12 stories of Christmas - Day Three - More than just a shop

This festive season, we’re bringing you 12 stories of Christmas. These stories tell of the amazing things that the Age UK Notts staff, volunteers, funders, and you have done to support older people across Notts & Nottinghamshire this year.

Day 1 – A very busy year! - We’ve highlighted some of the amazing things that happened here at Age UK Notts over the last few months, It certainly was a busy year! Hold on to your Christmas hats, here's a snapshot of what happened:

Information, Signposting and Advice is one of our key services which supports older people to make appropriate decisions about their own lives. We fundamentally believe that older people should have as much agency in their lives as possible and our services ensure they have the right information on which to base their decisions. A total of  £3,442,225   was secured in benefit gains for local people – money which went directly to them to be able purchase the services, equipment and items they needed to live a better quality of life. 18,458 Phone calls and  5,222 Emails  were received, 250 1:1 sessions were provided and 6,993 Information Sheets and Advice booklets were posted to local people.

Our fundraising team has raised over £38,000 – Fundraisers happening across the county including quiz’s, sponsored walks and social evenings. This would not have been possible without the support of others. These funds will support services such as ISA, Best Foot Forward and Men In Sheds, as well as back office functions.

Our Warm & Wise team helped people save money on their energy use – an average of  £226  per household – which was really important while bills were so high. An average of 6 free energy saving measures were fitted into qualifying households and older people were provided with additional legacy information to help them sustainably manage and monitor their energy usage in the future.

With our new Connect team 1,920 referrals were supported by the new team which included: 217 Blue Badge applications and 247 people were helped to complete benefits application forms.

Our Best Foot Forward Walking groups led over 420 walks

Of course, we couldn't do all this wonderful work without our amazing team of volunteers. If you're looking to make new friends, learn new skills and support your local charity next year, click here to learn about the different ways that you can get involved.