5 reasons to feel hopeful about a future free from ageism

"Not something I’ve really considered!"

"I don’t hear much about it”

"I didn’t think it existed to be honest”*

These are quotes we heard from respondents in some of the research we ran just over two years ago in planning the Age Without Limits campaign.

In many ways, there is nothing more disheartening for a campaign team to hear than that the general public simply isn’t interested in your particular cause – or worse, perhaps, they don’t even believe it exists.

However, this was not an uncommon response from people when we launched this campaign. I’ll be honest, when I came to work on it, I even received comments from people I know along the lines of “hmm, why would you want to work on that?”.

And we can't blame this indifference on individuals when we know that one of the main features of ageism is its complete normalisation within society. We are all surrounded by ageism – negative attitudes towards ageing and older people – throughout our lives. Although ageism is widespread and can affect all of us in harmful ways, it is hidden in plain sight because it exists in the guise of things that seem ‘normal’ – casual comments from others, assumptions built into systems and institutions, and limits we put on ourselves.

But something has happened over the last three years. It is not monumental – we can’t claim to have ‘fixed’ ageism, and transforming attitudes is the work of generations, rather than one campaign. It is significant though - we are seeing the green shoots of a shift towards more people talking, or thinking twice, about ageism.

This is down to many factors, of course. And the Age Without Limits campaign is just one part of a wider movement that is coming to bear, challenging assumptions about ageing and making change in everything from HR to advertising to communities to healthcare to housing and beyond.

So we wanted to take a minute and share 5 signs of progress to feel positive about. And to celebrate the support everyone has given to make this happen.

1. People (not just us!) are talking about ageism

Our press release on there being more men named Chris than women over 60 starring in hit UK films gained coverage in titles from The Guardian to the Daily Mail, and was picked up by global outlets too, including being shared on Katherine Ryan’s podcast, by Reece Witherspoon’s production company, and even getting a supportive comment from J-Lo! For Age Without Limits Day, our survey highlighting ageist phrases was featured by This Morning, Good Morning Britain, C5 News, as well as numerous regional BBC stations, Sky and The Times. This media coverage means we can reach huge numbers of people, from many different backgrounds, viewpoints and ages, with conversations about ageism. We estimate in the last month, this coverage of ageism has reached 35 million people.

2. Questioning ageism strikes a chord

Age Without Limits Day 2026 saw over 60 events nationally putting their spin on the theme ‘question ageism’. The events ranged hugely from intergenerational DJ-ing, to circus skills, fashion shows, burlesque dancing, and comedy. All of them centred on questioning ageism – both in actively questioning ageist ideas and phrases, and in challenging ageist assumptions by the very nature of the events. What better way to question why age is seen as a barrier to learning, than by learning something new? What better way to question the idea that fashion is only for younger people than a brilliantly creative fashion show exclusively featuring people over 50?

3. 200 conversations about ageing

We are incredibly grateful for our volunteer Campaign Champions and the work they did on and around Age Without Limits Day. From hosting events, quizzes and discussions in their communities, to starting conversations outside supermarkets and in cafes, to getting conversations going on social media – our Champions are able to talk about ageism in a real, open and honest way, and always put their own stamp on the subject. This personal touch is not to be underestimated – the conversations our Champions have with people take on a different meaning than we are able to convey with advertising or a news story – not to mention that some of our Champions have used the medium of dance or poetry to do so! We estimate they collectively had 200 of these meaningful conversations on June 10th, which is a powerful step forward in challenging ageism. A huge thank you as always to our brilliant Champions.

4. Age Without Limits was recognised at the Purpose Awards

We know awards aren’t the only measure of success or impact. But, alongside the rigorous impact measures we do have, it is great to see a campaign about ageism recognised with the Collaboration Award for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion at the Purpose Awards. In order to win, we had to show impact – which, happily, after two years of campaigning, we could – but also, we had to convince the judges that ageism is an issue that both matters and can be tackled through this kind of work. It is a brilliant sign of increasing awareness of ageism that we secured this win. We must send a huge thank you to our agency partners who helped us develop the campaign – Four Media and Creative who develop and execute our advertising, and Solutions Research who help us understand our audience and test our advertising before it goes live.

5. … And finally! More of the UK is now ‘age positive’ than ‘age pessimist’.

Ageism stems from feeling negative about ageing and older people. Before we launched our campaign, about 28% of the population could be defined as ‘age pessimists’ – they felt negatively about their own ageing and older people in general. By contrast, just 16% were ‘age positive’.

However, three years on, our research shows 25% of people are ‘age positive’ (up from 16%) and only 20% are ‘age pessimist’ (down from 28%). Whilst there are other categories on this range of age-related sentiment, the fact that more people are age-positive now tallies with an increase we have seen in number of people who say they are “looking forward to getting old” in our surveys (25% now vs 16% in 2023).

This small but telling shift both reflects and possibly contributes to the increase in conversations about ageing and in challenging ageism we covered at the start of this blog. What we see and hear in media and culture – be that from podcasts, on TV, or in our favourite newspaper – both mirrors and perpetuates how we see the world. In the past this has been a vicious cycle where ageism is concerned. But these green shoots of an increased willingness to openly discuss ageing, and maybe feel a little more positive about it, suggest that a positive upward cycle is also possible.

A huge thank you to anyone and everyone who has supported Age Without Limits over the past three years – it really wouldn’t be possible without all of you. Let’s keep talking about ageing, and questioning and challenging ageism, for the benefit of us all as we grow older.

* Solutions Research/Centre for Ageing Better, Campaign Evaluation Qualitative Research 2024 (unpublished).

Written by Harriet Bailiss, Co-Head of the Age Without Limits Campaign