THE CLOSURE of the Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire charity has prompted the county council to look at how it can maintain its collaborative services with the charity.
Worcestershire County Council (WCC) is now working alongside the charity to ensure support is maintained for its commissioned services following the news of the closure of the Age UK branch.
There are still two Age UK independent charities providing support across the county including Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest and Age UK Worcester, Malvern Hills and Hereford.
The Worcester, Malvern and Hereford branch will also now support Wychavon residents following the closure.
Both charities offer a range of free and paid for similar or identical services to Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire, but demand is currently extremely high, so wait time for support may be increased in the short term.
The Council are working with a potential provider to take on the delivery of the Home from Hospital service, until the end of the current contract in March 2025, and this will be confirmed in due course.
Councillor Richard Morris, cabinet member for adult social care at WCC said: ”We are saddened to hear of Age UK’s closure and our officers are working closely with them and other partners to maintain this important council commissioned service.
“We are continuing to keep abreast of the future arrangements for wider services that the charity delivers and are hopeful solutions will be found to continue the range of services.”
In the short term, those residents needing basic support following a stay in hospital should contact NHS responders or the national Age UK.
When the news was announced about the closure, Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest contacted the Standard to express its sadness and to clarify that its branch was still open and offering services to those who needed them in the three areas.
A statement from Age UK BRWF
Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest (BRWF) said it was ‘extremely saddened’ by the announcement by Age UK HW but, it stressed, it was not affected by the closure as the Age UK BRWF branch was independent of it.
Age UK BRWF’s CEO, Amanda Allen, said: “I want to re-assure the North Worcestershire community that Age UK BRWF is continuing as the local Age UK for Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest and that we will have no plans to change any of the services that we deliver.
“We offer our full support to the Age UK Herefordshire and Worcestershire staff, volunteers and service users during these extremely difficult times.”
