Exploring the role of faith spaces as social infrastructure in creating age-friendly communities

Faith spaces are vital but overlooked forms of social infrastructure that support older adults. They are especially important for marginalized and minoritized groups who may face barriers to mainstream services. While Age-Friendly Cities and Communities (AFCC) initiatives aim to develop supportive environments for ageing populations, they have rarely engaged with faith spaces, despite their role in facilitating community support and informal care. This paper addresses this gap by examining both the existing and potential contributions of faith spaces to the development of AFCC, highlighting how faith spaces currently serve, and could further enhance social support for older adults, particularly those from marginalised and minoritized groups. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork across four faith spaces in Greater Manchester, UK, this study highlights how faith spaces provide practical, emotional, and spiritual support, facilitate intergenerational exchange, and actas gateways to wider community engagement. However, find-ings also reveal structural inequalities, including disparities inresources between faith communities and exclusions shaped bygender, cultural norms, and racial discrimination. This paperargues that a more strategic integration of faith spaces intoAFCC frameworks can enhance the inclusivity the AFCC move-ment and strengthen support for diverse communities, particu-larly marginalised groups navigating life transitions.