Age UK
Age UK Hertfordshire which is a local charity which supports older, vulnerable people living in Herts with improving their wellbeing.
They do this through their teams of staff and volunteers across the county who help with befriending, supporting people after a hospital stay, domestic help, lunch clubs and social activities, supporting people with dementia and their carers, providing information and advice to help people make informed choices, support with nutrition and much more. For many older people, Age UK Hertfordshire is an essential place of support.
During the last 2 years of the pandemic, Age UK Hertfordshire didn’t stop once, and kept older people at the heart of what they do. Like many other charities, there has been a financial impact to them due to COVID and as a result they have changed the way they work to reduce costs and make themselves sustainable for the future so that they can continue to help as many people as possible. One of the big changes has been downsizing their office space, moving from Welwyn Garden City, to smaller premises in the middle of Hertford.
Mark Hanna, CEO of Age UK Hertfordshire explains, “to ensure that we can continue to support as many older people in Hertfordshire as possible for the years to come, knowing that as the population grows more people will need our support, we have changed the way that we work. The pandemic has shown us that we can work in a more flexible way and we will keep doing that. Moving our office was just one part of the process to make ourselves as agile as possible”.
He continues, “we know that the months ahead will be difficult for everyone, but particularly for older people, many of whom are on fixed incomes. We helped people claim over £7 million in benefit entitlements last year alone and so we aim to continue to help advocate, champion and practically help as many people as we can.”
