Ensuring older people are financially included

Aim

To ensure that older people have their full benefit entitlements so that they are financially included in the day to day life of the city.

We want to help...

Our clients are older people who may be isolated in the community. Our 31 volunteers provide a 1 to 1 advocacy support service for older people. The advocacy work of OCAY reduces loneliness and social isolation among older York residents by helping people access information and providing support in trying new ventures. We assist, through advocacy, people who are at risk of not receiving their full entitlement to welfare benefits and falling into poverty. Clients need emotional and practical help. OCAY can provide long term support. We deliver the service using person centred advocacy skills; active listening, empathic support of the client, client leading the advocate to ensure that their voice is heard. The advocates will support clients to find their way through their problem and to reduce the impact on their day to day living. The advocate will, whenever possible, pace the work to meet the need of the client whilst being mindful of any deadlines that need to be met.

Our idea.....

We want to expand our work to support more people over the age of 50 who are at risk of falling into poverty because they are not able to access the benefits system. Expanding our benefits advocacy project will help more people to access advice, receive support with making applications and attend benefits assessments, appeals and tribunals. As a service, we are seeing a significant growth in the number of clients who need support with accessing the benefits system to maximise their income. Over the next few months, we expect this to increase again due to the raising cost of living and the fact that older people are on a fixed income from their pension. In 2020/21, we supprted 290 older people through the lockdown period. Of these, 75 people needed help with benefits. In 2021/22, we supported 417 older people, of these, 100 people needed help with benefits.

The table below shows the types of issues that we support older people with.

We can support older people by providing information pertaining to different benefits, providing details of the benefit in question, how to apply, explaining the forms and what information is required to complete them. We give practical help by completing the benefit forms with clients, attending assessments, appeals and tribunals. This work often requires bouts of intensive 1 to 1 work with the client, preparing information to make a claim or working with the client to prepare for an assessment or tribunal. Advocacy is about helping individuals to speak up and engage in decision-making about their lives. By providing free advocacy support clients will be better positioned to address their often complex and time-consuming needs, have a more positive experience of the benefits system and get a better result so that they can secure the income needed to keep them out of poverty.

The table below shows the different types of benefits that we worked with last year.

The table below shows the types of benefits people needed help with.

The aim of this project is to continue to enhance our capacity to deliver comprehensive advocacy support to clients caught in the benefits system. We aim to support, through advocacy, people who are at risk of not receiving their full entitlement to welfare benefits and falling into poverty. Clients need emotional and practical support. OCAY provides emotional support to manage the stress induced by making claims, which can aggravate existing health difficulties at the root of their claims. OCAY provides the practical support to help with form filling and supporting at meetings as described above.

Our Impact.....

OCAY listens to and responds to our clients. When a case closes we undertake a feedback survey. This gives clients a voice in the development of the organization as the information gained is used to improve our service to clients. In 2021/22, 100% of clients told us they felt more in control after working with us, 96% stated that we helped them to remain living independently and 95% felt better for having worked with us.

Case studies

'We were contacted by an elderly gentleman who was receiving the lower rate of Attendance Allowance. He said his health had deteriorated and he wanted to see if he was eligible for the higher rate. The client’s daughter acted on her father’s behalf and was supported to fill in the Attendance Allowance form by a volunteer advocate. The advocate asked the daughter relevant questions so that as much detail as possible was included on the form. The daughter - with the support of the advocate - emphasised on the form that the client now needed carers to help him following hospital visits and he was constantly at risk of falling. The daughter sent off the form and the client was subsequently awarded the higher rate of Attendance Allowance. He was delighted with this and very grateful for the support from the volunteer advocate.'

 'A client we have previously worked with contacted our offices for assistance. She was on a low income and in receipt of disability benefits. She was currently in arrears for her council tax. She wanted to see if she was entitled to any more benefits. The case was taken on by a volunteer advocate who did a benefits check. The advocate found out that the client may be entitled to a reduction in her council tax. The advocate liaised with the council on behalf of the client. They helped her to secure a weekly payment of Council Tax Support (council tax benefit) and helped to arrange for the payment of her council tax arrears over an 11-month period. The client was very happy with outcome. She said the volunteer advocate was “absolutely brilliant”.'

This project successfully funded on 16th December 2022