Impact Report 2014-15

Contents

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Fit 4 Purpose

Our Campaigns 7

Forums Programme

Other Ways in Which We’ve Helped Older People

Introduction 3

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9

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Age UK London Trading

Trusted Traders

Looking to the Future

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Fundraising and Events 13

Financial Information

Thank You

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Photography on page 19 by Cliff Chester.

Age UK London Retail Hubs 18

Fit 4 Purpose, funded by London Councils, draws together two strands of our work: engagement and voice is joined with programme and delivery. Working in every London borough we have realised workshops, guides, periodicals and bulletins to build the strength and scope of voice organisations in London. The rating given to this programme by London Councils, 99%, demonstrates its value and impact

Age UK London’s programmes had an emphasis on digital and information equality. Know Your Rights, supported by the Mayors Office, highlighted the importance of benefit maximisation and keeping warm and well in Winter. Keeping safe and warm were the focus of our work with UK Power Networks, whilst ‘Technology Together’ focussed on keeping older people digitally connected through the support of local young people.

A focus on ensuring older people have the support they need when looking to buy-in external service and support at home has been the focus of the Trusted Traders development. This aims to ensure a listing of traders with correct paper work and insurances is available with telephone support to people needing help with finding what they need.

During the last year we have focussed on the City

Introduction

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Dear Colleagues, Friends and Supporters,

Welcome to our Impact Report where we look back at the year just gone and ahead to the opportunities in front of us.

Age UK London is committed to developing a movement that celebrates older Londoners in the Capital and challenges negative perceptions and stereotypes. We are committed to highlighting the journey towards an age friendly London, and hope you will join us in this.

During 2014/15 we planned our ‘Tell Me!’ campaign, highlighting the challenges faced by some in finding answers, guidance and information to questions they face about daily living. This followed on from the digital campaign ‘Wealth of the Web’ that demonstrated the inequality of access and usage in the digital age.

Positive Ageing in London continue to go from strength to strength grappling with topics that are new on the ‘life course’ agenda. Two key conferences focussing on ‘Age Friendly Cities’ and ‘Ageing Without Children’ drew interest from London and beyond and fuelled debate, and highlighted areas where further work, support and research could shape future policy and practise.

and have given many hours to the organisation over the past year.

I want to thank the team of staff and volunteers at Age UK London who have worked so hard together to achieve so much. It’s their drive and enthusiasm that enables the organisation to reach out to so many communities across the capital.

Together we look forward to 2015/16 and beyond and embrace the opportunities and the challenges that lay ahead. Together we remain privileged to be working with such a great, diverse number of older Londoners across the capital.

Sam MaugerChief Executive Age UK London

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of London, developing an organisation to meet the needs of local residents and engage with people working in the City, enabling them to volunteer among older people in the City and beyond. The Healthwatch City of London service continues to reach deep into the community, linking local people with decision makers in Health and Social Care.

The Age UK London Trading company continues to offer a range of products and services for the over 50’s and generated over £362,500 in grants to Age UKs in London.

Key partners are our member Age UKs with whom we work closely and who remain close supporters or our work. This mutual relationship of trust enables us to extend our reach and impact to many more communities of older Londoners across the capital.

I want to thank David Simpson, Chair of Trustees, and the Trustees and Directors who between them have offered their advice, support and expertise

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Fit 4 Purpose

Age UK London’s capacity building project Fit 4 Purpose - funded by London Councils and in partnership with Opening Doors London - is now in its third year and going from strength to strength. Fit 4 Purpose has reached a large number of organisations working with older people, as well as many individuals. Last year the project worked with 439 older people’s organisations across London to help them ‘stay afloat’ and most effectively serve their users. All 33 boroughs in London (including the City of London) had several of their local older people’s organisations participating in Fit 4 Purpose. Over 30 workshops took place last year.

Our project skills up these organisations and provides networking opportunities across London to share intelligence and learning and build on good practice.

