Age UK Norfolk Advocacy Coordinator saves pensioner £8,000

The world can be lonely and challenging for older people for many reasons. For some, it can be difficult keeping on top of household finances and paperwork or navigating complicated systems for paying bills and switching utility providers. Many such services have transitioned to online provision and recent years have also seen the closure of local bank and post office branches which many older people relied upon. 

 Local charity, Age UK Norfolk, provides several services for older people in Norfolk assisting with a wide variety of tasks such as help with paying bills, claiming benefits (via the charity’s Welfare Benefits team) or accessing grants they are entitled to. Some people may need more practical help, such as setting up a new telephone line, dealing with a bereavement, gaining access to the digital world, or providing continued help to manage their finances. 

A visit from an Age UK Norfolk Advocacy Volunteer can be an enormous help in enabling people to be supported and remaining independent within their own homes. Gemma Weeks is an Advocacy Coordinator for Age UK Norfolk and is part of a team of Advocates and volunteers who work tirelessly across the county to ensure that older people in Norfolk have a voice that can be heard.

Here, Gemma describes a typical “Day in the Life’ of an Advocate.

0800 Review all new referrals, establish if a home visit or telephone support is required. Consider which referrals may be suitable for which of our volunteers. Our volunteers have different skill sets (many don’t even know that these are skills until volunteering for Age UK Norfolk) and we like to utilise them all.

0900 Call 88-year-old Phyllis, her husband has recently passed away and he used to manage their finances. Phyllis doesn’t know where to start and is really struggling to manage the new responsibilities alongside her grief. I arrange to visit Phyllis the following week with a local Advocacy Volunteer who I know will relish helping get Phyllis back on track with her finances and provide her with the support she needs.

1000 First appointment with 80-year-old Bruce. Bruce is a wheelchair user with Macular Degeneration. He feels he has “let things slide” since he lost his sight and is grateful for any help that we can give him. Bruce has a large box of unopened post and is happy for me to look through his bills and bank statements going back at least a year. I notice that Bruce is paying nearly £1000 a month by direct debit for his electricity. From the energy companies statements I realise the bills are based on “estimated usage”. Bruce explains that he can no longer access his outside electricity meter or read his bills to see if they are correct due to his physical situation. When I take a meter reading the actual energy use and “estimated energy use” are vastly different.

Bruce and I call the energy company who acknowledge the error and agree to rectify it. Bruce has since received a refund of over £8,000.  Bruce tells me he is incredibly grateful that in just one morning Age UK Norfolk have sorted this out for him.

1200 I meet 72-year-old Lorna at the local branch of her bank.  Lorna has been in an abusive relationship for many years which she has decided to leave. Lorna has recently had a stroke and struggles to focus on tasks.  Lorna’s bank inform her she can open up a new account using the branches laptop, but Lorna feels she cannot do this without our support.  An hour later Lorna feels like a weight has been lifted from her, she has a new bank account to help her start her new life and feels a lot less anxious about using new technology.

1400 Last appointment is a visit to 82-year-old Leslie with local Advocacy Volunteer, David.  Leslie’s wife has dementia and went into hospital several weeks ago with a chest infection.  Leslie visits daily and is increasingly worried about his wife’s care. Most days she appears dishevelled, and he regularly finds untouched food on the tray in front of her.  Leslie has tried speaking to the hospital staff but doesn’t feel his concerns are being listened to. Our volunteer, David, has been a volunteer with Age UK Norfolk for five years and feels very strongly about helping older people have a voice.  In his previous career, David worked in a solicitor’s office and has a high level of expertise in letter writing. David and Leslie formulate a letter to the hospital to voice all of Leslie’s concerns.  When we say goodbye, Leslie tells us how helpful the visit has been and how he feels better now he has taken control.

1500 Telephone call with volunteer, Graham. Graham has been supporting Patrick with his finances and budgeting.  Patrick is dyslexic and English is not his first language, meaning simple tasks like dealing with post and telephone calls are challenging.  When Graham first visited Patrick, Patrick was struggling to make ends meet, to pay his bills and afford food.  Patrick wouldn’t put his heating on despite it being freezing outside, because he owed over £700 to his electricity provider.

Over a few weeks, alongside the Age UK Norfolk Welfare Benefits team, Graham has managed to secure extra monthly benefits for Patrick that he was entitled to but was unaware of, as well as securing a local grant to help Patrick pay off his electricity debt. He has also helped Patrick set up direct debits for all of his utilities and Patrick now feels independent and confident enough to manage his finances himself going forward, especially as he has more money available to him each month.

Graham was really pleased to see that using his life skills to help and support Patrick has had such a positive effect on Patrick’s life.