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.

You can contact us via the contact form link above. See below for more information about the Lifetime Community Project.

Vivarium is for people who choose to live in a positive, co-operative and responsible manner with family, friends, neighbours and the environment.

Recent research shows that housing options for older people are limited and do not meet the needs of a population who are increasingly active, and who are seeking to retain their full cognitive faculties for as long as possible whilst wishing to enjoy a sense of dignity and self worth. It is against this backdrop that Vivarium was born.

The pilot project will be for older people who recognise the difficulties of living in rural areas. These are people who will choose to live in a co-operative fashion and continue to contribute in a meaningful way to society. Vivarium members hope to remain active and involved in life for as long as possible, not simply to be provided for and be dependent upon health care support mechanisms.

• Vivarium membership groups will be self managing and members will be involved in the decision making process throughout.
• Vivarium members will have a desire to live in a co-operative manner, sharing resources thus going someway to alleviating problems of food and fuel poverty.
• Communal areas are integral to the concept of cohousing, providing areas where residents can meet and feel part of the community.
• This concept can be applied inter- generationally and to any "common interest groups".

For more information, please visit our website or contact Hugh Hoffman, Vice Chairman, The Vivarium Trust on 01337-831403. E-mail Hugh via his contact form.

The Older Women's Cohousing project was set up by a small group of women in 1998 with the aim of building a Cohousing Community in London along the lines of a model developed by older people in the Netherlands. We are a mixed tenure group of women over fifty and have as a development partner the housing association Housing for Women. They are helping us to locate a suitable site and to enlist the support of a larger housing association in developing it for us.