Age UK
How are the MCF and Age UK working together?
The MCF has awarded us a £1 million grant over three years to fund our new project called ’Later Life Goals’, which aims to support older people who are experiencing a significant event in later life to feel less lonely and get the most out of life. Our funding will help people in 13 areas across England and Wales.
How does ’Later Life Goals’ make a difference?
We will offer tailored support to around 10,000 older people going through major life transitions such as bereavement, a serious health diagnosis or a partner going into care. Importantly, the project will focus on the wider goals that each older person hopes to achieve rather than solely on their immediate problems, including loneliness.
What kind of support will be offered?
Through face-to-face sessions, often in the person’s home, our advisers will help older people identify their goals for later life such as ‘to have more money’ or ‘to get out more’. Once goals have been set, the advisers will help the person to identify the skills, support and social networks they need to achieve those goals.
How does the partnership with the MCF benefit Age UK?
As well as providing vital funding for the project, relationships have been established between the local Age UKs involved in the project and local Freemasons – this includes Freemasons holding tea parties for isolated older people in the community, volunteering for befriending projects and offering masonic halls as meeting places.
Age UK
Steph Harland, Chief Executive
Bill’s story
When Bill’s eyesight started to decline, he turned to the MCF for support. With most of his family on the other side of the world, Bill relied heavily on email to stay in touch. When he started to develop cataracts, communication with his loved ones became difficult. We funded Bill’s cataract operation, and although the operation helped him to get back online, we realised that he was still feeling incredibly lonely and socially isolated.
We asked Bill to be a part of our partnership launch with Age UK to share his experiences of loneliness and help us shine a light on how important this issue is within the masonic community and wider society.
Watch the video to discover how our partnership with Age UK will help thousands of lonely older people like Bill.