The project provides a rolling programme of free workshops and training sessions and 1:1 support to older people’s organisations, including in the areas of:

• Governance and sustainability – to support strong leadership and robust management.

• Practical fund bidding support - this includes targeting smaller organisations. It helps them to effectively manage income reductions, for example, by providing them with the knowledge and skills to broker partnerships and to apply for funding.

• Digital Democracy – this is to ensure older people have full access to public services and decision making processes in a digital age. For example, a workshop was held with older people and staff from the London Borough of Croydon staff during ‘Celebrating Ageing Week’. Older people and their organisations were assisted to access local services online and apply for Freedom Passes and Blue Badge Renewal.

• Funding Free - this helps: organisations reduce their costs; smaller organisations to become funding free; and others to attract funding through relationship brokerage with local sources of financial and in-kind free support.

• Equalities Workshops - for example we run quarterly ‘LGBT and Older People’ workshops to ensure older people’s organisations are fully inclusive to all older people. We have also developed an Equalities Checklist for smaller organisations to review their delivery in this area.

• ‘Introduction to Social Media’ and ‘Getting Online’ - we show older people’s organisations how to use these tools to improve their communication with their members, undertake outreach, and reduce costs.

• We train and link up ‘Social Media Champions’ with older people’s organisations to give increased confidence in growing their reach to their members.

• ‘Data, Research, and Impact Measurement Workshops’ – for older people’s organisations to gain skills and confidence in presenting data and making a business case for the services to, and activities for, older people they want to provide.

• A funding newsletter provides an accessible guide to the latest funding opportunities for older people’s organisations. An online Knowledge Hub provides information, spreads best practice, supports user consultation and provides equality and benchmarking tools to help older people’s organisations demonstrate their impact.

• Briefings - More than 800 organisations have received at least one of our briefings; in 2014/15 there were at least nine briefings each quarter, including on funding opportunities and equalities.

• There is an online ‘Opinion Exchange’ featuring opinion pieces and discussion forums to trigger debate and ensure older people’s organisations are able to respond to the changing needs of their users. In the last year 2355 individuals have engaged with the Age UK London Opinion Exchange.

Age UK London’s Fit 4 Purpose programme was awarded a 99% RAG Rating by London Councils for our delivery against performance targets in 2014-15.

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Fit 4 Purpose has reached a large number of organisations working with older people, as well as many individuals. Since it began...

Organisations

439organisations working with older people have been reached, either through 121 support, attending workshops or being matched with one of the project workers or social media volunteers

“It will help me to make changes to our approach to assessment and support planning”.

“I will bring up at next meeting - are we doing enough? Should we look at having a LGBT champion? Recommend training to colleagues and chair organisations”.Quotes from Equalities Workshop

“I will re-evaluate the way I carry out my work. I have learned so much today”.

‘I have used the Data/Research Toolkit and I found it great. It simplifies everything and is very fit for purpose at the moment. I have even recommended it to other groups.’Quotes from Data Workshop

Briefings

More than 800 organisations have received at least one of our briefings; there are nine quarterly briefings in total.

Opinion Exchange & Knowledge Hub

7023 individuals have engaged with the Age UK London Opinion Exchange and Knowledge Hub

Fit 4 Purpose Achievements

Boroughs

All 33 London boroughs have been reached by the Fit 4 Purpose project

Commendation

99% RAG rating was given by London Councils for an evaluation of our delivery against targets in 2014-15

Find out more about Fit 4 Purpose online...

Age UK London Opinion Exchange: www.ageuklondonopinionexchange.org.uk

Age UK London Knowledge Hub: www.ageuklondonknowledgehub.org.uk

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Age UK London is a campaigning organisation that actively strives to get the voices of older people in London heard.

Everything we do is based on expert knowledge, research and experience. We engage with politicians and decision makers, as well as with a wide number of voluntary, statutory and private organisations, to ensure that the voices of older people are heard and that their knowledge and experience are utilised effectively.

