Age Alliance Newsletter

Here’s the latest e-newsletter from the Age Alliance.

Editorial

It’s not that far back in our history that later life was a time that many people feared because of the financial insecurity. Sadly, and shamefully, an estimated 1.7 million pensioners still live in poverty in the UK.

And the future doesn’t look any brighter: it’s plain that there are large numbers of people approaching retirement not saving enough for a comfortable income. Neither will a large swathe of the population have their property to fall back upon. Critically, there appears to be no overarching long-term strategy as to how we deal with this. Shouldn’t how this, and future generations, secure a comfortable retirement be the subject of a national debate and concerted action?

Waiting for Government to fix the problem might not necessarily be the most effective use of our time. So can we do anything to address this? Click here for my blog on the subject:

In other news, the votes are in on how the main charities and housing providers in the sector responded to the Budget. Mr Hunt might like to look away now, but you can read the story here:

A head of steam is also building to persuade this (or perhaps a future) Government to take seriously the idea of a Commissioner for Older People in England. It’s something the groups I have represented have been campaigning on for many years now. Has its time finally come? Read more by clicking on the story in the Politics section below.

This month, we also introduce a new feature: a profile of an AAA member. We have over 125 members now – you can see the list here http://theageactionalliance.org/who-we-are/. If you’d like to tell other members about yourself, drop me a line!

You can also check out the latest news and blogs by clicking here:

And, don’t forget: please share this newsletter as widely as possible; and anyone reading this (individuals as well as groups) who would like to join (membership is free) and/or subscribe to the newsletter, simply email me at info@theageactionalliance.org

Tony Watts OBE, Editor

Politics

Charities and groups call for a Commissioner for Older People

A group of over 70 charities and older people’s representative bodies has made a united call for a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing in England. Click to read more

How much did the Budget help the lives of older people?

This was, we were told, a Budget aimed at achieving growth and getting older people back to work. Will it succeed? And, as well as what was IN the Budget, what was left out? The votes are in from AAA members Age UK, Independent Age, Anchor Housing and The Centre for Ageing Better. Click to read more

Health, Care & Wellbeing

Call for ring-fenced funding for adult social care

The National Care Forum (NCF) is calling on the Government to move away from short term emergency care funding and commit to a longer-term and co-designed funded strategy, with greater focus on community and prevention services.
Click to read more

£70,000 available for innovation research to support ageing population

Do you have an inspirational, life-enhancing idea, prototype, or plan to reimagine how personal mobility options in the UK can better support a rapidly ageing population to stay connected, active, and independent for longer? If so, there is a £50k-£70k funding opportunity available through AAA members the Design Age Institute.
Click to read more

Research reveals mental health toll of cost of living crisis

Age UK has launched a new campaign called “Know What To Do” following research which reveals that, in January, a massive 9.6 million over-60s (60%) of older people were worried about being able to heat their homes when they wanted to, and 7.2 million (45%) were worried about affording other essentials such as food.
Click to read more

Money matters

Toolkit launched to improve uptake of Pension Credit

Independent Age has launched a toolkit sharing “Good practice examples and principles” aimed at helping boost Pension Credit take up at a local level.
Click to read more

Employment

100 employers sign up to “Age Friendly” pledge

More than 100 leading organisations and businesses, as well as many smaller ones, have joined the Ageing Better Age-friendly Employer Pledge scheme within its first 100 days.  More than 200,000 employees now work at organisations that have signed.
Click to read more

Older workers: we need less talk and more action

The need to retain and recruit the talents of older workers has never received so much coverage. But we need more than headlines and promises to fix the systemic issues preventing this from happening, argues Tim Whitaker of Wise Age.
Click to read more:

Is work no longer working?

With nearly two in five adults economically inactive, is work no longer working? New research by the International Longevity Centre, the UK’s leading think tank on the impact of longevity on society, highlights deep-seated inequalities in the UK’s changing labour market and the critical condition of the current economy.
Click to read more:

New scheme helps older workers bounce back from redundancy

The Centre for Ageing Better is developing a new redundancy support service to help older workers aged between 50 and 64 find fulfilling employment.
Click to read more:

Would being a senior helping other seniors get YOU back to work?

The Chancellor is hoping to tempt over 50s back to work. He’d do well to understand what conditions this group of workers require, says Sally Wilse of AAA members Seniors Helping Seniors.
Click to read more: