The main charity to be supported by the Soroptimists this year isAge UK East Riding. At the meeting on 23rd May, Mr John Perkins, the Chief Officer of the local branch, was invited to speak about the work carried out by this charity. Age UK promotes independent living & active life for residents over the age of 50.
It has three main areas of activity:
Age UK – the flagship services which give advice, deal with policy issues & help during crises;
Age UK Trading- the retail section which organizes the charity shops, of which there are 10 in the East Riding;
Age UK enterprises- the commercial arm dealing in insurance, funeral plans, wills and legal services.
The charity gives free confidential advice on local services, financial matters and life changing issues. It receives no funding from the local authority for current services and is therefore dependent on donations.
There is a constant requirement to recruit new volunteers who are given appropriate training to enable some of the programmes to continue. These include a befriending service known as the Good Neighbour Scheme that is currently being used by 135 local residents.
The Soroptimists were interested to hear about the variety of help that is offered at local level and promised to give financial support through their fund raising events this year.
The contact number for Age UK East Riding is 01482 861065