Every year we ask older people, local Age UKs, Forums and older people’s organisations to help us design our campaigns through our ‘Your Priorities’ consultation research. The latest results showed that older people in London wanted us to continue working on digital inclusion, as well as look at access to information from public bodies. This conclusion led to our ‘Tell Me!’ campaign which was planned, and began, in 2014/15.

Age UK London Campaigns

Influencing Key Decision Makers:Mayor of London, Greater London Authority and Transport for London

In July 2014 Age UK London held a public event where the Deputy Mayor responsible for Equalities, Munira Mirza, fed back to older people from across London on what the Mayoral team has done to support older people during Boris Johnson’s second term as Mayor. A senior manager from Transport for London also reported back on progress in the transport area. After our successful engagement with Mayoral candidates in 2012, this gives us a cycle of influencing and feedback which we plan to take forward to the 2016 elections.

Early 2015 saw the publication of the Mayor’s Digital Inclusion Strategy for London. Following Age UK London’s ‘Wealth of the Web’ campaign in 2014, we were delighted that the Digital Inclusion Strategy gives considerable priority to enabling older people to get more involved in the digital world, with the intention of providing more support in this area in future.

In September 2014 The Mayor of London Boris Johnson visited an Age UK London ‘Techy Tea Party’ where a group of younger volunteers from across London come together to help share their digital skills with older people who want to learn more about getting online, connecting with family and friends and the opportunities of the internet. Boris Johnson said: “Age UK London’s initiative to bring together tech-savvy volunteers with their members, over a cup of tea and a touch screen, is achieving great results. I congratulate all those involved and I urge individuals and businesses with digital skills to come forward and help Age UK London to continue and expand this fantastic project.”

Since Age UK London’s 2011 campaign ‘On the Buses’ there have been several positive results,

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including ‘All Aboard’, Transport for London’s training programme for all bus drivers in London. TfL have announced this year that they will be working to create a new Professional London Bus Driver Qualification. Our relationship with TfL grows; we have been asked to feed into this as they continue to work to improve customer experience. Our Campaigns Team have also consulted on TfL campaigns over the course of the year.

Policy Consultation Responses

In 2014-15 Age UK London made nine evidenced responses to consultations on key issues by regional and national decision makers. Each time we consulted older people and local organisations on what we should be saying. Our response to the Government on the Care Act followed a consultation event with 50 older people on the future eligibility criteria on accessing care services. Other responses included on London criteria for accessible urban design, and on transport and environmental issues including the design of TfL’s new Cycle Superhighways.

Our Next Campaign – Tell Me!

After consulting older people and local organisations, we prepared for our next campaign, ‘Tell Me!’, on improving local information for older people, which was to be launched in May 2015. Older people from 25 London boroughs contributed to our campaign research, which included interactive Information Scavenger Hunt events to practically test how easy or difficult older people found it to access information online.

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Forums Programme

Forums

The Borough forums and groups are focussing on key issues that affect older people through organising local campaigns, events, focus groups and conferences.

Their reach has expanded through the connections which Age UK London helped to identify. Some have developed successfully unique programmes to engage with their membership to help eliminate social isolation and loneliness, expanding their membership and their profile as a result.

Age UK London has done extensive work with the Greater London Forum for Older People and local older people’s forums.

The impact that the Age UK London Fit 4 Purpose project has had on the forums and groups has been very positive, with more awareness highlighted around key issues resulting in actions implemented by the forums and groups that benefit their members and the wider communities.

One example of this has been the Sutton Seniors Forum, who developed a project to connect with their 1000 members after having received advice and guidance and are now looking at expanding the project to include working across boroughs.

In 2014/15 Age UK London worked directly with 28 Older People’s Forums and groups.

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Other Ways in Which We’ve Helped Older People

As well as supporting the greater participation and influence of older people locally and across London, we have helped address exclusion and inequality among older people.

Positive Ageing in London

Age UK London hosts Positive Ageing in London (PAiL), which is supported by the Department of Work and Pensions as the London regional forum on ageing.

