Help the Aged cleverly released the results of this survey, commissioned through ICM Research with support from Zurich Community Trust, to coincide with Father’s Day on Sunday 15 June and to encourage everyone to contact their older fathers on the day. The result was that Help the Aged - and its partnership with the Trust - was placed squarely in the media spotlight, with the campaign generating an impressive 42 mentions across a wide spread of UK press and radio including The Guardian, Daily Mail and The Sun.
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Two in five adults (around 5 million) will not visit their older fathers this Father's Day. One in five adults (2.5 million) do not contact their older fathers at all.
One in five adults feel guilty about not seeing their older fathers more regularly Almost 50 percent of adults would like to keep in contact with their older fathers more.
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“Loneliness needn’t go hand in hand with ageing, yet for around 400,000 older men in the UK it is their only constant companion. Losing a loved one, poor health and even leaving work can all lead to social isolation and feelings of confinement. Tragically half a million older men feel trapped in their homes.” Amy Swan, Policy Officer, Help the Aged
“Through our work with Help the Aged, we have found that a simple phone call for a well-being check or a chat can go a long way in helping older men maintain social contact and foster a sense of independence. Often just that little bit of contact and support makes a person feel empowered and able to retain choice, control and dignity in their life.” Jane Boulton, Programme Manager Zurich Community Trust and a befriender
In partnership
This survey is just one element of the Trust's long-standing partnership with Help the Aged since 2002.
• In 2007, the partnership helped nearly 500 vulnerable older people through 'A Call in Time', our award-winning telephone support service. There are currently 75 Zurich employees on the 'A Call in Time' programme and there are always opportunities for more staff as volunteer callers.
• The employee volunteering model pioneered through Zurich’s A Call in Time programme has proved so successful that plans are now afoot for the Trust's funding to build capacity in order to take it to the next level.
From early 2009, the Trust and Help the Aged plan to actively promote the employee volunteering model pioneered through A Call in Time, to other corporates. The ultimate aim is for other businesses to introduce the A Call in Time programme in-house to their own staff and support the ever-growing population of older, isolated people. Already the first co-ordinator has been recruited to support Zurich volunteers and to develop the A Call in Time corporate package for Help the Aged to sell to businesses.
In this way, through recruiting new supporters and widening the pool of volunteer callers, both partners are working to guarantee the future of the programme in years to come. With the UK’s ageing population continuing to grow, it’s most certainly needed.
Help the Aged is one of six charity partners supported by Zurich Community Trust through its Older People programme, part of the Trust's Transformation programme of work. The Transformation programme refers to the Trust's support of certain key causes in UK society today, causes which are often less ‘popular’ but which have the potential to have a long-lasting, positive impact on the lives of the most vulnerable.
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