Views sought on older people’s care as Sheffield charity launches fresh vision

A hike in demand and a fall in funding have prompted a leading Sheffield charity to outline a fresh strategy for how it plans to tackle the big issues affecting older people in the city – and it needs your help.

Age UK Sheffield is calling on local people to have their say on its new three year plan after its chair of trustees outlined the triple challenges facing the charity during a speech at a major national symposium.

David Campbell used the Age UK Chairs conference- a national event bringing together the local arms of the country’s top charity for older people- to call on the public, local and national bodies to come together to safeguard the support offered by charities like his, with more older people than ever before facing hardship alone.

David said: “Although Sheffield is a city of growing local need, the public do not seem to prioritise charitable support for older people in the same way as they do for other areas like overseas aid, animal charities, hospice and health related charities. Whilst all these causes play a valuable role in our communities, we are constantly surprised that there are not more people who feel compassion towards older people as they struggle through later life.

“Ironically, as demand on our services reaches record levels, our resources are diminishing at an even faster rate. Just six years ago we received £700,000 from Sheffield Council to deliver services to vulnerable people, but cuts to their budget mean that figure was dropped around £100,000 from April 2018.

“Despite the challenges we face, we will not allow ourselves to be deflected from our core objective which is to enhance the quality of later life for people in Sheffield. Personal economic hardship, failing health and reducing immediate family support are affecting people regardless of class, race or gender and this should be all of our concern.

“Our goal in the coming years is to be valued by local people and to become an important, valued organisation. We want local people’s views on how best to achieve that.”

Age UK Sheffield supported nearly 4,000 people last year bringing in nearly £2.7m in additional benefits that weren’t being claimed by older people.

The charity also made more than 1,300 referrals to vital services and helped to reduce demand on the NHS by taking GP referrals, helping to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions and facilitating earlier discharge from hospitals.

Please submit your feedback on our strategy to enquiries@ageuksheffield.org.uk by the end of April.