the resources to enable Silver Sunday to reach its full potential and we are very excited at that prospect.”
Paul Farmer, Chief Executive, Age UK
We hope that you are as excited about this new chapter in Silver Sunday’s history as we are. We are very proud of what we have achieved over the last decade with our limited resources but we truly believe that this is a wonderful opportunity for Silver Sunday, and we hope that you will give Age UK the same enthusiastic and willing support as you have given us over many years.
“We are thrilled that Age UK has agreed to embrace Silver Sunday. Only a national charity with Age UK’s resources and impressive national footprint across the UK can achieve the full potential of Silver Sunday.”
Matthew Sykes, Chief Executive, Sir Simon Milton Foundation