Category: Age UK Network News

Keep up with all the latest news from across the Age UK Network

Cost Recovery Workshop for Service Managers – 21st July

Age UK’s Financial Governance Team has been providing support to CEOs and Boards through their Finance Network Meetings. They are now hosting a workshop just for Service Managers on 21st July. Find out full details below.

Age UK’s Financial Governance Team has organised a cost recovery workshop specifically for Service Managers. This workshop will take place on Teams on Thursday 21st July from 11am – 12pm. Find out full details, including how to book your place, below. Please share this update with anyone who has the responsibility for delivering your organisation’s services, so that they can attend.

Age UK’s Financial Governance team has long-supported CEOs, senior Finance staff and trustees of Brand Partners in a wide range of financial governance and management matters, with feedback displaying that these contributions have been well-received.

However, an understanding of some key finance issues amongst other managers within across the Network is equally important. With that in mind, the Financial Governance Team has organised a workshop specifically for Service Managers – i.e. those who have the responsibility for delivering your organisation’s services. That said, if other senior staff or trustees wish to attend, you will be very welcome.

About the Workshop

When a charity is invited to tender to provide a service for its beneficiaries, or when the organisation is considering making changes to an existing charged-for service or applying for grant funding, it is important that the Manager responsible for delivering that service is aware of what it will cost the charity to provide it. It’s equally important for the Service Manager to know that the funds required will be sufficient to cover the costs involved and allow for unforeseen contingencies and a surplus.

As it is always good practice for Managers to continually look for ways to improve both the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of service delivery, it is important to have a full understanding of the financial basis of the service, so that good practice can be applied.

This workshop will take Service Managers through the basic financial considerations required to accurately cost and price a service so that together with Finance colleagues and other managers, they will feel confident that the application for grant funding or a proposed charge to users, will be fair and transparent, and that the provision of that service will represent a good use of the charity’s assets.

Book your place

This workshop will take place on Thursday 21st July, via Teams, will run from 11:00 to 12:00. It will take no longer than an hour and this will allow time for questions and answers. Please encourage your Service Managers and other colleagues who you feel would benefit from attending, to register by emailing John Fox (John.Fox@ageuk.org.uk) so that an invitation to join the workshop can be sent.

We intend to record the event and then to make the recording, and the supporting slide deck, available to the wider network as a Webinar which staff can view at a time convenient to them. However, attendance at a live, interactive event will always provide greater value.

By tailoring a workshop specifically for Service Managers, this is an experimental departure from our normal support approach to Brand Partners. Our aim is to raise awareness and understanding of Full Cost Recovery principles, why this is important, especially in the current challenging operating environment, and to demonstrate how it adds real value for all concerned across your organisations.

First Quarterly PIR Form of 2022/23 now available for completion

The form for the first Quarterly PIR of 2022/23 is now available for you to complete ahead of the 1st August deadline.

The latest Partner Information Return (PIR) is now available for completion here. This covers the period between 1st April 2022 and 30th June 2022, Quarter 1 of 2022/2023. The deadline for completion is the 1st August 2022. Find out full details below, including changes to questions and the data report for the year 2021/22.

The reference copy can be viewed here, and the data transparency statement can be viewed here:

Word Doc Reference Copy:

Reference Copy Apr-Jun 22

Data Transparency Statement:

PIR Data Transparency Statement

Changes to Questions

Thank you for the feedback you sent us following PIR for Quarter 4 of 2021/22. In response to your feedback, we are changing the reporting requirements for Section 4 on volunteers. We are now asking for a single, quarterly figure for the number of active volunteers for your organisation rather than 3 separate monthly figures. We have also clarified the wording for what is an active volunteer. We hope this is now clearer but if you have any additional feedback please get in touch at localstatistics@ageuk.org.uk.

Full Year Data Report for 2021/22

The full year report for 2021/22 can be accessed here. If you wish to access the full dataset please email localstatistics@ageuk.org.uk.

Why the Partner Information Return Matters

The PIR is used to enhance Age UK’s knowledge of the Network, so that we can display our collective strength in media, fundraising, and influencing opportunities.

