During the winter months, when it’s cold and darker for longer, lots of people find they feel lonely and isolated. This is particularly true for older people. Alison Ingram, Head of Wellbeing from Age UK tells us why it’s so important to provide help and support for people in later life and shares some ideas on how you could get your young people involved in supporting the work of Age UK.

Who are Age UK?

Age UK is a charity that’s here to ensure that every older person is respected, protected, and treated with the dignity they, like all of us, deserve. The charity helps more than 7 million older people every year by providing companionship, information, advice and support.

With the UK’s ageing population predicted to continue growing, reaching more than 74 million by 2039, more and more people will face challenges like long-term illness, poverty and caring for a loved one as they get older. like to see the BB championing. Here are some of the responses…

 

What Age UK does

• Gives clear, practical information on topics ranging from staying healthy to getting help at home.
• Answers calls to our free advice line, 365 days a year, from older people, their friends, families and carers.
• Helps combat loneliness through our telephone befriending service.
• Makes older people’s voices heard on the issues affecting them.
• Leads the way in researching and understanding later life.

Campaigning for the care older people deserve

There are 1.4 million older people in the UK that are surviving rather than living, struggling alone with day-to-day tasks like getting dressed and making a meal because of a lack the support they need and deserve.

Through our Care in Crisis campaign, Age UK continues to highlight how much the NHS could save if the government provided proper funding for social care, and the suffering it would remedy.

You can find out more about the campaign, as well as how you can add your support by contacting your local MP, by visiting ageuk.org.uk/careincrisis

Loneliness

Age UK believes that no one should have no one to turn to. As a result, we develop programmes to help older people be happier, healthier and better connected to tackle loneliness, a problem that blights so many lives.

Feeling lonely doesn’t necessarily mean you have no one nearby. You may be surrounded by friends and family but still feel experience a deep sense of loneliness when you close the curtains at the end of the day, particularly if
you’re older and feeling vulnerable.

Age UK’s befriending services are designed to combat loneliness. Our ‘Call in Time’ telephone befriending service connects a volunteer with an older people for a weekly chat. Many local Age UKs also run face to face befriending services in their communities.

Roy is just one of the many older people that Age UK has helped:

I had a leaflet through the door, and it said on there: ‘If you’re lonely, contact this number’, which I did. There was a lovely lady on the other end, and we’ve been friends ever since. Age UK was like an oasis in the desert. It was my saviour.

How could your Company get involved?

Many of our services rely on the kindness of those who are able to give up their time to help us make a difference. There are lots of ways members of The Boys’ Brigade can get involved:

Volunteering
Older members might enjoy helping out in their local Age UK charity shop, assisting customers or helping sort and display the wide range of clothing, accessories, books and homeware that people donate.
Find out how you can have a rewarding experience while making a real difference to peoples’ lives at: ageuk.org.uk/volunteering

The Big Knit
The Big Knit, a joint campaign with innocent smoothies, asks people to knit tiny woollen hats to go on bottles of innocent smoothie. For every smoothie sold, Age UK receives 25p, which goes towards fighting loneliness among older people. Since 2003, 7 million hats have been knitted, raising £2.5 million.
Download a free pattern and start knitting at: ageuk.org.uk/bigknit

Fundraising
For younger members, this could be raising money to support Age UK by running a bake sale, taking on a sponsored walk or packing bags at a local supermarket.
There are more ideas at:ageuk.org.uk/fundraise

Small Acts of Kindness
Sometimes it’s the smallest of things that can make our day. Consider what your young people could do to help make a difference to an older person.

• Visit a nursing/care home in your local community – be sure to make arrangements in advance for this.
• Encourage your young people to spread warmth to a neighbour (by visiting, offering to sweep the leaves or salt an icy front step).
• Hold an event in your Church/meeting space and invite older members of your community to come together.

 

For more information and to get involved visit ageuk.org.uk