About us
Age UK Richmond provide a range of services to help promote physical and emotional wellbeing through a variety of ways. We provide group activities to improve fitness, develop new skills and build confidence. We offer practical and emotional one to one support that provides companionship and the ability to stay living at home independently for longer. We also campaign and promote issues affecting local older people, providing volunteering opportunities and build stronger communities.
We are a responsive organsiation, continually researching the needs of older people locally and providing support to meet those needs. For example, we identified that men in our borough were not engaging in our services as much as women so we created a 'MANaging Matters' activity programme tailored for men specifically, such as 'Man with a Pan' cookery clubs, Fit For Men exercise groups, Walking Football and Pub lunches. We also address the persistent bed blocking problem for older people in our local hopsitals and developed a 'Nightingale Service' which supports the individual ensuring a smooth discharge process, co-ordinating all the agencies and short term help to mobilise the patient safely at home. This has saved the NHS around £250,000 in the first year. Equally, our Scam Prevention and Support Service was born out of research showing our borough is the 2nd highest in London for scams. We achieved high profile coverage on BBC TV and Radio as a result of the work we have carried out to help prevent and support potential and actual victims of fraud.
Our Home Services team provide a handyperson, gardening and housekeeping service, helping people remain independent at home for longer. We have a busy Information & Advice service too, with our First Contact Helpline (signposting service) and Welfare Benefits team which claim around £1.3 million every year in unclaimed benefits and grants for essential items like white goods, utility bills, clothes and household items.
The Borough of Richmond has the highest proportion of people aged over 75 and living alone in London - 51% for Richmond versus 35% for London overall. In this borough the number of over 65 year olds is set to increase by 60% over the next 20 years. Every year, demand for services grows as the number of older people and need for our support increases. Year on year, funding is reduced and more difficult to secure, particularly with over 800 charities operating locally, twinned with the misperception of our organsiation and borough being particularly wealthy. We are separate to Age UK, not funded by them, we are simply brand partners allowing us to benefit from the national brand. With all of these contributing factors, Age UK Richmond has to work extremely hard to continue delivering its essential services. We rely on your support and are grateful for any donation you can make to our charity.
