International Longevity Centre UK (ILC UK)

Ahead of ILC’s roundtable, Innovating for impact: Advancing solutions to obesity in older adults to promote healthy ageing, on 15 July 2026, ILC Policy Intern Alexia Christodoulou-Tsiaoukkas explores progress in obesity policy and how embracing the complexity of the condition can help us live longer, healthier lives. Current obesity policy remains one-dimensional and is too heavily focused on personal responsibility.

Climate change and population ageing are two of the most powerful forces reshaping our world. Yet they are almost always addressed in isolation – by different teams, different ministries, different movements.

The ILC was part of a small London delegation led by the Greater London Authority that travelled to Guangzhou for a structured five-day exchange on the silver economy, cultural industries, urban renewal and healthy ageing. The visit formed part of the World Cities Culture Forum Leadership Exchange Programme (LEP), an initiative supported by Bloomberg Philanthropies that enables cities to explore shared challenges through peer learning.

ILC is a small charity with a tight budget and no core income. And we’ve just become a Living Pension accredited employer (we’ve been a living wage employer for many years). When I started at ILC a long time ago we didn’t even offer a pension. We set one up just before auto enrolment. But we were contributing at the minimum level. Five years ago, ILC’s employer pension contributions sat at around 4% of total salary costs. Today they’re at 7% – everyone in the team is contributing into their pension.

David Sinclair explores what parkrun’s age data tells us about physical activity, ageing and volunteering. I run parkrun. Badly, and inconsistently – but I enjoy it. I’ve done 356 of them, mostly at Bognor Regis, over more than a decade. I’ve watched my times get slower and slower, then – more recently – start to come back. I’ve wanted to understand the relationship between age and participation for a long time. AI has allowed me to do a bit of analysis that in the past it would have been beyond me.

We are living longer. But for too many of us – and particularly for women – those extra years are not healthy ones. New analysis from the Government Actuary’s Department highlights that on average, women now spend around 22 of their 83 years in poor health, compared to 18 out of 79 years for men. In the most deprived areas, that figure rises to over 30 years.

Date:  Wednesday, 2 September 2026 Time: Arrivals for 3:30pm,Lecture 4.pm – 5.30pm Drink reception 5.30pm – 7pm Location: 18 Smith Square, Westminster, London SW1P3HZ Baroness Sally Greengross OBE founded the ILC-UK in 1997. In celebration of her achievements and lasting legacy we are proud to announce this year’s speaker for the Greengross lecture in Professor Kate Ardern.

Date: Monday 6 July 2026 Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm CEST Location: IJver Amsterdam An upcoming roundtable exploring how people using Powers of Attorney (PoA) are treated within financial services. The roundtable will form part of a report sharing recommendations to businesses and government on how the experience of those using PoA may be improved.

Date: Tuesday 7 July 2026 Time: 7:00am – 08:30am CEST Location: Novotel Amsterdam City, Europabolevard 10, 1083 AD Amsterdam Join us for a discussion that will bring together health and industry leadersand policy experts to discuss emerging findings from ILC’s latest research. It will explore what more can be done to prevent avoidable illness, reduce pressure on health services and support people to live healthier lives for longer.