The Age UK family

Age UK works nationally, locally and internationally in pursuit of our vision of creating a world where every older person is included and valued. 

The Age UK family

To this end, the Age UK family includes:

• The national Age UK charity that works to influence change in England and the UK in the best interests of older people, delivers national services, and supports the broader Age UK family in a variety of practical ways. 
• Age Cymru, Age Northern Ireland and Age Scotland, independent sister charities that serve the older populations in their respective countries. 
• 124 local Age UKs across England, independent charities that share the Age UK brand and offer a wide range of support services for older people living in their areas. 
• Age International, a charity with its own Board of Trustees which responds to the needs and promotes the rights of older people, especially in low and middle income countries, and that works to influence change at a global level.

At a time when older people everywhere seem to need our help more than ever before, we are finding that in order to make the greatest possible positive impact with and for them, we need to work increasingly closely across all these internal boundaries, and through a growing range of partnerships with external organisations that share our goals too. 

Our work

• Across the UK in 2022/23 we were able to support around 1 million older people directly across our local and national networks.
• Our Influencing work helped secure significant policy changes, including the preservation of the triple local on pensions, and the prioritisation of older people.
• In the last financial year, we were able to respond to 2 international disasters - the war in Ukraine and the earthquake in Syria and Turkey, where many older people were left stranded. 

Raising money and making the best use of it across the Age UK family

The way money flows within the Age UK family refelcts and strengthens the relationships between all its component parts. 

For example, last year, the national charity distributed £5 million from its reserves to local and national partners in direct response to the cost-of-living crisis in the UK. 

In a similar way, Age UK passes a proportion of the resources it has to its sister charity Age International to support it in its work. 

All the entities within the Age UK family bring in funding through a variety of routes. Age International, for example, raises its money through emergency appeals and via its membership of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC); through donations from members of the public, including legacies; and through institutional, trust and corporate grants, in addition to the money it receives from Age UK. 

The national Age UK charity brings in money from a wide range of sources, including its 250 charity shops situated across England; from Age Co, its for profit social enterprise arm that sells good and services that are of particular use to older people; from returns on investments; and from institutional, trust and corporate grants, as well as from donations made by members of the public, including legacies. As is usual within charities, some of the funds have no constraints placed on how the money can be spent, but others are 'restricted' to being spent on particular purposes. 

Age UK's Board of Trustees decides the level of investment on an annual basis, in line with an overall 3-year financial plan. 

You can read much more detail about how Age UK raises its funds and spends them in our Annual Report and Accounts.