Age UK Wandsworth Celebrates Its 60th With Fundraising Extravaganza
Independent local charity sets target for crucial funding push
The charity assists thousands of older people each year
August 14, 2023
Age UK Wandsworth is carrying out a vital fundraising campaign in honour of its 60th birthday, pointing out that it gets all its money via its applications for grants.
“Did you know that we are an entirely separate charity to Age UK, and that we get all of our funding through grants that we apply for,” said a spokesperson.
The small, independent local charity operates with a small team of experienced staff which is supported by a network of dedicated volunteers. Throughout its six decades of operation, staff and volunteers have worked to help older people stay independent at home for as long as they wish.
“You can help us to celebrate today by making a donation,” says the charity. “Whether you choose to donate a one-off amount, or to set up a regular donation to support us to continue our work well into the future, every penny really does help us to change the lives of older people in the borough.”
Donations for the 60k fundraiser can be made here,
while workplace, school or social groups who would like to get involved in the celebrations by fundraising can email Fundraising Coordinator, Ruth, at ruth.eldridge@ageukwandsworth.org.uk to get started.
Age UK Wandsworth’s story begins in 1963 when it was known as Wandsworth Older People's Welfare Council. Working out of a borrowed room in Tooting, the team made regular appeals for volunteers to visit housebound older people, as well as offering monthly advice sessions on money. From these humble beginnings began two of Wandsworth Age UK’s most successful services - Be-a-Friend, and Information and Advice.
Growing throughout the end of the 20th century, more assistance was added - including the Handyperson Service - thanks to various grants from the NHS, Wandsworth Council, and charitable trusts, as well as community fundraising.
Over the last sixty years Age UK Wandsworth has had a few name changes. It was Age Concern Wandsworth for many years before the national merger of Age Concern England and Help the Aged in 2009 to form Age UK. The charity has also put down roots across the borough, moving from its Tooting start-up days to the Arndale Shopping Centre (now Southside) before moving to its current location on Old York Road.
It now operates a wide range of services that assist thousands of older people every year, whether through supporting an unpaid carer in claiming money that they didn’t know they were eligible for, to fitting handrails in the home of someone who has been discharged from hospital to reduce their risk of falling, or even providing specialist dementia care to an older person at its day centre. To name just a few of its services.
"Age UK Wandsworth staff have helped me and my service users in so many different situations: the Handyperson service, Hospital Discharge Support, Befriending services and even Online Food Shopping,” says a Wandsworth-based Occupational Therapist who works with the borough’s elderly. “All of these services are absolutely essential and I don't know how my team would manage without this provision in place. Furthermore, the staff are absolutely great and always available to help. Thank you for everything you do!"
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