The more returns we receive, the more powerful and useful the data we can display when talking to funders, demonstrating the breadth of the Age UK Network’s work with older people. For the last return we received responses from less than 60% of all Partners, which made it harder to fully demonstrate the impact of the data collected and to display the full scope of the work of the Age UK Network to funders.

With that in mind, for this quarter, we will be in touch to remind those who have not completed the return by the 1st August deadline to ensure a full return rate.

If you have any questions or feedback please email localstatistics@ageuk.org.uk. Thank you as always for taking the time to complete the Partner Information Return.

Age UK Network News Roundup – 01/07/22

Take a look at the latest weekly roundup of news from across the Age UK Network.

There’s lots to cover in this week’s Age UK Network News Roundup! We start by congratulating Age UK Oxfordshire, who have been named in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2022! Elsewhere, Age UK North Tyneside have opened their first housing scheme and Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough reflect on a month of celebrations for the Platinum Jubilee. There’s also the usual roundup of vacancies, including two digital roles at Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire.

As always, if you have a story from your organisation that you would like us to share with the Network, such as recent events, campaigns, or awards, please let us know at signpost@ageuk.org.uk and we’ll add it to the next roundup.

Age UK Oxfordshire named in the Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2022

Our congratulations to Age UK Oxfordshire, who have been named one of the most inclusive employers in the country in the The National Centre for Diversity’s Top 100 Most Inclusive Workplaces Index 2022.

Age UK Oxfordshire has carried out significant investment in equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) development and commissioned an external audit to help ensure focus in the right areas. The charity has two working groups committed to moving the organisation in the right direction: one group working at an organisational, strategic level, and the other group focussing on the daily operations of the charity.  

Sarah Jackson, HR Manager at the charity said:

We are very proud to have been listed in the ‘Top 100’. As an organisation we are fully committed to diversity and inclusion and while we are clearly doing well at present, we know that EDI is an ongoing commitment and we will constantly strive to be better.

Sarah Jackson, HR Manager, Age UK Oxfordshire

Find out full details on the Age UK Oxfordshire website.

Age UK North Tyneside open their first housing scheme

Age UK North Tyneside are pleased to have opened their first housing scheme in partnership with Northumberland Estates and North Tyneside Council. Havelock Place, in the village of Backworth, Tyne and Wear, is the charity’s first extra care housing scheme for people living in later life with dementia or other cognitive impairment.

The charity aims to provide affordable and supportive living for people in later life and hopes that this is the first of many similar projects – it is also one of the strategic partners for the development of the ‘Ageing Well Village’ which will also be located in Backworth.

Age UK North Tyneside’s Chief Executive Dawn McNally said:

We believe that by offering housing, as well as our other services, we can provide holistic and truly integrated services for our customers. A very small element of planning of housing is for people in later life so that is why we are entering this market.

Housing is the bed-rock of good health and wellbeing. What makes us unique is we are a large care provider and large charity with two different types of services in housing and health and social care. What better way for us to be integrated provider than to be able to offer housing and all that comes with it?

Dawn McNally, Chief Executive, Age UK North Tyneside

Find out more about Havelock Place on the Age UK North Tyneside website and by reading this press release.

Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough’s Platinum Jubilee Celebrations

With the assistance of a Cambridgeshire Community Foundation grant, Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough were able to bring joy to many people celebrating the Platinum Jubilee. The team hosted 25 parties between 9th May and 7th June and delivered jubilee celebration packages to the homes of older people who were unable to attend a party.

Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough also created a small online exhibition of past jubilee memories, to include some recipes (inspired by the Platinum Pudding) and a Tree of Hope, (inspired by The Queen’s Green Canopy).

Find out full details of the celebrations on the Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough website.

Two open roles at Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire

Age UK Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are looking to recruit two new digital roles: Digital Project Coordinator and Digital Outreach Worker.

The Digital Project Coordinator will develop and deliver the project and act as first point of contact for the programme and project enquiries, supported by Digital Outreach Workers and Digital Champion Volunteers. 

