Caroline and David Labouchere are Meta-Agers who believe healthy longevity is built through movement, resilience, curiosity and purpose. Together, they champion participation over withdrawal, demonstrating that the second half of life is not about slowing down, but about continuing to grow, contribute and embrace every opportunity with confidence.
Health has never been defined solely by fitness.
It is reflected in how we move, think, adapt and continue participating in life as the years pass. At Sustain Health, we have always been interested in the people who embody that way of living. Not only elite athletes or recognised experts, but individuals who continue to grow, contribute and remain fully engaged long after society often expects them to slow down.
Over the coming months, we will be introducing a series of Meta-Agers as contributors to Sustain Health. They come from different backgrounds and professions. Some are recognised through sport, business, education, psychology, media or public life. Others bring powerful lived experience. What connects them is not their age, career or public profile, but a shared way of approaching life.
A Meta-Ager is someone who chooses participation over withdrawal.
Not someone trying to reverse ageing or pretend to be younger, but someone who continues investing in their health, relationships, purpose and contribution.
That idea feels increasingly relevant.
A growing number of people in midlife and beyond are drinking less, moving more, thinking differently about prevention and recognising that longevity is not something medicine delivers on its own. It is something shaped by the choices we make every day. They are not aspiring simply to live longer. They are aspiring to remain capable, energetic and engaged for as long as possible.
Our first Meta-Agers are Caroline and David Labouchere.
Their story matters because it refuses to fit neatly into a single category. Caroline is widely recognised as a model and advocate for women embracing visibility later in life. David, a former senior Army officer and Ironman World Champion, brings a different but complementary perspective on discipline, resilience and purposeful living.
Together, they reflect one of the central ideas behind Meta-Age. Ageing well is not about trying to stay young. It is about refusing to withdraw from life.
Caroline describes her sixties as potentially the best stage of life—not because everything becomes easier, but because experience gives her the confidence to choose differently. Her focus is not simply on appearance or visibility. It is on happiness, community, supporting other women and remaining open to new opportunities.
For Caroline, health is what allows her to keep saying yes. She speaks about staying mobile, supple and pain-free enough to enjoy life fully, including something as simple and meaningful as running around with her grandchildren. That is healthy longevity in its most human form. Not a slogan or a statistic, but the freedom to participate in everyday life.
David’s perspective is equally grounded. He talks about remaining functionally strong rather than pursuing performance for its own sake. Squatting, carrying, gripping, moving freely and maintaining independence matter because they preserve dignity, confidence and choice. His philosophy of wanting to “move like a child” sounds simple, but it captures something many adults lose without ever noticing.
What also stands out is their relationship.
David speaks openly about wanting Caroline to continue seeing him as the man she married: strong, dependable and present. Caroline describes them as being on the same page, challenging perceptions of ageing together rather than accepting them.
That shared commitment gives their story a dimension that extends beyond health or fitness. It is about partnership, identity and continuing to grow together instead of quietly shrinking into routine.
This is why Meta-Agers belong in Sustain Health.
These are not celebrity endorsements or carefully curated success stories. They are people from different walks of life who demonstrate what it means to remain engaged, curious and purposeful through every stage of adulthood. Their experiences will not all be the same, but together they will explore what healthy longevity looks like in the real world.
Future contributors will bring perspectives from psychology, medicine, business, education, elite sport, leadership and lived experience. Each will add another voice to a growing conversation about how we age, why we age differently and what it really means to remain fully present in our own lives.
Because the future of health is not measured only by how long we live.
It is measured by how fully we continue to participate while we are here.
Ageing is inevitable. Withdrawal is not.
Caroline and David Labouchere are Meta-Agers who believe healthy longevity is built through movement, resilience, curiosity and purpose. Together, they champion participation over withdrawal, demonstrating that the second half of life is not about slowing down, but about continuing to grow, contribute and embrace every opportunity with confidence.
