On Tuesday 5th October, local charity Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland officially launched The Bradbury Centre, a dedicated Information, Advice and Carers hub in the heart of Leicester city centre.
Located on Humberstone Gate, the centre is a hub for older people in the local community to access vital information, advice and support with matters including care and housing, benefit check entitlements, carers rights and support.
During this time of unprecedented pressure on household finances, the centre will see around 200 people a day in need of help through the latest crisis affecting older people. Pensioners are already feeling the pinch and the latest research from Age UK shows that 2.8million older people will still be living in fuel poverty this winter despite the winter fuel cap, leaving millions in need of support to face the costs of daily living 1 *.
Carol Tattersall, Information & Advice Worker at the Charity said, “Some (people) are at breaking point. People come in and sometimes they are actually in tears because they don’t know what to do next. They can’t think of a way to make their ‘ends’ stretch any further.”
In the last year around 3,000 people have used the Information Hub to access telephone, face to face or online support and the charity expects to see an increase in demand this winter due to the cost-of-living crisis. Around 2.4 billion pounds of Pension Credit and Housing Benefit goes unclaimed each year, 2 money which could help support those desperately struggling to pay their bills.
To support older people, each year the charity answers over 14,500 enquiries, many of which are related to benefit entitlement checks, resulting in 2 million pounds in successful benefit claims for older people.
Louis Fernandis, a service user, is grateful for the support he received: “I didn’t even know you could get state pension or anything. I need a lot of help and I have got bad eyes as well… Age UK helped me to claim State Pension and Attendance Allowance. I never knew you could get that as well.”
To celebrate the launch of this vital resource for the local community, Leicester City Football Club’s Chief Executive Officer Susan Whelan lent her support alongside Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland’s Executive Director Tony Donovan to officially open the building with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
Tony Donovan, Executive Director at Age UK Leicester Shire & Rutland said: “The hub is a greatly needed resource particularly at this key time, when everyone’s finances are under pressure and older peoples’ in particular. This new hub will enable us to help even more people this winter.”
VIP guests, staff, volunteers and older people who have directly benefitted from using the centre and the services the charity offices were invited to join the charity in marking and celebrating this momentous occasion.