Digital Outreach Workers will liaise with the Digital coordinator and support the digital champion volunteers to deliver the project.

Find out full details on the Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire website.

Closing date: 10th July

Four new vacancies at Age UK Devon

Age UK Devon currently have four new roles available; Information and Advice Advisor, Better Later Lives Co-ordinator, Digital Project Co-ordinator and Digital Outreach Worker.

As Information and Advice Advisor you will be the first point of contact for clients, their carers, relatives and professionals. You will be providing clear and accurate information on a variety of issues including, health and social care, welfare benefits and local services.

As a Better Later Lives Co-ordinator you will be working collaboratively with the Information and Advice team to provide holistic advice to older people who have experienced a significant life event

As Digital Project Co-ordinator you will develop, manage and deliver the charity’s digital inclusion support service to older people through a team of trained Digital Champions.

As Digital Outreach Worker you will support the Digital Project Co-ordinator by facilitating outreach visits to promote digital awareness and generate referrals for on-going digital skills support sessions. You will also enable participation of older people who are unable to attend outreach sessions through the delivery of 1:1 digital support sessions in their homes, or remotely via Teams/Zoom. 

Full details of all the roles can be found on Age UK Devon’s website at here.

Closing date for all roles: Sunday 3rd July

Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire seek conversations with Brand Partners who have provided Falls Urgent Community Response support

Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire have been approached as part of the voluntary sector Falls Urgent Community Response pathway to look at how they might provide support.

The team at Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire are looking to find out if any Brand Partners have supported, or are in the process of supporting, Urgent Community Response services to enable the person who has fallen without any obvious injury to stay in their own home following a medical assessment.

They have discussed their enhanced Home Support offer which they have in place to support hospital discharge referrals to home, but it would be great to hear from other Brand Partners who have had any involvement in this or similar schemes and what models or services they put in place.

If you would like to get in touch, please contact Director of Services Jo Judges – jojudges@ageukcovwarks.org.uk.

Digital Inclusion Project Coordinator at Age UK County Durham

The Digital Inclusion Project Coordinator role at Age UK County Durham would suit someone who has the natural ability to build relationships and possesses excellent organisational and leadership skills. The successful candidate will have a positive can-do attitude and willingness to help develop manage and deliver the digital inclusion support service to older people through a team of trained Digital Champions.

Find out more on the Age UK County Durham website.

Closing Date: 1st July

Age UK Enfield seeks new CEO

Age UK Enfield has an exciting opportunity for the right person to lead Enfield’s foremost older people’s charity to the next level.

The successful candidate will have leadership skills, knowledge of the charitable sector and experience of working in health, social care and/or advice, including preferably with older people. Experience with finance is also required.

Find out full details on the Age UK Enfield website.

Closing date: 1st July

CASEwork Services CIC Ltd seek a Finance Officer

CASEwork Services CIC Ltd provides finance services to the five local Age UK charities which own the company – Age UK Doncaster, Age UK North Yorkshire & Darlington, Age UK Sheffield, Age UK Wakefield District and Age UK York.

They are looking to recruit an additional Finance Officer to join the team to provide financial accounting services.

This is a home-working role open to anyone within the UK, though it is preferred that the successful applicant can attend one team meeting in York per month if possible.

Find out full details on the Age UK Sheffield website.

Two vacancies at Age UK Buckinghamshire

Age UK Buckinghamshire have open vacancies for an I&A Officer and a Hospital Discharge Support Worker.

The I&A Officer will provide information and advice as appropriate, including signposting to other services / organisations, by telephone, email, virtual platform and face-to-face.

The Hospital Discharge Support Worker will provide the practical support that some patients require to get home safely and be able to settle back in their homes following a stay in hospital.

Find out full details on the Age UK Buckinghamshire website.

Three vacancies at Age UK Calderdale & Kirklees

Age UK Calderdale and Kirklees are currently looking to hire for three new roles, click below to find out more about each position.

Find out more on the Age UK Calderdale & Kirklees website.

