For many older people, especially those on lower incomes, the years since the pandemic have been characterised by cutting back. As food and energy prices soar, some have found themselves in a cycle of tough choices – turn off the heating or skip hot meals? Sacrifice social opportunities or forgo support at home?

In late 2022, following polling which showed that the most disadvantaged older people feared they would be severely impacted by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, Age UK launched a Cost of Living Response Fund.

The fund, which was open to all local Age UKs as well as Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age NI, awarded £5 million to help deliver vital services at a local level. 126 local and national partners were awarded funding of up to £40,000 each to provide support in 5 essential areas: information and advice, home support, meal provision, social activities and day centres.

From March 2023 to March 2024, the programme directly supported almost 95,000 older people. These are 4 of their stories.*

Helping Joan get the benefits she needed

The Cost of Living Response Fund allowed local Age UKs to support over 10,000 people to identify and apply for benefits – one of whom was Joan, from Surrey.

A retired Civil Servant, Joan lives alone in retirement housing. She has struggled with her health for several years, but was reluctant to apply for benefits as she proudly valued her independence.

Age UK Surrey supported Joan to first apply for a Blue Badge, and then later for Attendance Allowance (a benefit for people with health or care needs). The money has made a huge difference to Joan’s day-to-day life.

“The Attendance Allowance has made life a lot easier,” says Joan. “I can afford taxis, a chiropodist, and it helps me with trips to the hospital. These things are not cheap in life, and it has helped me so much.”

Stepping in to keep Valerie safe

More than 8,000 older people received home support services thanks to the Cost of Living Response Fund, including Valerie, from Lincolnshire.

Valerie lives alone with her dog, Susie. She had been very independent until she forgot her PIN and her card was blocked – a simple mistake which caused life to spiral out of control.

Valerie was unable to buy food so was living on dried pasta. Her phone had been disconnected and her boiler wasn’t working, so she had no hot water and only a gas fire in the lounge. She’d had a fall and broken her arm but didn’t realise, so had gone without medial help. She was no longer able to collect her prescriptions, had no clean clothes and was living in the same nightie and dressing gown.

Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire visited Valerie and instantly set to work solving the practical issues that had made her life so difficult.

They contacted Valerie’s bank to arrange a new PIN, and got her GP surgery to deliver her medications. They also arranged a visit to the fracture clinic and booked hospital transport to collect and return Valerie home. They spoke to the phone company and got them to agree to waive the outstanding bill and arranged for a new phone line to be installed. A gas engineer was also booked to check Valerie’s boiler.

Age UK Lincoln and South Lincolnshire also arranged for Valerie’s shopping to be delivered, and her washing to be collected weekly.

Valerie said she was “at the point of wanting to end it” as she couldn’t think of a way to get out of the situation. She is so grateful for the help she has been given.

Friday fish and chips with mushy peas for Betty

Maintaining social connections can be vital for lonely or isolated older people – but rising prices mean that these activities are often the first to be sacrificed.

Thanks to the Cost of Living Response Fund, more than 17,500 older people attended day centre activities such as crafts, digital inclusion, bingo, ‘Knit and Natter’, choir, lunch clubs and warm hubs at local Age UKs.

A self-described 'people person', Betty attends her local day centre 3 to 5 times a week. She is taken and dropped home again by minibus, and while at the day centre she enjoys social activities, quizzes and games with friends.  On days when she doesn’t attend the day centre, Betty gets up late and goes to bed early, choosing to watch TV in bed to stay warm as she’s found that “the cost of heating has gone up such a lot.”

Betty also really looks forward to a warm lunch at the day centre – her favourite being Friday’s fish and chips with mushy peas. Significant increase in food costs have affected both older people and the local Age UKs supporting them. The Cost of Living Response Fund has helped Age UK Staffordshire continue to provide older people with hot, nutritious meals at a heavily subsidised price. Betty told the day centre team she doesn’t know how they keep their prices so low because “everything is now costing so much.”

Betty and her husband have also been provided with a slow cooker, thanks to a partnership between her local Age UK and the local council. Betty said it will help to keep the cost of bills down as they are cheap to run. She also said that she tells her husband what to put into the cooker and it is amazing that the food is wonderful when it comes out a few hours later.

Keeping Ivy on her feet 

Local Age UKs have been able to deliver almost 75,000 hours of support at home at either reduced or a completely subsidised cost, thanks to the Cost of Living Response Fund.

Ivy is 80 years old and was widowed 8 years ago. She has little support and lives with multiples health conditions and disabilities including COPD, diabetes and kidney problems. Ivy’s COPD means she needs to keep her bungalow at a steady temperature to help with her breathing, which comes at a financial cost.

Ivy had been finding it more and more difficult to look after her feet, affecting her mobility and causing her discomfort. She was unable to get to a foot care clinic, so Age UK Buckinghamshire provided a one-off subsidised footcare appointment to Ivy in her own home.

Ivy said: “I’m unable to reach my feet, my hands shake and I’m unable to wear socks as I can’t get them on and off. The support from Age UK Buckinghamshire has been very good and means a lot to me. The footcare agent was very nice, has done a great job and has made my feet feel a lot more comfortable.”

*Models have been used to protect the identities of those featured