Age Concern mystery

Many local households will have received a mailing recently from Age UK asking for money to help older people to meet other people more often.

A laudable aim, everyone will agree. Unfortunately, Age UK is the very same Age Concern that's planning to stop many of the day care facilities across Cheshire – see earlier reports in April on Audlem Online.

Age UK is the new name for Age Concern which has joined forces with Help the Aged. The first thing that hits you about the new branding exercise is the dropping of 'Concern'. Let's hope, however, the Cheshire trustees are concerned enough about the outrage caused by the organisation's plans to be thinking hard and, hopefully, stepping back.

Despite it being a month since the trustees of Age Concern Cheshire were said to be making a decision about day care facilities, such as those provided at Thornton House in Audlem, there's been absolutely no news – still nothing on Age Concern Cheshire's website; nothing in local newspapers; no response to emails sent to the charity by Audlem Online.

We are told by a number of sources that the promised 'consultation' with day care users – letters to users detailed how Age Concern would discuss the plans with individual users from 12th April – did not take place.

So perhaps, in the absence of proper consultation, we can assume that the trustees could not make a decision to close or curtail any of the valuable services. We also hear there may be some news next week, but that is simply a rumour.

If anyone has received any news on this important and popular local service which, as far as we know, remains under threat, please do let us know.

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