By: David Sinclair

Twenty-five years ago, having just left Age Concern after 13 years as Director-General, Sally Greengross responded to the suggestion of her friend Robert Butler to create something entirely new: A think tank looking at the opportunities and challenges of longevity across the lifespan. At a time when many of us might have taken things easy, she became a Member of the House of Lords and set up a new organisation as part of a fledgling global network. 

Over the next quarter of a century, as Sally helped grow ILC, she instilled in it, and all of us who work for it, a shared vision and purpose. She passionately wanted the world to be better for future generations of younger and older people. She was determined to make that happen and she used her huge convening power and extensive networks to deliver change. A comment in a strategy review summed up so much about her and the organisation she founded – ‘Her network, and people’s respect for her, are why ILC stands apart from more analytical think-tanks’.

When you imagine a think tank, you might picture a group of policy geeks arguing about the details of planning policy or financial advice. And although to a certain extent that is what we did with Sally – along with discussions about state pension age, health and education policy, free TV licences and inheritance tax – there is much more to the ILC than that. Because Sally imbued the organisation with her warmth and generosity of spirit. A consultant commented “One universal strength [of the ILC] is that people like you’. That goodwill came from people’s love for Sally.

I’ve known Sally for fifteen years and over this time she rarely seemed to stop working. I remember her phoning me as I came out of the theatre one Friday evening to tell me about a dinner she had just had, and a new idea for a project. Another time she called me from New York, just before she took a late-night plane home, to report on an event she had attended and who I needed to have a follow-up conversation with. 

I was lucky enough to travel with Sally across the world. She had a habit of taking long-haul trips for just a few days, partly because she didn’t want to be away from her beloved husband Alan for too long. 

But we did manage to get her to stay away long on a couple of occasions. In 2017 we travelled to San Francisco to meet with the ILC Global Alliance and join the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics conference. She found the trip enormously stimulating and didn’t stop talking about ideas, work and policy. One evening, after dinner with our international colleagues, we were heading to a reception at the top of the very steep Lombard Street. Sally refused the offer of a cab as she wanted to walk to give her more time to continue the conversation she was having with the head of ILC US.

Sally loved to work, but she also loved having fun. And she was wonderful company. Just before our flight home from San Francisco we went to the Skybar with its fabulous views across the city and enjoyed a couple of drinks before heading to the airport. And then there was the time she pulled me onto the dance floor at the AAG conference in Melbourne. 

She hugely enjoyed hosting people, almost as much as she loved regaling her guests with stories. There was the one about the time Tony Blair called her to offer her her peerage. She asked her personal assistant to call Downing Street back to make sure it was actually him, then ended up driving to 10 Downing Street to drop off the acceptance letter in person. Or the one about how when she was first given an office in the maze of Westminster, she forgot where it was and took a while before she could pluck up the courage to ask someone to help her find it. 

Sally was deeply caring. After any meeting or telephone call she would ask about my family and how they were. She was insatiably curious and always thirsty for new knowledge. After she saw Yuval Harari speaking at an event, she bought me Sapiens and Homo Deus. For months afterwards she wanted to talk about them and their implications for ILC. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’d only managed to get to page 175 of the first one. She had, of course, read both. 

Sally lived by her principles. She talked for decades about the need for people to downsize and live in appropriate housing as they age. Something she did herself, moving from her long-time family home to a single level apartment. 

Sally leaves a huge legacy – and gap – in the age sector in the UK and around the world. As well as Age Concern, ILC and Action on Elder Abuse (Hourglass), she played a big part in inspiring and helping to set up the International Federation on Ageing and the Age Platform in Brussels.

Most recently she was working on a new, major programme of future-focussed work, building on the lessons from the Millennium Debate of the Age which she ran in 2000. 

I will do all I can to honour and deliver her vision and live up to her legacy.