In autumn 2014 PAiL discussed and adopted a new overall approach on the theme ‘Resisting Everyday Ageism’ which sets the course for future work.

PAiL held two major conferences in 2014/15. In January 2015 ‘Ageing Without Children: “But who will look after you when you’re old?”’ was held jointly with Ageing Without Children looking at the issue of how older people without children were going to receive care if needed, as society was geared towards those with families. ‘Successful Cities’, where the King’s College London report ‘Age Friendly Cities’ was launched, took place in March 2015. A wide range of partners and speakers from across the UK and Ireland were involved, aiming to spread best practice on how cities and local authorities respond to ageing and to help build the Age Friendly Cities Network.

PAiL also launched ‘Welfare Reform: Older Londoners’ Perspective’ which you can read about fully under ‘Research’.

Facilitated by Age UK London, Positive Ageing in London has its own website at www.pailondon.org.uk and its own active Twitter feed with the handle @pailondon.

Communications

Age UK London’s website got an average of 4050 monthly views, which is an increase of 39% compared to last year. Age UK London’s Twitter account had 4100 followers at the end of the period, which is a 12 month increase of 50%.

Age UK London’s publications regularly go out to a wide audience. In 2014/15 the suite of briefings that were part of the Fit 4 Purpose project, consisted of; London Age, a quarterly age sector periodical; Revolve, a monthly e-bulletin; and seven quarterly briefings to specific audiences including a Health and Social Care Bulletin, Councillors Bulletin, Equalities Bulletin, Professional Bulletin, Housing Bulletin, Skills and Contributions Bulletin and London Funding Voice.

Age UK London are also asked to comment on age issues in the pan-London media on a regular basis. Among our achievements were seven interviews with BBC Radio London and ITV News London that were fulfilled this year.

Age UK London Office

At Age UK London we strive for excellence in all we do and this year we, again, retained the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications with a UKAS accredited body. We also undertook an organisational eco-audit and made some changes based on the recommendations to ensure we are as environmentally friendly as possible.

Research

Age UK London completed several pieces of research this year, including:

• ‘Welfare Reform; Older Londoners’ Perspectives’ – this followed an expansion on the piece of work with PAiL mentioned in the last Impact Report, using case studies as examples of where older people can potentially experience adverse and potentially unanticipated circumstances as a result of changes. The paper has been presented at two events, both with a number of key policy-influencing targets in attendance, and has been discussed as part of a Fit 4 Purpose workshop centred on welfare reform impact with several other voluntary organisation representatives.

• ‘Kingston Consultation: Older People with Mental Health Conditions’ – working with Age UK Sutton,

this research investigated the experiential time-line of patients through assessment, diagnosis and long-term support with an additional focus on support in the community and well-being. This piece of work was commissioned by Kingston Council and Kingston CCG to support a review of Older Persons Community Mental Health Services.

Digital Inclusion of Older Londoners

Age UK London has been focussing on the issues of digital exclusion of older Londoners over recent years and one of the many legacies of the successful intergenerational MiCommunity programme was the concept of the ‘Techy Tea Party’ which we first brought to EE back in 2012. We are delighted that, from the first session with EE staff at their HQ in London, the idea has now spread across the UK. Age UK London continue to host and run ‘Techy Tea Parties’.

Age UK London has worked with hundreds of corporate volunteers who have invited older Londoners into their workplace giving them 1:1 support. They help with a variety of issues including introduction to social media and digital democracy, as well as many other areas helping older people and older people’s groups to improve their digital survival skills. All companies that have volunteered with us this year can be found on page 22, and our sincere thanks goes to them all.

Age UK London is a member of the National Age Action Alliance Digital Inclusion Group. The Cabinet Office Government Digital Service team launched the National Digital Inclusion Strategy and Age UK London was a member of the stakeholder advisory group that helped develop the strategy.

