There is a wealth of evidence to show the benefits of physical activity in later life yet several studies indicate that physical activity levels decline in older age populations. Sport is a priority area for increasing physical activity but there are significant challenges for wider population level engagement of older people since traditional forms of sport are largely inappropriate for their needs. This presentation explores the processes involved in partnering with local older age people living in sheltered accommodation, physical activity policy makers, health and wellbeing commissioners, community sport deliverers and scholars researching sport and public health to design, deliver and evaluate a health and sport engagement project for people in later life. It identifies three overlapping features of successful collaborative-partnerships in creating ‘silver linings’ within community sport delivery for older age groups: (1) the significance of understanding inactivity as well as the physical activity needs of older people; (2) the importance of employing innovative approaches to doing sport differently; and (3) the contribution of formative research, embedded evaluation, and research-practice-policy approaches.