Two Vacancies at Age UK Somerset

Age UK Somerset are seeking applications for two roles: Information & Support Manager and a Finance Administrator.

The Information & Support Manager will direct and manage teams of staff and volunteers to deliver and develop services that include Information & Advice, Dementia Support and Active Befriending.

The Finance Administrator will take a central role in ensuring the efficient handling of the Charity’s financial transactions, working closely with the external finance support service.

Find out full details on the Age UK Somerset website.

Information and Advice Advisor Role at Age UK Richmond upon Thames

Age UK Richmond upon Thames are seeking an Information and Advice Advisor. The role will include providing information on a wide range of queries, over the telephone, by email, and in person – referring and signposting where necessary into other Age UK Richmond services and other support provided by their partners.

Find out full details on the Age UK Richmond upon Thames website.

Home Support Workers roles at Age UK Solihull

Age UK Solihull are looking for Home Support Workers to support older people to remain living independently and safely in their own homes for as long as they wish.

Closing date: N/A (ongoing recruitment).

Find out more about the above roles on the Age UK Solihull website.

Age UK Milton Keynes looking to recruit new Trustees

Age UK Milton Keynes are currently seeking several new Trustees for their Board. Each trustee should use any specific knowledge or experience they may have to help the Board reach sound decisions. This will involve scrutinising Board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance.

The time commitment will be to attend four Board meetings per year, an annual strategy day, and ad-hoc meetings related to your skill set. Most meetings are held at Age UK Milton Keynes’ headquarters.

Find out full details on the Age UK Milton Keynes website.

Get in touch!

If you have a story from your organisation that you would like us to share with the Network, please let us know at signpost@ageuk.org.uk.

You can also view a full list of open roles across the network here.

Funding Bulletin #23 – Updates on Public, Corporate, Trusts and Public Sector Funding | June 2022

The latest fundraising bulletin is now available for you to view below.

Welcome to the June funding bulletin! This edition includes a reminder of the new funding round for Age UK’s Warm Homes programme, together with ongoing grant funding opportunities for physical activity projects in local communities.

If you know of a colleague at your organisation who would like to receive this bulletin and other updates from Age UK in our e-newsletter Signpost, please share this sign up form with them. Thank you!

You can view or download the Bulletin below:

Funding Bulletin Edition No. 23 – June 22Download


Loneliness Awareness Week – Resources to tackle loneliness all year round

Following on from Loneliness Awareness Week, here are some resources to help local Age UKs to continue tackling loneliness all year round!

Thank you to everyone who helped to make Loneliness Awareness Week a success! Following on from last week, there are some fantastic resources now available to support your regular work. Find out full details below.

The resources available cover a whole range of topics, including:

  • Supporting low-income households to overcome loneliness
  • Social prescribing to tackle loneliness
  • Loneliness in the workplace

Available Resources

1. Webinar – Tackling Loneliness at its Roots

If you missed our webinar, Tackling Loneliness at its Roots: how can we best support low-income households to overcome social isolation?, you can watch it here.

Thanks again to Jenny Paton from Age UK Wirral for an excellent presentation on their work tackling loneliness in conjunction with their local hospital trust, this is definitely worth a watch.

2. Social Prescribing Materials

If you’re working on or interested in social prescribing, you can access some great material from our resource drive here.

We worked with other organisations tackling loneliness through social prescribing to pool resources, and have collated some really helpful Guidance and Top Tips and Research and Evidence material.

3. Workshop – Loneliness in the Workplace

If you missed the workshop on loneliness in the workplace, take this opportunity to look at some of the material presented and think about what you can do to support staff and colleagues who may be experiencing loneliness.

You can access these resources here.

4. Loneliness Minister’s Visit to Age UK Herefordshire & Worcestershire

And if you haven’t already, read more here about the Loneliness Minister’s visit to walking football in his constituency at Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire last Friday.

A huge thank you to everyone who worked to make the visit such a success.

If you have any further questions, please contact Rhianon.Steeds@ageuk.org.uk.