UK Power Networks

Age UK London received funding from the UK Power Networks Power of Giving fund in 2014. Age UK London used this funding to; coordinate 12 local events across London promoting and advising on energy efficiency measures, switching suppliers

and addressing fuel poverty; run workshops for over 20 older people’s organisations to spread knowledge and empower older people to help themselves reduce their fuel costs.

We also provided updated bespoke, accessible materials, including the latest information on tariffs. Age UK London used all its networks to disseminate this information to older people and their organisations in London.

Jan Marriot, of Richmond upon Thames Forum for Older People, attended the ‘How to save and be Energy Wise’, workshop on 6th March 2015. Following the workshop, Jan Marriot commented: “I have gained knowledge on eco-energy saving and information to share with other forum members… very informative on smaller individual matters; great at addressing questions and issues raised.”

Know Your Rights

Age UK London was a key partner in Know Your Rights, the Mayor of London’s annual benefits eligibility campaign, focussing on Pension Credit, Attendance Allowance and other benefits. Age UK London coordinated 14 local events and outreach programmes for older people delivered by local Age UKs. In all, the project reached 655 older people and leveraged substantial additional claimed benefits for these older people. Several Age UKs also provided information and support for older people to address fuel poverty and to maximise energy efficiency in their homes.

Fundraising and Events

We are so thankful to all those who helped us raise money this year. Singing seemed to be a particular theme for our fundraising efforts this year, and we’d like to thank St Joseph’s RC Primary School for what they did during ‘Song for London’, the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London who hosted a concert with proceeds coming to Age UK London and, finally, all those who joined us carol singing in

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Healthwatch City of London

During the year Healthwatch staff, board members and volunteers have represented local people’s voices on the Health and Wellbeing Board, the City and Hackney Clinical Commissioning Group, the Quality Surveillance Group and the Health and Social Care Scrutiny Committee and many other committees relating to health and social care. Our workshops have enabled residents to engage with us and the decision makers and give their views on areas such as social prescribing, safeguarding and the Care Act.

Healthwatch City of London runs events and participates in information days to help City people get access to the information they need to make choices about their wellbeing. We utilise email updates, quarterly newsletters and our website, which includes a comprehensive list of links to relevant providers and services for City residents, to get information ‘out there’. This year we have had nearly 17,000 unique visitors to our website. Each quarter we distribute our newsletter to over 800 contacts. We also distribute it at meetings, workshops and events. Increasingly the Healthwatch City of London newsletter is being seen as a key communication tool in reaching residents and workers.

Influencing the Health and Wellbeing Strategy

In 2015 Healthwatch City of London partnered with the City of London Corporation to provide

Trafalgar Square in December. There are so many individuals who supported us this year that we unfortunately can’t thank everyone by name, but we are appreciative of every one of our innovative donors - we couldn’t continue our work without you.

Age Concern City of London

Age Concern City of London was registered as a charity in September 2014. We received funding from the City of London Authority for 12 months to deliver City Smart, a digital inclusion project aimed at isolated City residents. As of March 2015 the project had engaged 23 individuals in more than 60 learner interventions.

Square Mile Health Walks, run by Age Concern City of London in partnership with Fusion Leisure, have continued to be a big success story. We have expanded the number of Health Walks we run every month from two to three, and trained a new batch of volunteer walk leaders. More than 30 individuals have taken part during the year, with 85 walks undertaken in total.

In 2015 Age Concern City of London continued consulting with the local community via holding coffee mornings, attending groups and clubs, and liaising with professionals. We have developed links with the local school, Sir John Cass Primary, and enrolled with Spice Time Credits in order to reward our volunteers for their time. We are developing and strengthening links with the voluntary and community sector in the City, in order to reach the most isolated groups and individuals.

Care Navigators - City of London

Age UK London met with the City of London to discuss the benefits of ‘Care Navigators’ for older people, particularly on discharge from hospital, in ensuring they received coordinated health and social care services to enable them to stay safely at

home. Age UK London then delivered a partnership with Age UK East London who provided two Care Navigators. The skilled Navigators work closely with the City of London Social Services department and hospitals to join up local services for vulnerable older people. Working holistically they assist in carrying out follow-through care plans.

