Age UK York has received £5,000 to help fund its work in supporting isolated elderly people in the area who need advice on managing their finances.
The donation was provided by the Santander Foundation, which offers Discovery Grants to UK registered charities for projects that help disadvantaged people in local communities.
Age UK York has been providing support and services for older people in the local area for 40 years, reaching thousands each year. The organisation offers a range of services to enhance the quality of life for people in their later years, such as: assistance with shopping; inviting them on holidays organised by the charity; and providing companionship and support to housebound older people living alone in the community.
The grant will enable the organisation to add to their team of highly skilled benefits advisers and reach more elderly people at a critical time in their lives. The charity is generally approached for support when a person reaches a crisis point, and therefore it is important that it is able to respond quickly and with the appropriate information in order to reduce the extreme worry that financial hardship can cause.
Sally Hutchinson, Chief Officer at Age UK York, said: “This funding will enable us to provide additional services for at least 50 people during the year. We are delighted to be able to accept this grant at a time when some elderly people are really beginning to feel squeezed financially and in some cases, are having to make difficult decisions between food and heating.”
Lorraine Latibeaudiere, Branch Manager at Santander’s York branch, said: “The Santander Foundation makes hundreds of donations every year to good causes throughout the UK. We are committed to playing a key part in the community and we are delighted to be supporting Age UK York and hope the donation makes a real difference to local people.”
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Notes to Editors:
Media Contact
Leonora Burtenshaw at Santander Email: Leonora.burtenshaw@santander.co.uk Tel: 020 7756 4543
About Age UK York
Age UK York has been working with and for older people in York for 40 years. It provides a wide range of personal and practical support, including information and advice, arranging for respite care and friendly visitors, helping people after a stay in hospital, as well as holidays and other leisure activities. Age UK York encourages older people to speak out about local and national issues, with the aim of making more of life in York.
For more information please visit: www.ageuk.org.uk/york
Santander Foundation
The Santander Foundation is at the heart of the Bank’s community activities, providing grants to small charities and social enterprises working with disadvantaged people to fund skills, knowledge and innovation projects across the UK. Discovery Grants of up to £5,000 are available to support three types of activity:
- Explorer: improving people’s knowledge
- Transformer: supporting skills and experience
- Changemaker: innovative solutions to social challenges
Over the last five years, the Santander Foundation has provided £26 million in funding to 13,914 UK charities through Discovery Grants and Staff Matched Donations. For more information please visit: www.santanderfoundation.org.uk
Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. It has brought real competition to the UK, through its innovative products for retail customers and relationship banking model for UK SMEs. At 31 December 2017, the bank serves around 14 million active customers with c19,500 employees and operates through 806 branches (which includes 61 university branches) and 64 regional Corporate Business Centres. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.