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Welcome to the ResponseAbility blog, where we pose questions and discuss the cutting edge issues facing Britain and the wider world from a distinctly Jewish perspective.

ResponseAbility in the media

"Volunteering 'helps you live longer'", by Simon Rocker in The Jewish Chronicle, July 8th. 2010

“They say giving is better than receiving - and it may help you towards a longer life. Professor Felicia Huppert, the founder of Cambridge University's Well-being Institute, told a London audience that volunteering can bring benefits.

Research showed that older couples who had received support were 20 per cent more likely to be alive five years later than couples who had received no support, once other factors had been taken into account. But couples who had given support were 30 per cent more likely to be alive.

"The evidence is very clear that doing things for others is incredibly good for our own well-being," she pointed out.

Professor Huppert was part of a panel on how to age well organised by the new cross-communal ethics organisation, ResponseAbility.

Giving was one of the five tips for maintaining well-being. The other four were to stay active, keep learning, be aware of what is going on around you and to "connect" with other people.

The panel also featured Baroness Neuberger, Reform Judaism executive director Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand and London School of Jewish Studies lecturer Maureen Kendler.

Held at the London Jewish Cultural Centre, the meeting was part of a ResponseAbility project to draw up "a Jewish charter for older people".