Age Concern and Help the Aged
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| Charity | |
| Founded | 1 April 2009 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Website | ageuk |
Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009, and launched on 1 April 2009, which combines the operations of the previously separate charities Age Concern and Help the Aged to form the UK's largest charity for older people. The charity operated as "Age Concern and Help the Aged" until the new brand launch on 19 April 2010. The brand also includes separate but interdependent charities for the UK regions : Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age NI, as well as its commercial services arm, Age UK Enterprises and new international charity, Age International.
The merger was the largest among charities in the UK since that of the Cancer Research Campaign and Imperial Cancer Research in 2002 to form Cancer Research UK.
Age UK was formed from the merger of Help the Aged and Age Concern, creating an organisation with a combined income of around £160 million, including £47 million a year raised through fundraising, and over 520 charity shops, and income raised through its commercial services arm, Age UK Enterprises.
The merger was first confirmed in September, when Dianne Jeffrey was confirmed as the new chair of trustees.
Tom Wright CBE, previously chief executive of VisitBritain, and Trustee of the Imperial War Museum was appointed Chief Executive of the new charity in November 2008. Tom Wright resigned in June 2017 to become the new Chief Executive of Guide Dogs.
The interim CEO is Steph Harland.
Age Concern's origins are British and can be traced back to a realisation in that country of the effects on aged people of the Second World War; the dislocation and breakdown of family life arising out of conscription led to a recognition that existing poor laws failed to provide effective support for old people separated from family support networks. In 1940, the Old People’s Welfare Committee (OPWC), chaired by Eleanor Rathbone, was formed as a forum for discussion between government and voluntary organisations. OPWC was a sub-committee of Liverpool Personal Service Society (PSS). In 1944, the committee changed its name to the National Old People’s Welfare Committee (NOPWC), and took on responsibility for coordinating the activities of numerous local OPWCs.
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