Age Connects Torfaen have been supporting older people and people in need of specialist and practical support in Torfaen for 30 years! They have given and grown over the years as more and more local people benefit from their services.
Age Connects Torfaen started life as Age Concern Torfaen in October 1989, not changing its name until 2013. They moved into their current base at the Widdershins Centre, Sebastopol in 2004.
From their launch in 1989 in Pontypool, they only provided an Information & Advice service and Befriending Scheme, 30 years later they now provide a plethora of services. During 2018, they provided information/ advice to over 10,109 people, along with delivering direct services to 14,410 older people and their carers.
They are now celebrating their 30thanniversary by asking others to get involved with their ‘30 for 30’ campaign. As a charity that does not receive funding for its core services, Age Connects Torfaen are looking for fun ways for people to get involved with fundraising activities to help them sustain current services and provide extra support where needed.
Angela Reed, Chief Executive at Age Connects Torfaen, said:
“We support so many people in the area with many needs, from helping people to remain independent in their own homes to befriending schemes to dementia support; and we are also starting to support younger people with dementia. We provide many vital services that we know people want to get behind.
So we thought we would launch the 30 for 30 campaign to let people think of interesting ways to celebrate our 30thanniversary while raising vital donations for the work we do.
We are all looking forward to the ideas that this will spark!”
Age Connects Torfaen has just launched this campaign to encourage members of the public to come forward and help fundraise for the charity, with events that have a ‘30’ theme.
Age Connects Torfaen hopes that, during its 30th year, people will be digging deep.
Development Co-ordinator Emma Wootten said:
“We hope people get on board with the 30 for 30 theme to help us raise valuable funds.
Some initial ideas include getting together 30 friends for a fundraising afternoon tea, getting a group together to run 5k and 10ks that add up to 30k, or even donating a pound a day during the months with 30 days.
We’d love to hear other ideas and for more people to help us raise money for Age Connects Torfaen.”
The charity is now based at the Widdershins Centre, Sebastopol but started life in Pontypool. It has expanded its reach throughout Torfaen over the years and has had recent requests to start providing services to support vulnerable groups in Monmouthshire, Newport and Caerphilly.
Some of the much-needed services provided include Specialised Dementia Services, support to older people in their communities, Respite Care, Social support groups and an Information & Advice service. We also support carers in many different forms. This includesrespite care, exploring the eligibility for carers allowance and carers support group.
Anyone interested in helping with fundraising is asked to contact Age Connects Torfaen on 01495 769264 or widdershins@ageconnectstorfaen.org
Age Connects Torfaen is always looking to recruit volunteers to help within the different services provided.
ENDS
Follow Age Connects Torfaen on Twitter at @ageconnectstorf and visit www.ageconnectstorfaen.org for the latest charity news.
Age Connects Torfaen is the operating title of Age Concern Torfaen, a charity for older people living in Torfaen. We are a locally based charity which aims to reduce poverty, loneliness and isolation by providing information, activities and increasing independence of the service user.
Therefore, our mission is to continually strive to provide quality services, whilst encouraging involvement and well-being for older people in Torfaen by adding “Life to Years”.
For more information please contact Emma Wootten: emma.wootten@ageconnectstorfaen.org