This Girl Can Campaign Seeks Instructors

The This Girl Can campaign is seeking instructors to lead their classes. If you would be interested in becoming an instructor, you can find all the details you need below.

This Girl Can is a campaign to support women to get active or play sport in the way that’s right for them. The campaign is looking for instructors to lead their This Girl Can Classes, which are set up to support less active women to exercise in a judgement-free environment. If you would like to get involved, you can find out full details below.

This Girl Can are looking for instructors that are:

  • Dedicated to making less active women feel welcome
  • Able to create a supportive, non-judgemental class environment
  • Ready to inspire more communities and get the nation healthier

The target audience for This Girl Can Classes is less active women. This includes women who may not have done group exercise before, may not be doing much exercise, or may not have exercised for years. This Girl Can research shows these women will likely have barriers to exercise, including fear of judgement.

As a This Girl Can classes Instructor…

You’ll craft a welcoming environment in which women will thrive.

You’ll be supported by a national campaign to get more women into This Girl Can Classes, as well as access to bespoke choreography, branded instructor clothing, and marketing resources to get your classes up and running.

What you need to be a This Girl Can Classes instructor:

  • A Level 2 qualification in Exercise to Music/Group Training to Music, or accepted equivalent
  • Experience in at least two of the following – yoga/Pilates, HIIT, dance fitness, box fitness

How to get started

If you would like to become a This Girl Can Instructor, the training costs £99.00 and occurs at a number of different sites across the country – Find out full details, including how to book your place, here.

Age UK’s statement on the death of Baroness Greengross

A statement from Age UK’s Charity Director Caroline Abrahams, following the sad news that former Director General of Age Concern England Baroness Greengross has died.

We’re very sorry to share the news that Baroness Greengross, former Director General of Age Concern England and a lifelong advocate for older people and friend to the Age UK network, died on Thursday 23rd June 2022. Please see below a statement from Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, which was shared with CEOs and Chairs yesterday afternoon.

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, said:

“We are very sad to hear that Sally has died. She was a giant in the ageing sector and a great friend to us at Age UK, as well, of course, as having led Age Concern England with distinction, one of our predecessor charities. We will miss her enormously, both personally and professionally: she was a truly remarkable person who cared passionately about the causes she believed in and who continued to press them until just a short time ago. 

Our thoughts are with Sally’s family, and also with our friends and colleagues at ILC-UK, which she established and invested so much of her creative energy in in recent years.”

Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director, Age UK

Age UK Network News Roundup – 24/06/22

Take a look at the latest weekly roundup of news from across the Age UK Network.

Welcome to the latest Age UK Network News Roundup! This week there’s news of four new vacancies at Age UK Devon, as well as two Community Warden roles at Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough. As always, if you have a story from your organisation that you would like us to share with the Network, such as recent events, campaigns, or awards, please let us know at signpost@ageuk.org.uk and we’ll add it to the next roundup.

Four new vacancies at Age UK Devon

Age UK Devon currently have four new roles available; Information and Advice Advisor, Better Later Lives Co-ordinator, Digital Project Co-ordinator and Digital Outreach Worker.

As Information and Advice Advisor you will be the first point of contact for clients, their carers, relatives and professionals. You will be providing clear and accurate information on a variety of issues including, health and social care, welfare benefits and local services.

As a Better Later Lives Co-ordinator you will be working collaboratively with the Information and Advice team to provide holistic advice to older people who have experienced a significant life event

As Digital Project Co-ordinator you will develop, manage and deliver the charity’s digital inclusion support service to older people through a team of trained Digital Champions.

As Digital Outreach Worker you will support the Digital Project Co-ordinator by facilitating outreach visits to promote digital awareness and generate referrals for on-going digital skills support sessions. You will also enable participation of older people who are unable to attend outreach sessions through the delivery of 1:1 digital support sessions in their homes, or remotely via Teams/Zoom. 

Full details of all the roles can be found on Age UK Devon’s website at here.

Closing date for all roles: Sunday 3rd July

Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough seek Community Warden

Age UK Cambridgeshire & Peterborough are looking to recruit 2 Community Wardens, both for 15 hrs per week.

