Who we are
Re-engage is a UK-wide charity with over 60 years of experience in understanding and tackling loneliness in later life. Our consultancy services help you build stronger relationships with older people through interactive training and practical, strategic, and measurable approaches.
What we do
We provide expert training, customer experience consulting, and CSR strategies to help companies and organisations improve how they connect with older customers.
Re-engage believe in experts by experience, therefore all of our activities are co-delivered with our lived-experience practitioners. Our practitioners are aged 75 and over and are either current or former users of our services.
Who we help
We work with:
- Commercial brands (retail, banking and utilities)
- Local authorities and the public sector
- Charities and community organisations
- Health, care and bereavement service providers (including funeral directors and end-of-life care organisations)
Our experience
With over 60 years of experience working directly with people aged 75 and over, Re-engage consultancy brings unmatched knowledge and real-world expertise. Our consultancy services are an extension of the work we do, designed to help companies and organisations be part of the loneliness and social isolation solution.
Our impact
We're driven by purpose – unlike other consultants, our consultancy income supports our charitable work and advances us towards our mission of ending social isolation and loneliness for the over 75s across the UK.
Meet our consultancy team
David Heap, Policy and Consultancy Manager (Trainer and Consultant)
Dave is an experienced policy and campaigns specialist with over 25 years of experience in the charity and public sectors, with a focus on disability rights, inclusive service design, and supporting marginalised communities.
Throughout his career, Dave has led regional and national initiatives to improve health, education, and social care outcomes for disabled and older people, and has worked closely with local authorities, government departments and ministers to shape meaningful change.
Dave brings his extensive expertise to help organisations better understand and respond to loneliness in later life. With a deep knowledge of public policy, stakeholder engagement and service transformation, Dave supports clients to develop data-informed, emotionally intelligent strategies that build trust with older people and deliver measurable social impact.
Dave also brings lived experience of accessible communication, co-production, and inclusive practice, ensuring every consultancy engagement is practical, ethical, and tailored to real-world experience.
Jess Doyle, Head of Policy, Research and Consultancy (Trainer and Consultant)
Jess is an experienced impact and engagement specialist with over 15 years of experience across the charity, health, and public sectors, with a focus on loneliness, social inclusion, and supporting marginalised and older communities.
Throughout her career, she has led innovative programmes to improve health, wellbeing and social connection. Working with national charities, local authorities, researchers, and community groups to shape inclusive, insight-led interventions that make a measurable difference. Her work has ranged from front line service delivery to executive leadership, including serving as interim CEO of a rare disease charity and leading national research and influencing work at Re-engage.
Jess brings a deep understanding of loneliness in later life, along with extensive expertise in monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder voice and strategy development. Jess will help you design sustainable, scalable models that are rooted in lived experience and deliver meaning social value.
She also brings a strong track record of co-production, research partnerships, and training development, ensuring every consultancy project is grounded, collaborative and aligned with the needs of lonely and socially isolated older people.
Malc Carpenter (Lived Experience Trainer)
Malc is a retired sales and marketing specialist and brings over four decades of professional and personal experience to his role as lived experience trainer.
He began his career as a sales representative for Dulux before moving on to Colt International as UK Technical Sales Manager. Malc's second career saw him teaching with the British School of Motoring, Red Driving School, and Bill Plant, where he found great satisfaction in helping learner drivers achieve success. Following the sudden loss of his wife after 38 years of marriage, he retired early, and later dedicated himself to volunteering with organisations including the British Red Cross, RNLI, the NHS, his local council, and Re-engage. Malc also enjoys contributing to community projects like the Isle of Wight Steam Railway.
A proud father of five and grandfather of 11, Malc now channels his extensive experience into raising awareness of loneliness, passionately advocating for connection and demonstrating how even small acts, like a simple phone call, can make a difference in people’s lives. Malc delivers our 'Understanding loneliness as we age' training course, sharing his first hand experience of the causes and impact of loneliness, and giving attendees the tools they need to tackle and prevent loneliness and social isolation.