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| Company type | Charity |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 |
| Headquarters | UK |
| Website | helptheaged |
Help the Aged was a United Kingdom based international charity founded in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner [1] to help disadvantaged older people who were affected by poverty, isolation and neglect. It merged with Age Concern in 2009 to form Age UK.
Help the Aged had national offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. As of 2005 the Charity employed over 1,800 people and had an income of £75 million per year.
The Charity was an active campaigner on a number of issues affecting older people including:
On 26 June 2008, and after years of campaigning by Help the Aged, the British Government announced new legislation aimed at making age discrimination [6] illegal. Equalities Minister Harriet Harman unveiled the first draft of the Equalities Bill in Parliament to outlaw discrimination through the provision of goods and services on the basis of age.
Help the Aged also conducted a high-profile campaign on fuel poverty, [7] which affects an estimated 3 million pensioners in the UK. A household is deemed to be in fuel poverty when more than 10% of its income is spent on heating the house to an adequate standard of warmth. Fuel poverty, caused by low income and non energy-efficient housing, is thought to be a main cause of excess winter deaths.
Research into Ageing is a medical research trust that was the research arm of Help the Aged. It operates The Disconnected Mind, a research project that seeks to improve the lives of older people by unlocking the causes of age-related mental decline. [8]
In 2007, Help the Aged launched intune group, a new financial services brand. [9] The service exists as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Charity and offers tailored financial services products including home, car and travel insurance. The charity launched the initiative to remove age discrimination as a barrier to older people wishing to access certain financial products. Any profits generated by the company go towards the charity's work.
In May 2008, Help the Aged and Age Concern England announced plans for the two charities to merge. [10] Following consultation, this was confirmed in September, when Dianne Jeffrey was confirmed as the new chair of trustees. [11]
Tom Wright CBE, then chief executive of VisitBritain, was appointed Chief Executive of the new charity in November 2008. [12] He is also a Trustee of the Imperial War Museum.
The merged charity – known initially as Age Concern and Help the Aged, but now branded Age UK – was formed on 1 April 2009.
Age Concern is the banner title used by several charitable organizations (NGOs) specifically concerned with the needs and interests of all older people based chiefly in the four countries of the United Kingdom.
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance programs which provide support only to those who have previously contributed, as opposed to social assistance programs which provide support on the basis of need alone. The International Labour Organization defines social security as covering support for those in old age, support for the maintenance of children, medical treatment, parental and sick leave, unemployment and disability benefits, and support for sufferers of occupational injury.
Welfare reform is the process of proposing and adopting changes to a welfare system in order to improve the efficiency and administration of government assistance programs with the goal of enhancing equity and fairness for both welfare recipients and taxpayers. Reform programs have various aims: empowering individuals to help them become self-sufficient, ensuring the sustainability and solvency of various welfare programs, and/or promoting equitable distribution of resources. Welfare reform is constantly debated because of the varying opinions on a government's need to balance the imperatives of guaranteeing welfare benefits and promoting self-sufficiency.
AARP, formerly the American Association of Retired Persons, is an interest group in the United States focusing on issues affecting those over the age of fifty. The organization, which is headquartered in Washington, D.C., said it had more than 38 million members as of 2018. The magazine and bulletin it sends to its members are the two largest-circulation publications in the United States.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is a United Kingdom government department of His Majesty's Government responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK's biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers. It is the second largest governmental department in terms of employees, and the largest in terms of expenditure (£187bn).
Citizens Advice is an independent organisation specialising in confidential information and advice to assist people with legal, debt, consumer, housing and other problems in the United Kingdom.
The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), known as Action on Hearing Loss from 2011 to 2020, is a charitable organization working on behalf of the UK's 9 million people who are deaf or have hearing loss.
Alzheimer's Society is a United Kingdom care and research charity for people with dementia and their carers. It operates in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, while its sister charities Alzheimer Scotland and Alzheimer Society of Ireland cover Scotland and the Republic of Ireland respectively.
Diabetes UK is a British-based patient, healthcare professional and research charity that has been described as "one of the foremost diabetes charities in the UK". The charity campaigns for improvements in the care and treatment of people with diabetes.
Poverty in the United Kingdom is the condition experienced by the portion of the population of the United Kingdom that lacks adequate financial resources for a certain standard of living, as defined under the various measures of poverty.
Carers' rights are rights of unpaid carers or caregivers to public recognition and assistance in preventing and alleviating problems arising from caring for relatives or friends with disabilities. The carers' rights movement draws attention to issues of low income, social exclusion, damage to mental and physical health identified by research into unpaid caregiving. In social policy and campaigning the movement distinguishes such people's situation from that of paid careworkers, who in most developed countries have the benefit of legal employment protection and rights at work. With an increasingly ageing population in all developed societies, the role of carer has been increasingly recognized as an important one, both functionally and economically. Many organizations which provide support for persons with disabilities have developed various forms of support for carers/caregivers as well.
Rosalind Miriam Altmann, Baroness Altmann, is a British life peer, leading UK pensions expert, and political campaigner. She was appointed to the House of Lords following the 2015 general election as a Conservative, but describes her work both before and after the election as being politically independent, championing ordinary people and social justice.
Leonard Cheshire is a major health and welfare charity working in the United Kingdom and running development projects around the world. It was founded in 1948 by Royal Air Force officer Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC.
Parity is a United Kingdom-based equal rights organisation, which describes itself as campaigning to promote and protect the equality of men and women under the law. Its main focus has been in the area of state pensions and associated benefits, and most of its notable successes have occurred in this field. The organisation was previously called Campaign for Equal State Pension Ages.
Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009 and launched on 1 April 2009, as a merging of Age Concern England and Help the Aged.
Age Scotland is the national charity for older people in Scotland, UK. It is based in Edinburgh.
Turn2us is a trading name for Elizabeth Finn Care, a charity registered in England and Wales, and in Scotland that helps people living in poverty in the UK. Turn2us provides information and support about welfare benefits and charitable grants through an accessible website and a freephone helpline.
Age NI is a registered charity in Northern Ireland, formed in April 2009, which combines the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern NI and Help the Aged in Northern Ireland to form Northern Ireland's largest charity for older people. The charity operated under its original charity names as "Age Concern NI and Help the Aged in Northern Ireland" until the new brand launch on 26 March 2010. It also works interdependently with charities for the nations called Age Cymru, Age Scotland and Age UK.
Elizabeth Finn Care, established by Elizabeth Anne Finn in 1897 as the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association, is a British charity providing help and assistance to relieve the problems of old age, illness, social isolation and disability. In May 2015 Elizabeth Finn Care came under the Turn2us brand.
Disability in the United Kingdom covers a wide range of conditions and experiences, deeply impacting the lives of millions of people. Defined by the Equality Act 2010 as a physical or mental impairment with a substantial and long-term adverse effect on a person's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, it encompasses various aspects of life, including demographics, legislation, healthcare, employment, and culture. Despite numerous advancements in policy and social attitudes, individuals with disabilities often encounter unique challenges and disparities.
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