Age Scotland

We’re pleased to support Age Scotland as one of our strategic partners. Our funding is supporting the information, advice and friendship service. This includes s helpline, providing a freephone advice service to older people, their families and carers, an information service including our publications and advice workshops and a friendship line.

The demand for the helpline is high and our funding has allowed Age Scotland to be there for more older people. The advice line provides vital support to older people, responding to over 20,000 inbound calls over the past year. The calls reflect the issues older people are concerned about such as struggling to pay fuel costs to heat their homes and skipping meals. With the support of expert advisors, over 650 benefit checks have been carried out this year which identified unclaimed benefit entitlements of over £1million. These funds have gone on to make huge impacts to improve people’s wellbeing.

Every year in Scotland millions of pounds in social security payments go unclaimed by older people due to lack of awareness, difficultly in accessing them, stigma surrounding benefits or just not knowing where to turn for help. There are at least 123,000 eligible low-income pensioners in Scotland not claiming Pension Credit. It is important to ensure that older people on fixed and low incomes receive everything they are entitled to.

The information and advice team carry out workshops based around energy, heating your home efficiently and information on social security. Many older people in Scotland need a friendly ear and our support contributes to a friendship line offering them a weekly friendly chat. For some older people in Scotland it may the only person they have spoken to and we hear of people ‘sitting waiting by the phone for a phone call’. The friendship service supports older people to feel less alone, feel more connected and have increases health and wellbeing.

Often digitally excluded, Age Scotland ensures older people also have access to over 70 free hardcopy information guides, tailored to their needs and covering a broad range of topics including care and support, health and wellbeing, housing and energy, legal and family issues, money matters and dementia.