Our renewed focus
At Independent Age, we know how living on a low fixed income can impact all areas of life which is why we’re renewing our focus on financial hardship to ensure no one is forced to face a later life filled with anxiety and stress. Campaigns Manager, George Stanbury explains more.
At Independent Age, we want to ensure that no one faces financial hardship in later life. While it’s an idea I think almost everyone would want to become a reality, we know that many older people don’t have the financially secure retirement they’d hoped for.
At Independent Age, we know that older people come from all walks of life, which makes the challenges they face increasingly different and complicated. For some, it could be difficulties getting the right care and support, or feeling isolated or lonely in their communities; for others, it’s money worries in a cost-of-living crisis.
However, there is one common thread we constantly hear when talking to older people — whether that’s when we shape our campaigns, provide advice or support older people to access our services — that the issues older people face are magnified and compounded when you face financial hardship. While the cost of living has made things worse for many, the reality is the causes of financial insecurity are complex and entrenched in our society.
But that’s not a challenge we’re willing to shy away from.
Independent Age is renewing its focus to become the only national charity focused on supporting people facing financial hardship in later life.
In the Policy and Influencing team where I work, that means changing laws and policies to reduce poverty levels amongst older people. And we’re working tirelessly to persuade the government and other decision-makers to make this happen.
Whether you’ve supported our campaigns for years (thank you!) or you’re a newcomer to Independent Age (welcome!), we hope you can join us for what promises to be a busy year ahead.
We’ll amplify the voices of older people facing financial hardship
Shockingly, over two million older people live below the poverty line, while many face financial hardship. Far too often in conversations about the welfare system or during the cost-of-living crisis, we haven’t heard about the particular challenges this group of older people face to make ends meet.
People who call us for advice and who take part in our campaigns have told us just how invisible and powerless that has made them feel. So, we’ll be upping the ante on this issue and asking the UK government to establish a Commissioner for Older People and Ageing (COPA). Working with other charities, we hope a COPA will champion the needs of the diverse group of older people (including those facing financial hardship) and shine a light on the key issues that have a significant impact on people in later life across the UK.
As Campaigns Manager, part of my role is supporting older people to share their stories and speak truth to power. If you or an older person you know, are having any money worries or struggling to get by financially, contact our team. Your story can help shape our work, we’ll treat you with respect and sensitivity, and you’ll have total control of how your experiences inform our activity.
We’ll work with older people to make change happen
As a Policy and Influencing department, we will focus our efforts on changing laws and policies that impact older people facing financial hardship across the UK. To ensure we’re having the greatest impact; we want to test and shape our work alongside people in later life, especially (but not exclusively) people with first-hand experience of living with money worries.
We have a Lived Experience Advisory Group, a group of people aged 65 or over, which feeds into our Policy and Campaigns work to ensure our work is effective and impactful. From feeding back on images and messaging to sharing your views on how a survey works or a report reads, there are opportunities to feed into our work every few weeks. You can choose to input our areas of work that interest you, like housing or social security. We’ll make it clear if we’re looking to canvas broad opinions or specifically need the view of people facing financial hardship.
If you could add your voice to this group and help make change happen, contact our Campaigns Team.
We’ll empower older people in their communities
At Independent Age, we know we can’t fix every problem people face as they age. We want to support action in local communities to make the changes we know people want to see.
Working with older people, and community organisations such as local Older People’s Forums, we are developing a range of resources to help local campaigners act on the issues that matter to them. With template letters, a ‘how to’ guide and our tips and tricks of the trade, in the coming weeks, we’ll have brand new resources to support you in advocating for change in your area.
We’ll set out our vision on what needs to change
In Westminster and in the news, we’re seeing political parties ramp up their preparations for a General Election, which should be held sometime in 2024. That means now is the perfect time to raise awareness of the issues facing older people in financial hardship, so politicians can prioritise them and ensure they have the money and means to live well in later life.
To do that, we’ll set out our own vision of how this government and the next can reduce the number of older people facing financial hardship. We’ll be focusing on how to ensure older people facing financial hardship receive the income they need to live well (for example, by getting the Government to increase take-up of Pension Credit), how to make sure they have affordable, good-quality housing and how to make sure their budgets aren’t overwhelmed by rising costs.
We’ll create a community that stands up for a fairer world
To make sure politicians take notice, we’ll need your help. Preventing financial hardship for all of us as we age will be hard, but we’re committed to do all we can to make it happen.
We’ve achieved some great campaign wins together around the topics of health, care and bereavement support. Still, with our renewed focus, we will now be ending campaign activity specifically on these themes and instead will support other organisations closer to these issues
We know that for our supporters interested in social care or health, it might seem like we’re moving away from these areas which impact you. But living on a low income, or with high costs, or in a cold home has an impact on every aspect of someone’s life and if we can improve these elements, we sincerely hope it will have a knock-on effect on every area of someone’s life.
I hope you’ll come with us on our journey to ensure that no one faces financial hardship in later life!
If you haven’t already, join us and ensure we can all have a later life free of financial worries and anxiety. Become a member of our Campaigns Network and we’ll keep you up to date with how our campaigning work is progressing and opportunities where you can speak truth to power.
Your support makes all the difference!
If you, or someone you know, is struggling with financial difficulties, we can offer support. Check out our advice and information here or give us a call on our free Helpline: 0800 319 6789.
