Help the Aged

Help the Aged was a British charity established in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner to assist older people experiencing poverty, isolation, neglect and inadequate access to support. It developed from a charitable tradition focused on practical help for vulnerable people into a national campaigning and service organisation concerned with the wider social, economic and health conditions affecting later life. The charity operated through national offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its work combined direct assistance, public campaigning, research, fundraising and commercial initiatives intended to generate income or widen access to services. The issues on its agenda included elder abuse, low income among pensioners, pensions and benefits, health and social care, neighbourhood conditions, loneliness and social isolation. It also argued that older people should be able to participate fully in society and should not be excluded from goods, services or opportunities because of their age. A particularly prominent area of advocacy was fuel poverty. Help the Aged highlighted the difficulty faced by older households that could not afford to heat their homes adequately, especially where low incomes were combined with inefficient housing. The organisation linked fuel poverty to avoidable hardship and excess winter mortality and used public campaigning to press for stronger support for pensioners and improvements to housing and energy policy. Its wider policy work helped keep age discrimination, social care and pensioner poverty in public and political debate. Help the Aged also maintained a research role. Research into Ageing functioned as its medical research arm and supported work such as The Disconnected Mind, a project investigating the causes of age-related mental decline with the aim of improving the lives of older people. In 2007, the charity launched the intune group, a wholly owned financial-services subsidiary offering products such as home, car and travel insurance. The initiative was intended to address age-related barriers in financial services, with profits directed toward the charity’s work. The organisation remained a substantial national charity during its final years. Reference material records more than 1,800 employees and annual income of approximately £75 million in 2005; those figures describe that period rather than the organisation’s entire existence. In 2008, Help the Aged and Age Concern England announced plans to combine their operations. After consultation, the merger proceeded on 1 April 2009. The resulting organisation initially used the name Age Concern and Help the Aged and was subsequently branded Age UK. Help the Aged therefore ceased to operate as a separate organisation, while many of its campaigning, research and support priorities continued within Age UK.

Help the Aged was founded in the United Kingdom in 1961 by Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner. Its founding purpose was to help older people who were disadvantaged by poverty, social isolation and neglect. Over time, the organisation became one of Britain’s prominent charities focused specifically on later life, combining direct charitable assistance with research, public education and policy advocacy. The charity developed a national structure with offices in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Its work addressed both immediate hardship and the systems that produced or intensified that hardship. Campaign priorities included elder abuse, pensioner poverty, pensions and benefits, health and social care, neighbourhood conditions, loneliness and isolation. This breadth reflected the organisation’s view that older people’s welfare depended not only on charitable support but also on income security, accessible services, safe housing and protection from discrimination. Fuel poverty became one of Help the Aged’s best-known campaigning themes. The organisation drew attention to older households that could not afford to heat their homes adequately, particularly where limited income was compounded by inefficient housing. It presented fuel poverty as a major source of winter hardship and a contributor to excess winter deaths, and used campaigning to press governments and public bodies to improve assistance and living conditions. Help the Aged also pursued legal and policy change around discrimination. On 26 June 2008, the government announced draft legislation intended to make age discrimination in the provision of goods and services unlawful. The announcement followed years of campaigning by Help the Aged and formed part of a broader movement toward stronger equality protections for older people. Research was another important part of the organisation’s identity. Research into Ageing served as its medical research arm. Among its activities was The Disconnected Mind, a research programme examining age-related mental decline and seeking knowledge that could improve the lives of older people. This work extended the charity’s role beyond traditional welfare provision into the study of ageing and later-life health. The organisation also experimented with social-enterprise and commercial models. In 2007 it launched the intune group as a wholly owned financial-services subsidiary. The group offered tailored home, car and travel insurance and was designed to address the difficulty older consumers could face when seeking financial products. The stated charitable rationale was that profits would return to Help the Aged and support its mission. By the mid-2000s, Help the Aged had become a sizeable organisation. The available reference material records more than 1,800 employees and annual income of about £75 million in 2005. These figures indicate the scale of the charity at that point, although they should not be treated as a complete financial history. In May 2008, Help the Aged and Age Concern England announced that they intended to merge. The proposal was confirmed after consultation in September 2008, with Dianne Jeffrey identified as chair of trustees and Tom Wright appointed chief executive of the new organisation later that year. The merger took effect on 1 April 2009. The combined body initially operated under the name Age Concern and Help the Aged and later adopted the unified Age UK brand. Help the Aged consequently became a historical predecessor rather than an independent operating charity, with many of its causes and programmes continuing through Age UK.

