Hucknall volunteer criticises charity with £2.5m in the bank wanting to charge vulnerable pensioners for home visits

Age UK Notingham & Nottinghamshire wants to start charging more than £600 a year for vulnerable elderly people to have weekly home visits.

This is despite the charity’s most recent annual reports saying it had a healthy balance of £2.5m.

Previously, the charity has always met the costs of providing home visits to elderly and vulnerable people across the county.

And now, one of the charity’s Hucknall volunteers has blown the whistle on this latest proposal in the hope of getting charity bosses to change their minds.

The volunteer, who asked not to named, said: “Age UK has decided to charge lonely isolated older people £624 for an unpaid volunteer to visit them once a week when they have £2.5m in the bank that they could choose to use to pay for this service, as it has done for the last 80 years.

“At their recent AGM is was asked why are they choosing to charge lonely older people for them to see a volunteer once a week, when in every year, for the last 80 years, the trustees have chosen to support the befriending service.

"The trustees didn’t answer the question.

"The two chief executives tried to answer it, but couldn’t really justify the introduction of this charge to see a volunteer, who gives their time freely, when the charity has £2.5m in the bank.

"I give my time to visit a housebound older person.

"I am the only person in her week that she can sit and talk to, her main company for the rest of the time is the television.

"If the charity were short of funds I could understand them introducing a charge but it has £2.5m in the bank.

"The person I visit cannot afford £624 each year from her pension.

“I am calling on the trustees to reconsider this flawed decision.

“Age UK is a great charity that does fantastic work.

"I just think they have made the wrong decision on this one.”

Your Dispatch has approach the charity for comment.