Age UK Islington

Who we are

Age UK Islington is an operating name of Age Concern Islington, an independently registered charity and company limited by guarantee. We operate as a member of the national Age UK Brand Partnership.

Our mission and purpose is to promote and assist the wellbeing of people in and around Islington. The Trustees consider that good progress was made in 2019-20, a year of internal change as we carried out a restructuring programme, and dominated at the end of the year by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Beneficiary needs and how we respond

The primary beneficiaries of the charity are people over 60 living in the London Borough of Islington. We also provide support to people under 60 who are living with long term health conditions, and we operate the Islington Carers Hub offering specialised support for family carers. 

The work of the charity is focused on helping people maintain and increase their general wellbeing. People’s needs and priorities – what matters to them – vary widely, and we aim to offer a comprehensive response, reflecting the diversity of both individual and wider community needs.

This is reflected in how we are organised. Our Carer and Community service area focuses on preventative and early intervention types of activity such as information mailings, operation of a helpline, carer support, social activities and advice. Our Personalised Care and Support service area focuses on extended case work with individuals, care coordination and system ‘navigation’, direct problem-solving and specialist interventions around end-of-life, safe hospital discharge and others.

A common focus is on proactive as well as reactive responses. Proactive support is achieved through scheduled Wellbeing Checks and a broader Wellbeing Planning service. This is for people at all stages of life, helping them take stock, look ahead and set goals for the future based on their strengths as well as any age-related, health or social disadvantages they face.

All our service activities are based on the principle of working as partners with beneficiaries. Our service response is also integrated closely with the local health and social care system and the wide range of voluntary and community sector services and activities available to people in Islington. ‘Social Prescribing’ to connect and enable people to benefit from these local resources is a key part of our service model, and during 2019-20 we increased our focus on this mode of working, referring and signposting to over 300 local services and organisations.

We recognise that working together with others and combining our specialisms and strengths is the best way of ensuring we have the capacity and capabilities to serve increasing numbers of people in ways which matter to them.