• 2009

  Merger creates the predecessor of Age UK

  [1]Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org

  The merger takes effect on 1 April, initially creating the organisation known as Age Concern and Help the Aged, later branded Age UK.

• 2008

  Age-discrimination legislation is announced

  [1]Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org

  The government announces draft legislation aimed at prohibiting age discrimination in goods and services after sustained campaigning by Help the Aged.

• 2008

  Merger plans are confirmed

  [1]Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org

  Help the Aged and Age Concern England confirm plans to combine following consultation.

• 2007

  intune group launches

  [1]Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org

  Help the Aged creates a wholly owned financial-services subsidiary offering insurance products for older customers.

• 1961

  Help the Aged is founded

  [1]Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org

  Cecil Jackson-Cole and Hugh Faulkner establish the charity to support older people affected by poverty, isolation and neglect.

A national older-people’s charity combining practical support, research and public campaigning to challenge poverty, neglect, isolation and discrimination in later life.

• Financial services · 2007

  intune group

  Launched in 2007 as a wholly owned subsidiary, intune group provided tailored financial-services products for older customers, including home, car and travel insurance. Its purpose was partly social: Help the Aged sought to reduce age-related barriers to obtaining insurance and other financial products. Profits generated by the subsidiary were intended to support the charity’s work.

• Medical research programme

  Research into Ageing

  Research into Ageing was the medical research arm of Help the Aged. It supported research intended to improve understanding of later-life health and ageing, including The Disconnected Mind project, which examined the causes of age-related mental decline and sought practical benefits for older people.

• Fuel poverty campaign

  United Kingdom

  Help the Aged campaigned on the difficulty many older households faced in paying for adequate home heating. It connected low incomes and inefficient housing with winter hardship and excess winter deaths, urging stronger support and better housing and energy policy.

  Outcome. The campaign helped keep fuel poverty among older people prominent in public and policy debate; a specific single-policy outcome is not established in the supplied references.

  Source
• Age-discrimination campaign

  United Kingdom

  The charity spent years advocating for legal protection against discrimination based on age, including discrimination in the provision of goods and services.

  Outcome. On 26 June 2008, the government announced draft equality legislation addressing age discrimination in goods and services.

  Source
• Pensioner poverty and social-care advocacy

  United Kingdom

  Help the Aged campaigned on pension and benefit adequacy, poverty among older people, health and social care, elder abuse, isolation and neighbourhood conditions.

  Outcome. The work contributed to the charity’s broader public-policy role, but the supplied references do not identify one definitive campaign outcome.

  Source

• 2008

  Decision to merge with Age Concern EnglandM&A

  Background

  The two charities pursued a combination to create a unified organisation serving older people in the United Kingdom.

  Action taken

  Help the Aged and Age Concern England announced merger plans, consulted stakeholders and confirmed the arrangement.

  Aftermath

  The merger took effect on 1 April 2009. The combined organisation initially used the name Age Concern and Help the Aged and later became Age UK.

  Source

• 2007

  Launch of the intune groupProduct launch

  Background

  Help the Aged identified age-related exclusion from some financial products as a barrier for older people.

  Action taken

  It established a wholly owned subsidiary offering home, car and travel insurance tailored to older customers.

  Aftermath

  The subsidiary was intended to generate profits for the charity while improving access to insurance.

  Source

1. 1Help the Ageden.wikipedia.org