Place-based approach to ending poverty in later life
In July 2026, Independent Age is committing £1.5m to tackling poverty among older people in the UK. Through our Boosting Advice programme, we empower high-impact community-led organisations to support these individuals access financial support, reclaim their dignity and live independently for longer.
We are looking for philanthropic partners to bring this up to £2m so we can extend our reach to even more deprived areas within:
- North London
- Hull
- Nottingham
- Wrexham
- The Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
The Purpose
Across the UK, significant numbers of older people are being pushed into financial hardship. Yet evidence shows that one intervention consistently makes a difference: clear, trusted advice. When older people receive the right guidance, they can access the support they are entitled to, stabilise their finances, and protect their health and wellbeing.
In 2024, we committed to 19, three-year Boosting Advice partnerships with local charities across the UK. In the first 12 months of delivery, we allocated £1.03m in funding. During this time, our local partners helped 3,454 older people claim over £11.5million in additional annual income entitlements.
This money makes the world of difference to the people we support. It could mean keeping the heating on for an extra hour in the depths of winter, affording the bus fare to visit a friend, or being able to eat more nutritious food.
Now, we want to expand our Programme to provide safety and security to even more at-risk older people.
Our Mission
Independent Age is the only national charity focused exclusively on supporting older people facing financial hardship. We exist to ensure that older people living in poverty receive the financial support they are entitled to, are protected from unfair or avoidable costs, and live in affordable and suitable housing.
Alongside our Boosting Advice Programme, we:
- Provide direct, AQS-accredited advice by phone and through our Information Library, and deliver bespoke training to sector professionals.
- Use the knowledge and insight from our frontline work, to provide decision-makers with data-informed solutions to poverty in later life, and campaign for systemic change.
The Challenge
The financial strain on pensioners across the UK is worsening. The cost-of-living crisis has hit older people on low incomes particularly hard, and the impact has been severe. Today, 1.9 million older people live in poverty; by 2040, if nothing changes, this figure could almost double.
"The only way I survive is to use as little as possible when it comes to utilities” - one older person we’ve helped describes how they switch the oven off before the end of cooking time and have strip washes instead of showers.
At the same time, access to help is shrinking. Local charities - often the first place older people turn - are facing severe financial pressure. Council funding has fallen, national charities have reduced services, and community fundraising has weakened. These pressures are deepest in the most deprived areas, where charities struggle to raise funds and expert provision for older people can be limited. As a result, communities with the highest need often have the least provision.
Our Approach
Our Boosting Advice Programme responds directly to this crisis. We use data on poverty and low take-up of social security entitlements - combined with an in-depth analysis of the availability of expert, dedicated services for older people - to find these ‘Advice Deserts’ and seek to partner with local, community-based organisations that older people in financial hardship already know and trust.
In this way, we are able to reach older people from the most underserved groups including racially minoritised groups, disabled people, carers and those living in isolated communities.
We award grants averaging £150,000 (£50,000 a year for three years) for these organisations to expand their face-to-face advice offer. In addition, we build the capacity of these partners by offering grantees expert-led training, access to bespoke advice resources, and support with media, promotion, and sector updates. This wraparound support builds skills, strengthens capacity, and helps organisations maximise their impact for older people living in poverty.
Impact So Far
In 2024, we committed a total of £3.1m to 19 local projects over three years. In the first 12 months of delivery, we allocated £1.03m in funding, and during this time, our local partners supported 7,476 older people in financial hardship. Of this number, 3,454 were supported to claim over £11.5million in additional annual income entitlements, such as Pension Credit or Attendance Allowance.
In addition, we have upskilled 264 frontline advisers in this network, equipping them with specialist expertise to handle complex entitlements and housing cases. This ensures older people receive accurate, compassionate support beyond our initial investment.
The Programme also enables partners to connect, share learning, and inform our national policy work with insights from their communities. We provide free information guides to support advice delivery, covering topics such as Pension Credit, housing benefit, cost reductions. Last year, partners ordered over 6,000 resources to support older people.
"The support we have received from Independent Age has been invaluable... This training has allowed our team to integrate contemporary best practices and specialist expertise into our work, ensuring our service delivery remains relevant and impactful." — Grantee Feedback
What’s Next
Currently, demand for our Boosting Advice Programme far exceeds the support we can offer. Since starting the programme, we have received 85 eligible applications, of which we were only able to fund 32.
This is why we are actively seeking an additional £500,000 in funding to expand our offer to three additional local partners in North London, Hull, Nottingham, Wrexham, or the Highlands and Islands of Scotland.
To discuss further, please contact Alice Parsons, Head of High-Value Relationships at alice.parsons@independentage.org