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a consultation workshop to enable residents and providers to feed directly into the Health & Wellbeing Strategy for the City.

The feedback has resulted in the following being included in the Action Plan for the City of London Health and Wellbeing Board, directly addressing concerns from City people:

• Continued promotion of volunteering.

• Mapping and promotion of local groups and activities to combat obesity.

• Improvements to open spaces and continued work with the City leisure centre.

• Closer working with traffic management.

• Understanding current provision of community activities, map gaps and communicate findings.

• Focus on early help services and health prevention work in schools.

• Implementation of a dementia support and befriending service to combat isolation.

• Promotion of healthy workplaces.

• Extension of smoke-free open spaces and promotion of stop smoking services.

• Work by Health and Wellbeing Board partners to improve data sharing.

• Ensuring health and wellbeing considerations are included in developments to open spaces.

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Age UK London Trading

The Age UK Group offers a range of products and services tailor-made for the over 50’s including car, home and travel insurance, household bills, funeral plans, equity release and legal and wills services. All products are specifically designed for people in later life.

Age UK London Trading, launched in April 2011, now has four shops in London; in Euston, Croydon, Romford and Ruislip. They are contactable by phone and each has a team of dedicated staff available Mondays-Friday, 9.00am-5.00pm, offering a ‘face-to-face’ service.

Achievements

• Age UK London Trading is Appointed Representative of Age UK Enterprises, who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

• We have dedicated offices offering the full range of Age UK Products & Services at Croydon, Romford, Ruislip and Tavistock Square in Camden.

• Helped over 92,000 Age UK policy and plan holders with our range of insurance and other products across London.

• Offered customers access to services via telephone, internet or face-to-face from our network of offices across London.

• Net profits of over £365,000 were gift-aided to Age UKs in London.

Contact Age UK London Trading free on 0800 328 6089

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Trusted Traders

Age UK London Business Directory

The aim of the Age UK London Business Directory is to help protect vulnerable older Londoners from rogue traders. We work with local Age UKs across London to achieve this. The Directory connects older Londoners with traders they can trust and is accessible through a freephone number or online. The Directory promotes trustworthy local companies that provide products and services of interest to older people. A long term aim of the Directory is to generate an ongoing unrestricted income whereby any profits it does make will be ploughed back into charitable services.

The difference we have made this year

Through our telephone service we have connected a minimum of 4,000 older people to traders and businesses they can trust and enabled direct online access to an average of over 2,500 people on a monthly basis, helping them find reputable services; that’s over 30,000 people online using the Business Directory throughout this year!

We have checked and recruited 94 new traders/businesses to the Directory, bringing a broader variety of services to our customers whilst ensuring only traders that meet the criteria can become members of the Directory. During this period we also achieved a 63% trader/businesses membership renewal rate; this was the Directory’s first year of going through the process of membership renewals. The Directory promotes a variety of services from homecare to solicitors, mobile hair dressers to chiropodists, gardeners to electricians and more.

The Age UK London Business Directory is broadening its reach and currently has 185 traders/businesses across the following 17 London boroughs: Hillingdon, Harrow, Ealing, Brent, Bromley, Greenwich, Southwark, Lewisham, Lambeth, Wandsworth, Waltham Forest, Enfield, Havering, Barking, Redbridge, Barnet and Richmond.

Over 1545 individuals are currently registered on the business directory (this more than doubles last years figure) which enables them to give feedback on services they have used and to receive the quarterly community newsletter and contribute to our annual customer survey.

Our 2014/15 online customer survey gave us some key insights into how the Business Directory is used. 88% of participants were over 55, with 29% being over 70 years old. 87% were using the Business Directory to search for services for themselves. Participants told us that the thorough vetting process, the Age UK London brand and the emphasis on local services were the main things that made the Business Directory stand out. We were also pleased that 93% of participants told us they would recommend the Age UK London Business Directory to friends and family.

