Age UK Bradford District receives £10k from the National Lottery

Age UK Bradford District has been awarded £10,000 in National Lottery funding to support its work with older people in the district. We will use the cash to continue to meet the level of significant demand due to the number of older people who have either been placed on full lockdown or have responded to advice to self-isolate. We are then going to create bespoke packages of support through listening to what individual people are telling them rather than delivering "off the shelf" solutions which will not suit all.

In "normal times" we meet with older people and talk with them every day. In these challenging times we are talking to as many of them as possible directly via phone calls and video calls or from an appropriate distance when dropping off shopping or prescriptions. We ensure that older people are receiving regular wellbeing contacts as well as letters from others in the community, showing that they care. Our philosophy as a charity is that they focus all their work on delivering a person-centric approach to ensure that they meet the needs of the people that they are engaging with.

The new funding from The National Lottery Community Fund, which distributes money raised by National Lottery players for good causes and is the largest community funder in the UK, will also see the Information ands Advice service that we provide expanded to cover seven days a week. This is seen as critical with requests received having increased by over 300% since the lockdown measures were implemented.

Chris Alexander, Director of Business Development, says: “We’re delighted that The National Lottery Community Fund has recognised our work in this way. Now, thanks to National Lottery players we will be able to continue to support older people in the area in a way that meets their needs during the Coronavirus crisis”