Getting Old in the UK

Following the death of a much loved 91 year old Great Uncle yesterday I decided to look at what it means to be "Old" in the UK. A starting point was the Age UK website. I recently became an Age Uk Pride of Place Advocate
With the following Press Release:

COUNCILLOR SHELAGH FINLAY JOINS FORCES WITH AGE UK TO IMPROVE NEIGHBOURHOODS FOR OLDER PEOPLE

East Riding Councillor Shelagh Finlay has signed up with national older people’s charity Age UK as a Pride of Place advocate for Bridlington South Ward.

Age UK’s Pride of Place campaign is encouraging councillors to improve neighbourhoods for people in later life. Many older people are prevented from getting out and about in their area due to barriers such as a lack of public transport, uneven pavements, access to public toilets or places to sit down. Councillors are well placed to help resolve these issues and enable older people to continue playing a fulfilling role in their community.

Councillor Finlay said: ‘I’m delighted to have this opportunity to work with local older people in Bridlington South Ward and hopefully be able to bring about some improvements to the neighbourhoods in the area.
John Perkins, Interim Chief Officer for Age UK East Riding said: ‘It’s vital that we invest in our neighbourhoods to ensure older people can go on being active and contribute to our communities for as long as possible – after all we now have more over 60s than under 18s. We are really pleased that Councillor Shelagh Finlay has joined us as a Pride of Place advocate. She will be working with us and with older people locally to improve the neighbourhoods in this area. Together, we can make a real difference.’

For more information about the Pride of Place campaign go to www.ageuk.org.uk/prideofplace
http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

The article posted on the website replicated below does show the mentality of our aged - too proud to claim what they are entitled to. Why do we as a society make it so difficult for people living in poverty to access money that they are entitled to - because we don't want to pay out. Many of the very aged will have fought in conflicts as did my Great Uncle who was proud to have done so. This pride however does mean that they choose to either eat or heat. Age Uk has a number of initiatives in Bridlington as well as groups like Friends of the Elderly and Pager who also do great work in the community. We will all be old one day and I hope that when my time comes I won't be too frail, alone or too proud to applyfor a benefit like below (but then again it may not be available when my times comes).

Source : Press Association Published on 24 February 2012 12:30 PM
Many retired workers are losing out because they are not aware of their benefit entitlements, new figures suggest.
The Department for Work and Pensions revealed that up to £2.8 billion in pension credit went unclaimed in 2009-2010.
According to the figures, 1.6 million people failed to claim their full entitlement of pension credit during the year.
Pension credit is used to top-up weekly income during retirement.
Other figures included in the report show that around 3.2 million people also missed out on £2.4 billion in council tax benefit over the same period.
Age UK is calling for the introduction of a Government scheme to help people become more aware of their pension credit entitlement and avoid a repeat of this staggering loss in future.
'It is very disappointing that there has been no progress in older people not claiming the benefits they are owed,' said Michelle Mitchell, charity director general of Age UK.
'There are still 1.8 million people in later life living in poverty and claiming pension credit can make a huge difference to someone's income and quality of life.
'The Government needs to start an awareness programme and move more towards a system where the DWP pay entitlements rather than an individual having to work their way through the benefits maze.'
Copyright Press Association 2012