The Future

The Business Directory will continue to work with our brand partner Age UK’s to roll out the Business Directory service across London. The Directory will run a smarter and more efficient service for both customers and traders as it further develops into the future.

Find out more about the Age UK London Business Directory...Freephone: 0800 334 5056Visit: www.aubdlondon.co.uk

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Testimonials

Customers

“Detailed description of work with estimate. Work carried out in a clean, tidy and competent manner; Ongoing explanation as regards progress. Attention to detail throughout. Professional attitude displayed at all times.”

Mr R D from the Bromley area reviewing Michael Rose Painting Services

“I have project managed many jobs involving dozens of tradesmen over the years and can honestly say that Mick and Paul are amongst the best and friendliest I have worked with. Nothing is too much trouble for them.”

Mr S P from the Hillingdon area reviewing Pro Gas London

“I am only too happy to give Mr Saunders the highest possible recommendation. The quality of his work is exceptional and extremely reasonable. Mr Saunders has done a good deal of work for my mother and I over the past three years. I admire his diligence and expertise greatly. Helpful, considerate and kind, Mr Saunders is a pleasure to work with.”

Mrs D D from the Harrow area for AVS Electrical Harrow

Traders

“The Directory is a fantastic set up, it’s a huge reassurance for the elderly that when they ask for a tradesperson they are getting a professional, rather then a rogue trader. Since I’ve been in the Age UK London Business Directory my business has grown and I’m now receiving more work through recommendations. It’s a fantastic organisation and is run extremely well.”

Eddy Eljanfali of Byewater Roofing – Hillingdon

“Just a quick note to say that I am very happy I decided to join the Age UK London Business Directory. It is the best thing I have done for a long while. I am receiving regular calls each week enabling me to help a lot of very grateful older folk out there. The older folk say that they are grateful to Age UK London for providing honest reliable and reasonably priced contractors as they are so afraid of being misled or ripped off. I will of course be renewing my subscription every year.”

John Langley of Harrow Handyman – Harrow

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The Age UK London Retail Hubs

For part of this year Age UK London worked together with the local Age UKs to provide increased and improved services for local older people. There were two Hubs, the Woolwich Hub working jointly with the local Age UK Bromley & Greenwich; and the Romford Hub working jointly with the local Age UK Redbridge, Barking & Havering. Our local Age UK partners provide valuable, free, information and advice.

The Hubs were quite unlike other charity shops; they were a new concept shop bringing goods and services for senior citizens to their local high street. What was unique about our Retail Hubs was that people need only make one stop to visit and receive free information and advice, seek other service needs and if they wish, shop too; all in one place. Any profits from the hub were to go towards our local charitable services and London-wide campaigns for our senior citizens.

Despite the diligent work that was done to develop these sites into profitable hubs, we were unable to achieve the envisaged income to meet our aims.

With this is mind a decision was made to transfer these shops to our Age UK (national) partners on the 1st December 2014. Our local Age UK partners in Bromley & Greenwich and Redbridge, Barking & Havering continue to provide a valuable information and advice service from the two hubs to many in the local community.

The difference the hubs had made over the last eight months

Over this last year each retail hub has been working hard to generate stock donations. They have worked with the local Age UKs and the community to set up donation sites on the premises of local organisations that are willing to help generate stocks of unwanted clothing, accessories, shoes, books and bric-a-brac for the Hubs. Romford and Woolwich Hubs have set up 28 donation sites between them. The sites range from residential homes to leisure centres dry cleaners to banks and more. It’s a slow start but in addition to the individual bags that get donated over the door, the donation sites have helped us generate an additional 628 bags, this equates to roughly £6,280 additional income for the hubs.

Age UK London Retail Hubs

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Looking to the Future

Looking at the year ahead, Age UK London is committed to working towards a movement of London Age Friends and Supporters. We want to continue to harness the support and enthusiasm of many people across the Capital to make London the ageing-place of choice, to challenge stereotyping and increase opportunities to participate in all the capital has to offer.