The Community Warden supports older people to remain living in their own homes by providing them with practical daily support and assistance. Tasks such as collecting prescriptions, small items of shopping, helping with letters and phone calls and ensuring safety and well-being. The warden will also be responsible for the promotion of the service within the area.

Click here for full details.

Closing date: Wednesday 29th June 2022

Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire seek conversations with Brand Partners who have provided Falls Urgent Community Response support

Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire have been approached as part of the voluntary sector Falls Urgent Community Response pathway to look at how they might provide support.

The team at Age UK Coventry and Warwickshire are looking to find out if any Brand Partners have supported, or are in the process of supporting, Urgent Community Response services to enable the person who has fallen without any obvious injury to stay in their own home following a medical assessment.

They have discussed their enhanced Home Support offer which they have in place to support hospital discharge referrals to home, but it would be great to hear from other Brand Partners who have had any involvement in this or similar schemes and what models or services they put in place.

If you would like to get in touch, please contact Director of Services Jo Judges – jojudges@ageukcovwarks.org.uk.

Five open roles at Age UK Barnet

Age UK Barnet currently have lots of vacancies available, including:

Click the links above to find out more.

Digital Inclusion Project Coordinator at Age UK County Durham

The Digital Inclusion Project Coordinator role at Age UK County Durham would suit someone who has the natural ability to build relationships and possesses excellent organisational and leadership skills. The successful candidate will have a positive can-do attitude and willingness to help develop manage and deliver the digital inclusion support service to older people through a team of trained Digital Champions.

Find out more on the Age UK County Durham website.

Closing Date: 1st July

Age UK Enfield seeks new CEO

Age UK Enfield has an exciting opportunity for the right person to lead Enfield’s foremost older people’s charity to the next level.

The successful candidate will have leadership skills, knowledge of the charitable sector and experience of working in health, social care and/or advice, including preferably with older people. Experience with finance is also required.

Find out full details on the Age UK Enfield website.

Closing date: 1st July

CASEwork Services CIC Ltd seek a Finance Officer

CASEwork Services CIC Ltd provides finance services to the five local Age UK charities which own the company – Age UK Doncaster, Age UK North Yorkshire & Darlington, Age UK Sheffield, Age UK Wakefield District and Age UK York.

They are looking to recruit an additional Finance Officer to join the team to provide financial accounting services.

This is a home-working role open to anyone within the UK, though it is preferred that the successful applicant can attend one team meeting in York per month if possible.

Find out full details on the Age UK Sheffield website.

Two vacancies at Age UK Buckinghamshire

Age UK Buckinghamshire have open vacancies for an I&A Officer and a Hospital Discharge Support Worker.

The I&A Officer will provide information and advice as appropriate, including signposting to other services / organisations, by telephone, email, virtual platform and face-to-face.

The Hospital Discharge Support Worker will provide the practical support that some patients require to get home safely and be able to settle back in their homes following a stay in hospital.

Find out full details on the Age UK Buckinghamshire website.

Three vacancies at Age UK Calderdale & Kirklees

Age UK Calderdale and Kirklees are currently looking to hire for three new roles, click below to find out more about each position.

Find out more on the Age UK Calderdale & Kirklees website.

Three Vacancies at Age UK Somerset

Age UK Somerset are seeking applications for three roles: Information & Support Manager; Finance Administrator; and Support Services Administrator.

The Information & Support Manager will direct and manage teams of staff and volunteers to deliver and develop services that include Information & Advice, Dementia Support and Active Befriending.

The Finance Administrator will take a central role in ensuring the efficient handling of the Charity’s financial transactions, working closely with the external finance support service.

The Support Services Administrator will play a key role in administering, monitoring and reporting on various elements of Personnel, Governance, Quality and Health & Safety.

Find out full details on the Age UK Somerset website.

Information and Advice Advisor Role at Age UK Richmond upon Thames

Age UK Richmond upon Thames are seeking an Information and Advice Advisor. The role will include providing information on a wide range of queries, over the telephone, by email, and in person – referring and signposting where necessary into other Age UK Richmond services and other support provided by their partners.

