Welcome to Age UK East London!

"Thinking of you" project

The coronavirus has had a monumental impact on the lives of millions of people across the world, both young and old. In normal times, loneliness affects well over a million people aged over 65.  It is increasingly clear that the pandemic has caused many, many more older people to become lonely.

At Age UK East London we know it is important, now more than ever, to bridge the generation gap to promote awareness and encourage positive connections – for both older and younger people. To this end, we have worked with "the Literacy Pirates" on the "Thinking of you" project.

Last year The Literacy Pirates, an educational charity based in London, were approached by local artist Christine Hooper with a heart-warming idea called ‘Thinking Of You’ Postcards. The aim was to get the Young Pirates, members of The Literacy Pirates programme, to write a message of hope to older Hackney residents isolating alone due to the pandemic, giving them a nice surprise through their letterbox. They express everyday rituals, what they are missing, and their hopes for when things might return to normal.

Kindly funded by Clarion Futures, and in partnership with Age UK East London, the project went ahead in December 2020. Art packs and blank postcards designed by Christine were sent out in the post which the Pirates then used on an exciting virtual two day ship session led by Crewmate Tommy. In total 38 ‘Thinking Of You’ postcards were decorated and sent out to our vulnerable contacts, offering an uplifting message personally written from each Pirate. On the reverse of the card were details of our services and an opportunity to write back to the young person.

To read or download the ‘Thinking of You’ Book visit http://literacypirates.org/thinking-of-you/

The Literacy Pirates hope to spread happiness and cheer in their community and beyond with their digital book compiling these beautifully decorated postcards. This has been a very difficult year, but endeavours like this show us that the best thing we can do right now is show kindness to others and look out for those who are lonely or struggling at this time.

City and Hackney OPRG Covid-19 Impact Survey

We have published the "City and Hackney OPRG Covid-19 Impact Survey". The survey looks at the impact of lockdown on the life of older people in the City of London and in Hackney. Please click here to download the report.

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.

Tower Hamlets council launches new phoneline to support vulnerable residents 

The 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.

Important notice: Coronavirus

Age 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-guidance

We 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.