We are looking forward to developing our Manifesto for Older People with groups across London and ensuring the voices of our communities continue to shape and develop services, highlight needs and demonstrate impact.

Our programme of work will continue to focus on the importance of accessing opportunities, across the life course, whether related to health, skills, digital connection, or planning for ageing.

For example the Mi Borough, Mi Health and Mi Skills menu of supported sessions, which have developed from the intergenerational work through Mi Community developed a few years ago. This concept brings together workers across London with the communities around them to help improve digital access and change the perceptions of ageing.

Age UK London continues to monitor its reach and impact so that it can include reach as many communities of people within our capability and resources. During 2015 and 2016 we will be consciously focussing on people who find participation more difficult to identify how we can improve their ability to get involved. We are also working hard to maximise our impact and our responsibility in providing a platform for the older voice in London.

Understanding the need for greater inclusion and accessibility, our Age UK London Trading company is reviewing its hours, and the Trusted Traders programme is developing a team of volunteers to support older users who contact us.

Our work bringing together our voice and programmes work will be key to our success and our continued support form funders and individuals continues to be invaluable. Thank you to all who provide us with funds, time and expertise - you make everything possible.

Sam MaugerChief ExecutiveAge UK London

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Financial Information

Income 2014/15 - £1,495,000

Expenditure 2014/15 - £1,584,000

Legacies and donations - £175,000 - 12%Charitable projects - £355,000 - 24%Trading - £795,000 - 53%Retail Business Directory - £50,000 - 3%Investment Income - £68,000 - 5%Other - £53,000 - 4%

Local Borough Grants - £370,000 - 23%Fundraising - £54,000 - 3%Charitable Activities - £244,000 - 15%Charitable Projects - £401,000 - 25%Trading - £435,000 - 27%Retail Business Directory - £39,000 - 2%Governance - £40,000 - 3%

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Thank You

AdviceUKAge Action AllianceAge UKAge UKs in LondonArtizan LibraryAustin & Hope Pilkington TrustThe Brandenburg Choral Festival of LondonCabinet OfficeCapital ConnectCity Bridge TrustCliff ChesterClifford ChanceCity of London CorporationCOLCECDepartment for Work and PensionsDepartment of HealthEEFirst Class Business SolutionsGiveACarGreater London AuthorityGreater London VolunteeringGreater London Forum for Older PeopleThe Green Box, PortsokenhaysmacintyreHENCLHungarian Cultural CentreInternational Longevity CentreKing’s College LondonKensington and Chelsea ForumLewisham Pensioners ForumLondon Borough of CroydonLondon Borough of Lambeth

Age UK London would like to thank the following organisations and individuals for their support:

London CouncilsLondon South Bank UniversityLOPAGLOPSGMarsh & McLennanMayor of LondonNational Energy ActionOpening Doors LondonPension WisePositive Ageing in LondonOfgemParliamentary Outreach TeamThe Phone Co-opRoyal Borough of Kingston-upon-ThamesShineSilver ComedySitraSmall Charities CoalitionSonySouthwark Pensioners ForumSpice Time CreditsSt Joseph’s RC Primary SchoolTeam LondonTelstra GlobalTimeBankTransport for LondonUCL School of PharmacyUCL PartnersUK Power NetworksThe V H Dixon Charitable TrustvInspiredVodafone

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Registered charity number 1092198. Age UK London, the working name for Age Concern London, is a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales number 4407861. ID: IMP 14/15

Age UK London is funded by London Councils, City Bridge Trust, The City of London Corporation, The Department of Health, The Greater London Authority, The Department for Work and Pensions, UK Power Networks, Awards for All and Age UK.

Age UK London1st Floor, 21 St Georges Road, London SE1 6ESt 020 7820 6770f 020 7820 1063Web: www.ageuk.org.uk/londonTwitter: @ageuklondon