Find out full details on the Age UK Richmond upon Thames website.

Home Support Workers roles at Age UK Solihull

Age UK Solihull are looking for Home Support Workers to support older people to remain living independently and safely in their own homes for as long as they wish. Closing date: N/A (ongoing recruitment).

Find out more about the above roles on the Age UK Solihull website.

Age UK Milton Keynes looking to recruit new Trustees

Age UK Milton Keynes are currently seeking several new Trustees for their Board. Each trustee should use any specific knowledge or experience they may have to help the Board reach sound decisions. This will involve scrutinising Board papers, leading discussions, focusing on key issues, providing advice and guidance.

The time commitment will be to attend four Board meetings per year, an annual strategy day, and ad-hoc meetings related to your skill set. Most meetings are held at Age UK Milton Keynes’ headquarters.

Find out full details on the Age UK Milton Keynes website.

Get in touch!

If you have a story from your organisation that you would like us to share with the Network, please let us know at signpost@ageuk.org.uk.

You can also view a full list of open roles across the network here.

Age UK’s Influencing Work During Carers Week and Loneliness Awareness Week 2022

With Carers Week and Loneliness Awareness Week both falling in June, here’s a roundup of Age UK’s influencing work across both weeks.

It’s been a busy month for the whole Age UK Network, with both Carers Week and Loneliness Awareness Week following each other during June! As you know, both weeks are major opportunities to raise awareness of these issues and to highlight the important work that is being done, and more that could be done, to tackle them. Read on to learn about some of the central influencing opportunities we engaged in over these two weeks:

Carers Week – Ensuring Carers Feel Visible, Valued & Supported

Carers Week is delivered by Carers UK alongside Age UK and other charity partners as a celebration of the huge contributions of unpaid carers. This year, the campaign also focused on highlighting the impact of the pandemic on unpaid carers and calling on the Government to create and fund a Recovery & Respite plan.

Age UK’s role is to highlight the role of older carers and ensure the support they need is recognised. As well as arranging for two campaigners to speak with the Minister for Care and the Shadow Minister for Care during online calls, we also attended the Carers Week Parliamentary drop-in for MPs on 8th June.

Norman Philips, who cares for his wife, and Rasila Mehta, who cares for her sister, joined Age UK at the event and spoke to over 21 MPs and Peers about their experiences and the support they need to meet the demands of their roles as older carers. Alongside the more than 6000 campaigners who wrote to their MPs, Norman and Rasila demonstrated just how reliant the Health and Care sectors are on unpaid carers and made a very clear case for the need for immediate Government support.

You can read more about Carers Week and the Recovery & Respite plan here.

Norman Philips, Age UK’s Senior External Affairs Manager Eorann Lean, and Rasila Mehta

Loneliness Awareness Week – Tackling Loneliness with the Minister

We started the week with a webinar, chaired by Darren Henry MP, on supporting those on low incomes to overcome loneliness. We had a fantastic presentation from Jenny Paton at Age UK Wirral on their work with their local hospital trust.

To mark the end of Loneliness Awareness Week, Nigel Huddleston, the Minister responsible for tackling the loneliness agenda, joined a game of walking football in his constituency at Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire last Friday.

He got to see first-hand an example of the amazing work the Age UK Network does to tackle loneliness across the country. Walking football is a great way for players to socialise, while staying active at the same time.

The team spoke with the Minister about why playing means so much to them. Richard told him:

“I’ve made new friends and gotten to know more people. We all stop for a coffee after and have a chat. For those who are getting on or may have lost a partner, it helps with socialising. If someone doesn’t turn up for a few weeks, we reach out on our WhatsApp group.”

Richard, a regular walking football player

The Minister was happy to get stuck in and have a kick about with the team. It’s safe to say he thoroughly enjoyed himself and was very impressed with Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire, saying later:

“it was great to see their inspiring work helping older people make new friends while having fun and getting exercise.”

