Part of our ethos at NCIM is community, and for me community is integral to what Integrative Medicine stands for. Just as Integrative Medicine is founded on the idea that health doesn’t exist in isolation, we recognise that a healthy person depends on a healthy community.  Integrative Medicine means being part of an eco system – a circular system that supports and gives back healthcare into society. 

I’d love to celebrate one of our most recent community projects, one I am particularly proud of. With generous funding by St Monica’s Trust Charitable Foundation, Thrive 55 has been designed by us to help organisations break down the workplace barriers faced by employees aged 55 and over.

Rather than celebrating the value that age and experience bring, the UK workplace culture often only acknowledges youth and innovation with much less recognition for the wisdom, potential and experience an older employee and volunteer brings.

The reality is that most workplaces are made up of diverse teams across generations – each employee contributing their own skillset to the whole organisation. Real wisdom comes from multiple perspectives and lived in experience: look to the employees who’ve been there, done it, faced challenges and adapted.

What is most exciting for me about Thrive 55 as more and more business’ come onboard taking advantage of this free programme, is the wider effect of systemic and cultural change we are creating within our local community, recognising the value and worth of our older workforce and what senior leadership can do to support them.

As one participant remarked, there is so much more knowledge and awareness of supporting new mothers within the workplace now, but very little understanding of the challenges faced during this often overlooked stage of life.  

As we continue to deliver this initiative to more organisations in 2026 and beyond, so we too are building our knowledge, using our experience and growing our connections, creating and developing greater wisdom and unity within the organisations we work with. We would love to share this free resource and our expertise with more businesses across the West of England. If this is something your organisation would be interested in, please contact us or take a look at our webpage: Thrive 55: Building Age-Friendly Workplaces – NCIM – National Centre for Integrative Medicine.

Join us in being part of this cultural change where we can all thrive together.