Age UK East London is a local independent charity working with older people mainly in the boroughs of Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets. For every £1 we raise, 82p is spent on working directly with older people in their homes, in the community and in hospitals. The remainder is spent on making sure we do it well and on supporting our staff and volunteers to provide a safe and friendly service!
Age UK East London's CEO, Jane Caldwell, has been profiled in the "Heroes of the COVID-19 response: the women you know, and some you may not… yet" article published by the Centre of Public Impact."I take my lead from a woman aged 101 who had three care visits a day. In the first week of COVID, she asked whether she could donate her evening visit to someone who needed it more."Age UK is a federation of around 140 independent charities supporting older people across the country. Jane Caldwell is the CEO of Age UK East London, working with over 9,000 older people in hospitals, the community and their homes, as well as a member of the CPI People’s Panel. Though East London boroughs are vibrant and diverse, they have the highest deprivation of income for older people in England. Jane and her team responded swiftly to COVID-19; expanding services in hospitals, and increasing support for those at home. They mobilised faster than many health and social care systems, immediately providing humanitarian support to other groups made vulnerable by COVID-19 including rough sleepers, those with no recourse to public funds, and women escaping domestic violence. “All staff working on the frontline were given the option to be re-deployed, none were furloughed and everyone was given full pay when isolating. As a leader, I felt it was important to carry the voices of those who have been disproportionately affected by the virus.” Jane’s leadership rests on the values of “resilience, inclusivity, humour, empathy and understanding that getting the best outcome is more important than winning an argument”, as well as the abilities to manage anger and self-regulate. She highlights the importance of taking responsibility and swift decision-making; “It helps that I lead an organisation of creative problem solvers. I could act quickly and be a step ahead because we think about the whole person. For example, I asked commissioners for a slush fund to buy whatever needed for whoever needed in the first few weeks, whether toilet roll and tampons, or phones and SIM cards.” Age UK East London’s coronavirus response has proved successful, having taken more than 1,300 people home from hospitals, and delivered over 80,000 meals. To access the full article please click here. |
PLEASE NOTE THAT DURING THE CRISIS OUR PHONE LINE 020 89817124 IS NOW OPEN FROM 9AM - 6PM 7 DAYS A WEEK. IF YOU ARE STRUGGLING AND NEED ADVICE OR SUPPORT WE WILL DO OUR VERY BEST TO HELP YOU OURSELVES OR SIGNPOST YOU TO A RELEVANT PERSON OR ORGANISATION.
Energy Redress ProjectDo you live in Tower Hamlets or Havering? Are you worried about the cost of your utility bills, or do you worry that your home never feels warm enough? If the answer is ‘yes’ then we can help. Our handyperson service can visit you at home to identify simple ways you can stay warm and well, and refer you to other local support to make sure you’re receiving all the help you’re entitled to. For more information please call us on 020 8981 7124 and ask for a Warm and Well at Home visit. |
Tower Hamlets council launches new phoneline to support vulnerable residentsThe Council has set up a new phoneline to support residents that have been identified as being extremely vulnerable and at the highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19 caused by coronavirus. Click here for more information. |
Age UK East London Fall Prevention Research: Testing of three communications methods and campaigns messaging to prevent the first fall in the ageing population.We have published a `Fall prevention research`. The document reports on the evaluation of the communications activities and campaigns to prevent and mitigate the risk of the first fall in elderly people living in Hackney. Click here to download the report. |
Important notice: CoronavirusAge UK East London is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation. We are following the government/NHS advice and monitoring employee sickness or exposure to risk (e.g. recently visited certain areas).We are sharing the following advice from Public Health with all staff and service users: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/coronavirus-covid-19-list-of-guidanceWe are making no changes to service delivery at this time. Should government advice change or should we become aware of a heightened risk to service users at a local level, we will update our approach and communicate with all key stakeholders.Please see here the help pack our City and Hackney OPRG members have created for older people. |
Between April 2015 and Mar 2019, we were a strategic partner of the Connect Hackney programme. The project aimed to support older people in Hackney to co-produce and test and learn from different approaches to two of the programme’s key outcomes. This was firstly to embed a more positive view towards ageing and older people and secondly, to look at how to increase direct involvement of older people in shaping policy and holding key stakeholders to account.
How the project evolved, what we learned on the way and our key findings and recommendations for how to reach older people and keep them involved in their community is outlined in our report ‘Building Older Peoples Influence in Hackney : Understanding influence, recognising leadership and sharing best practice.’
Have your voice heard by taking part at our Older People Reference Groups.
If you feel alone we can find you a Befriender who will come to visit you at home.
Our home from hospital service can help if you've recently been in hospital and need some help settling back at home.
Need a bit of help with your finances? We have advice to help
Read expert advice on how to get the care and support you need
Kick off 2018 by changing your life for the better
Do you want to meet other older people in your community?
Would you like to learn more aboout how to use the internet, computers or smartphones?
Would you like to raise funds for us? Find out how you can do it!
Age UK East London has achieved the Age UK Charity Quality Standard (CQS). The CQS is externally assessed by quality assessment experts, SGS.
Age UK East London has been awarded the Advocacy Quality Performance Mark (QPM) from the National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi).
Age UK East London has achieved the Information and Advice Quality Mark (IAQP) and the Advice Quality Advice.
Age UK East London has achieved the Cyber Essentials accreditation.
