Finance

Without face to face practical support we could be setting new businesses up for an almighty fall, warns Dawn Whiteley

I’m sure many of us are a bit sceptical about ‘evidence based policy’ on the grounds that it involves the expenditure of a lot of time and money on research – which ends up either reminding us of the ‘bleedin’ obvious’, or creating complex consultant designed solutions to a potentially non-existent problem.

Rather than simply closing children’s centres and other community facilities for short-term savings, why not create hubs for people of all ages and reap long-term rewards? Stephen Burke explains

London mayor Boris Johnson lays a time capsule at the site of Acacia Intergenerational Centre in Mitcham, south London. The UK’s first purpose-built centre of its kind, it was officially opened by Merton Council last year.

Amid all the gloom about spending cuts, there are some grounds for optimism. Since we launched United for All Ages at the end of 2010, we have been encouraged by the number of people contacting us who want to do things differently.