Nigel Huddleston, Minister for Sport, Tourism, Heritage and Civil Society

You can read more on the Age UK Discover blog and see some lovely clips of the visit on the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s twitter feed below:

Thank You!

We are deeply thankful to all our campaigners and all the local Age UKs who support unpaid carers and deliver services essential to tackling loneliness in older people. This work is essential for supporting the older people who need us most. Age UK will of course continue campaigning for them, to make sure they get the support they need.

If you have any questions about our campaigning work, please get in touch – luke.pilot@ageuk.org.uk.

A Guide to the Brand Partner Portal Week 6 – Future Functions and New Developments

The final part of our six-part series “Everything You’ve Ever Wanted to Know About the Brand Partner Portal” covers how the portal might develop in the future.

Welcome to the final week of our Brand Partner Portal (BPP) overview! We hope that you have found this series useful and have a better understanding of the different ways that the BPP can help us all work together. If you missed any of the previous updates, you can find them here. This week, we’re looking at how the portal might develop in the future and what new functions are coming on board. So, here’s a little glimpse into the future of the BPP…

Programmes

We have added a new tile to the Home page called Programmes, which will go live in July 2022. The first function in the new Programmes section will be for the Warm Homes programme. This will be a new area where partners can easily upload your monthly reports onto a secure database. The team have also moved all the programme guidance into this section of the portal which means you will no longer need to use the filesharing programme “Box” to access this material. 

If you are interested in delivering the Warm Homes programme, please click here to find out how to submit your application before Tuesday 5th July. The Warm Homes project team will be sending out more information and training will be provided closer to the rollout of Scheme Year 12. Please send any questions about this to warmhomes@ageuk.org.uk. 

We will be looking at how other programmes can utilise the BPP in the future for similar activities.

Reporting

We are currently working hard to put reporting in place that will help us and Partners to develop a better understanding of the Services that are offered across the Network. These reports will be created automatically by using the Services content that partners are inputting as they integrate their websites with the BPP (more on this in Week 3’s article here). So, a huge thank you to all brand partners that have already gone through this process. We should have a third of all partners integrated by the end of the summer.

If you are not yet signed up to a Website Integration sprint (where we support you to put your Services/Shops content into the BPP), please get in touch with us at portalaccess@ageuk.org.uk. We currently have space available on Sprints 5 and 6.

Website Integration of Events and Activities

A handful of brand partners joined us as we tried to bring the Events and Activities function online for Website Integration. Unfortunately, we had to move that feature back into development for some fixes, but the good news is that the bugs have now been fixed.

We will shortly be getting in touch with some brand partners to ask you to help us test out this functionality before we release the new feature. We’re hoping to be able to test this across the summer and roll out the new feature to partners from Sprint 4 in September.

Local Directory

We believe that by the end of Summer 2022, we will have enough partners who have integrated their websites with the BPP to allow us to switch on our new local directory.

What this means in practice is that visitors to the Age UK website will be able to search for services and shops in their postcode area and receive results from local partners’ websites based on the information those partners have input into the portal. When a user clicks on the search results, they will be taken directly to the integrated brand partner’s website.

If you have not yet been part of a web integration sprint, we will have messaging in place to provide users with the Age UK/Age Cymru in their area so they can visit your website or ring your office. Once a partner completes a website integration sprint, their services and shops will also be searchable on the national site.

Bulk Ordering

Some of you may have spotted a tile on the home page called Bulk Ordering. This function will allow brand partners to order information guides from our fulfilment centre in Warrington. Some examples of Information Guides include Caring for Someone with Dementia; Power of Attorney; and Save Energy Pay Less. We don’t currently have a launch date for the Bulk Ordering system, but we will keep you posted on progress.

Moving Forwards

Although we’ve come to the end of this epic six-part series, we will continue to send you updates as the BPP develops. You can always come back to this series here and if you ever have any questions about the different functions, you are always welcome to contact me on alisa.yingling@ageuk.org.uk.

Best wishes,

Alisa Yingling
Programme Manager
Brand Partner Portal
Age UK

%%footer%%