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Age Concern England has accepted that its strategy to engage with baby boomers in their 50s and early 60s has not worked. Instead, the charity will use its new Heyday membership organisation to strengthen its work for all older people, recognising that the majority of members will remain over state pension ages.

Like other charities representing adults, Age Concern England believes that membership strengthens and deepens the relationship between the charity and its beneficiaries. However, it accepts that its plans to extend its reach beyond pensioners towards baby boomers, who are now approaching retirement, was “a step too far, too fast”.

Although Age Concern England represents and works for people aged over 50, the majority of Heyday members are aged between 65 and 80. Younger people did not join in the numbers anticipated and this led to a re-examination of Heyday’s focus. Age Concern England will use its membership programme to help it represent the interests of all older people and offer members more sustained support. 

Age Concern England Director General Gordon Lishman said:

“Our experience shows that baby boomers are reluctant to think about the things that could go wrong in retirement if they don’t plan ahead.  This is a serious challenge to all of us who want to see older people fully benefit from the opportunities opened up by increasing life expectancy.

“A broader membership approach will help Age Concern England provide a more joined-up service to many older people.  It will also deepen our knowledge and thus make us more effective advocates.”

Through Heyday, Age Concern England is for the first time an organisation with individual members who have a direct stake in its governance and future direction. Developing a membership approach for clients has already yielded significant benefits for other voluntary organisations, for example in the area of disability. 

Heyday members will benefit from a more proactive and regular provision of information, including topical updates.  This will allow Age Concern England to increase the positive benefits it can bring to members lives.

A particular benefit for Age Concern England of having members will be the ability to involve them in contributing to public policy debates that involve trade-offs related to competing interests or scarce resources.  Frequently this requires a detailed knowledge not only of older people’s preferences but also how their priorities interact and the compromises they may be willing to accept.  For example, in the course of the recent pensions debate, Age Concern England found that most older people were prepared to accept a gradual increase in the state pension age if the basic pension increased in line with earnings.

The original concept for Heyday was to create a large membership organisation initially for those in their 50s and 60s to help them plan for the future.  In common with many other voluntary, governmental and commercial organisations, Age Concern England has found ‘baby boomers’ a difficult audience to engage with, particularly on the subject of preparing for later life.

The decision regarding a new focus for Heyday follows a full review of Heyday’s performance by trustees and senior staff.  This confirmed that Heyday’s original objectives could not be delivered as planned.  As a result of its new focus, Heyday is operating with a substantially reduced budget and staff.  Its size and growth projections will be more modest than under previous plans. 

Much of the investment made in setting up Heyday would have been essential for any new membership organisation, including the development of a modern membership management system and magazine design. This investment will continue to support the revised operation.

The charity still sees the need to engage younger people about their future retirement, but will spend time re-thinking its strategy for achieving this. 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Age Concern is the largest organisation in the UK working for older people.  Everyday we are in touch with thousands of older people, enabling them to make more of life. Our services include information and advice, befriending, day centres, lunch clubs, transport services, home visits, and advocacy services. More information can be found on our website.