Our vision

We plan to create a cohousing community in West Yorkshire, for people who want a co-operative and self-responsible life style for their later years. Our community will support members to grow older together, to "age in place" safely and enjoyably. The community will include 12 - 20 homes with shared facilities such as a large dining room, recreation areas, laundry, workshops and gardens. There will be a strong emphasis on environmental sustainability.

We want to engage local people's interest and involvement in the LifeTime project, so that we remain part of the wider community. We will be a model of a supportive and accessible age-in-place community, encouraging other older people to consider such projects for themselves. We shall raise the profile of this kind of housing project with policy makers and service providers

What is cohousing?

Cohousing is a type of collaborative living that was first developed in Denmark during the 1970's. It combines the benefits of private space with the advantages of shared resources. Individual homes are clustered around a community building where members regularly socialise. The residents organise and participate in the planning and design process, and manage daily community business. Every member owns at least some share of the community's property

What we are planning to build

The LifeTime Community Project will provide individual homes for its members and a central shared space to meet, eat and enjoy life together. Our preference is to build from scratch but we will also consider renovating an existing building.

Each home will, as far as possible, reflect what its resident wants and can afford. There will be a range of affordable tenures - full ownership, part ownership, and homes for rent. The properties must be energy efficient and have low environmental impact.

When the need arises, we intend to buy in shared services such as cleaning, personal care and gardening.

Membership

There is no upper or lower age limit for membership. We welcome all like-minded people with a commitment to community living. Some members will have families, some will live on their own. Some will continue to commute to work or work from home, whilst others will be retired. This rich mix will enhance the quality of life for all, with plenty of opportunities for sharing skills, interests and mutual support.

There are three levels of membership: Enquirer, Explorer and Activist. This reflects our experience that people only want to commit time, energy and other resources after a time of reflection and discovery. The level of commitment increases at each level of membership.

Once we have identified a site or building, we will become a Company Limited by Guarantee with its own Articles of Association. Existing Activist members automatically reserve a residence in the Project by investing in the Company at the point of its creation. New members may reserve a residence, if one is available, by applying to become an Activist and investing in the Company.

Guiding principles of the lifetime project

It is our intention to create a collaborative housing community for people who wish to build a supportive and self-responsible life style for their later years. Our community will support our members to grow older together and encourage them to sustain personal choice and be of value to the community at large.

We resolve to:

• Share a vision of mutual support and co-operation to enhance and extend our wellbeing and personal choice.
• Stay in contact and in relationship with each other whatever process is happening.
• Create a way of shared living that enables us to continue to grow and be healthy.

As individuals we commit to:

• Accepting each other as we are right now.
• Respecting each other for how we have made sense of our own life experience.
• Honouring each other's life history by understanding that it belongs to the person who lived the history and to them alone.
• Working in the spirit of 'loving kindness', supporting each other to be authentic to our own purpose.
• Taking personal responsibility for our own feelings.

How we work together in practice

We meet every other month in one of our homes. This is likely to change as the pace of work increases. There is always a pre-agreed agenda, and minutes taken. The length of the meeting depends on the work we have agreed to do.

All decision-making is by consensus, with different levels of membership giving differing levels of voting rights.

New members are welcomed and helped to "get up to speed". They receive an Information pack and are offered a "buddy" to fill in the gaps and for support at their first meetings.

In between meetings, members all undertake agreed tasks that move the Project forward. These are often done in pairs and threes, as part of the relationship building. We also keep each other up-to-date via emails.

Contact information

The Project Manager
LifeTime Community Project
6 Rutland Avenue
Withington
Manchester M20 1JD

E-mail us via our profile link at the top of this article.