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WALTHAM FOREST: Charity for elderly has funding cut

4:23pm Friday 4th February 2011 in News By Daniel Binns

A CHARITY which provides care and support for the borough's elderly says it is facing a bleak future after all its council funding was cut.

Age UK Waltham Forest - formerly Age Concern Waltham Forest - has been told contracts for its work, totalling almost half a million pounds, will not be renewed when they expire at the end of April.

Sheena Dunbar, chief executive of the group, said its information and advice service would transfer to another provider, but services such as crisis prevention and support visits to isolated older people diagnosed with a terminal illness were "in jeopardy".

However she insisted the charity would be able to survive the cut.

She said: "It's very, very serious and we're very concerned about what this means for older people in Waltham Forest.

"We were already operating on a shoe-string and now we've got to work very hard to find a way just to continue."

She added: "we have provided a safety net for older people for twenty eight years and we expect more calls, not less, in the coming year because of service cuts, changes to services and rising costs that older people have to meet.

"Of course, we have sympathy for the Government and the council, who have to make cuts, and we did expect our funding to be cut - but we did not expect all of our contracts to be withdrawn, given our track record over the years."

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The charity's home support service will not be affected.

It comes just days after the council revealed proposals to close two care homes in Waltham Forest.

A report by the authority said the Flaxen Road home in Chingford and Francis House in Beaconsfield Road, Walthamstow, could be shut, with the money being saved used to refurbish and expand the borough's other three council-run homes.

The Guardian is awaiting a comment from the council.

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Comments(7)

Techno2 says...
12:43pm Sat 5 Feb 11

How much of this charity's fundung was from non-Council taxpayer funded sources?

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Sam Hain says...
3:03pm Sat 5 Feb 11

My observations are certainly not motivated by a personal vendetta, Mr Wyatt-Lown, but are based on personal observation and also personal experience of being let down by Age Concern WF as a service user -in ways I'd rather not go into in these columns. Readers can take my opinions on trust or not as they please but they might begin by probing the organisation in question as to precisely what it has been doing to support the elderly and vulnerable within the Borough - or, indeed, ask the Council on what basis the decision to cut funding was made. Even with this council's track record it's unklikley to have been done on a whim.

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Jeanoj says...
3:18pm Sat 5 Feb 11

I think it is a travesty that Age UK WF has had all its' funding cut! The Council do very little for older people as it is and without this charity, who will ensure that older residents of Waltham Forest will receiv the care they so badly need?

I am sorry the poster above received what he/she perceived as a bad service but, from what I know, this is the exception rather than the rule. Is he/she sure that he has this view simply because Age UK couldn't give him what he wanted? The staff at Age UK work tirelessly to ensure that older people get the help they need but finacnes will always limit the amount of help available.

Now there will be absolutely nothing - such a shame.

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Sam Hain says...
3:39pm Sat 5 Feb 11

Pretty sure, Jeanoj, yes but I'm conscious that there are (at least) two sides to every story and I'm very pleased to hear that your experience has been positive. I rather doubt that the cuts to Age Concern WF will leave "absolutely nothing" for older people as you say. Surely it's the case that the Council contract previously awarded to this organisation for services to the elderly has been given to another one? As I said in my reply to Mr Wyatt-Lown, if this is the case, it's hardly likely to have been done on a whim - even by the variable standards of procurement that seem to apply in this borough, or at least have done in the past. You could, perhaps, try asking your Councillors for an explanation of this decision.

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mdj says...
6:36pm Sat 5 Feb 11

Is it unfair to ask, in the context of cuts of up to 20% in some areas, what leadership our Councillors are showing in the way if reducing their own salaries and allowances?
Especially those who receive substantial salaries from other activities.

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KWyatt-Lown says...
6:41am Sun 6 Feb 11

I note that Cllr Angie Bean (cllr.angie.bean@wal
thamforest.gov.uk) is the Portfolio Lead for Health, Adults and Older People while Tory councillors Jemma Hemsted(cllr.jemma.h
emsted@walthamforest
.gov.uk ) and Sheree Rackham (cllr.sheree.rackham
@walthamforest.gov.u
k ) both sit on the Health, Adults and Older Persons Scrutiny Sub Committee.

n the absence of anyone from the Guardian seeming to be bothered to add substance to this story, I for one, shall be seeking answers from these individuals and would suggest anyone with similar concerns do the same.

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Sam Hain says...
10:47am Sun 6 Feb 11

Excellent suggestion, Mr Wyatt-Lown, which I shall certainly be taking up. I do, though, think you're being a wee bit harsh on the dear old Guardian. Daniel Binns does say "The Guardian is awaiting a comment from the council" and as his article only went up at 4.23pm on Friday I imagine nothing will happen until Monday morning at the earliest.

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