Our services are provided for all older people in Bromyard and District. 

Find out more about our Organisation; discover what Services we offer; make a Donation; see what Volunteering Opportunities we offer.

Disability Access for Visitors

We have a call button on street at our drop-in centre.  Our Information Officers will respond to your call as quickly as possible.

Home visits can be offered for adults with additional needs or without transport. These appointments need to be  pre-booked.  Please note: benefits home visits with our specialist Information Officer are offered only on Wednesdays. Volunteers delivering benefits home visits will arrange a mutually convenient time.

Mile of Pennies - 6th June

Sponsored Walk - 15th May

Well done to all the Age Concern sponsored walkers from across the two counties. Despite the rain our walkers managed the length of the Malvern Hills.  Many thanks to all who have sponsored the teams. Pictured: the 10 mile walkers at Hollybush.  £230 was raised to support our House Bound programme.

If you are an Organisation and want to make a quick referral to our services, search for specific services online in a client's area, or find out more about services, please contact us via the Herefordshire Gateway. This joint Age Concerns Herefordshire initiative is funded generously by the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England and Wales for 3 years, enabling us to provide a staffed freeephone number daily from 09.00-5.00 and a securely encrypted web-based referral system. You must become a registered referrer before referrals can be made online.

For more information telephone Kim Clay, Gateway Officer, on 0800 195 4550 or visit www.herefordshiregateway.org

Projects for 2009

Moneywise Drop-in Finance Clinic

We offer regular drop-in finance clinics at our offices in Broad Street under funding from the Lloyds TSB Foundation for England & Wales. 

Appointments should be pre-booked.

What difference could it make?

During 2008 our staff managed to secure over £8,400 monthly in unclaimed benefits on behalf of clients in the District.  Without advice, many older adults are not receiving their entitlement.

Do you or a family member need help this year with:

• Personal taxation including tax returns

•  Pensions and pensions credit

•  Housing and council tax benefit

•  Unemployment benefits:  Employment Support Allowance, Job Seeker's Allowance, Income Support & Incapacity Benefit

• Disability benefits: Attendance Allowance, Disability living allowance, Carer's allowance

• Specialist benefits: War Widow's or War Widower's Pension, War Disablement Pension, War Pensions Constant Attendance Allowance

For more information please contact us on

01885 483 483 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Brighter and Better in Bromyard & District:

helping you back into work

This new pilot scheme has just ended. It gave unemployed older adults  the chance to improve their skills and help move back into local employment.

The Project was the first collaboration between Age Concern Bromyard & District and the HOPE Family Centre, Bromyard. 

A12-week course provided once-weekly 2 hour sessions where adults were able to improve computer skills as well as learn how to create effective CVs,  undertake local job searching and prepare for all-important interviews. The aim was to make learning fun and supportive, and to give adults on the course confidence in their ability. 

If you would like more information about the completed Scheme and find out about future schemes please contact: 

• Adele Llewellin at Age Concern on 01885 483483

• Frances Davison at HOPE on 01885 488495

Rural Care Rural Choice

This exciting 2-year programme is funded by Age Concern England. It brings together the work of Age Concerns Bromyard, Leominster & District and Herefordshire Centre for Independent Living.

The Programme offers advice and support for older adults eligible for individual budgets and direct payments.

Self-directed care can be a challenge, particularly for older adults. Whilst adults want to be able to choose who provides their support, when and how, becoming an employer rather than using an agency can seem formidable. We aim to make the choices easier, and to ensure that adults are able to use charity services where possible rather than feel they have to pay for expensive agency care.

If you have had a social care assessment and been offered self-directed care, why not consider taking control and opting for an individual budget?

For further information please contact Jo Wells on 01885 483483 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Housebound: but can you help?

  We urgently need your help to support our increasing number of older adults living alone and needing company for an hour once weekly/fortnightly. 

Our House Bound Scheme is funded Halifax Bank of Scotland and is receiving a high number of referrals. We need more willing volunteers to help us meet demand. Whether you would like to volunteer because you are training in a related area, want to use volunteering whilst looking for work or have an hour weekly you could spare, we would love to hear from you.  You could be living near someone you are unaware is isolated, whether in the outlying villages or the market town.

The only skill you really need is an ability to listen.  We will train you to offer the right level of support, and we can offer specialist training too, from dementia awareness to working towards befriending accreditation.

Why not make 2009 the Year of Befriending? 

Call Adele Llewellin on 01885 483483   

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Footcare Scheme Update

We run a nail-cutting service for older, frail adults unable to independent nail cut. This service is delivered on site by a trained volunteer.  Our programme was funded externally to 31st March 2009 and has been seeking future funding.  We will continue to deliver the service with a small price increase to £7.50/cut to help towards the costs of delivery.

If you would like to discuss future funding for our Footcare Scheme please contact the Chief Officer, Elspeth McPherson, on 01885 483483

Funders

Age Concern Bromyard & District is supported by generous funding from the following organisations:

•  Age Concern England - Help the Aged

• Bromyard Bowmen Charity

• Google

• Halifax Bank of Scotland

• The Albert Hunt Trust

• The Clive Richards Charity

• The Drapers' Company

• The Eveson Trust

• The Lloyds TSB Foundation for England & Wales

• The Sir Jules Thorn Charitable Trust

Quality Assurance

We hold Age Concern the federation's Quality Counts . We are just beginning our acquA accreditation to become Full Members of the Herefordshire Alliance.

Recruitment of Volunteers and Trustees

Volunteers are vital to our work. Without their help we would not be able to deliver services to so many older adults living in a rural community.  We are currently recruiting both new Volunteers and new Trustees.  Volunteers are particularly needed to help deliver Information & Advice work, as befrienders for our House Bound visiting service, for our Footcare Scheme and to help us with benefits applications during home visits. Please see our Volunteering pages for further details.

We are also recruiting new expertise to our Executive Committee. If you are able to commit six evenings a year to become a Trustee, your help and specialist knowledge would be most welcome. We would be delighted to hear from adults of any age who are sympathetic to the needs of older adults. We particularly welcome potential trustees from currently under-represented groups, and prospective trustees with experience working in the public sector. 

If you feel you would like to contribute your time and talents to our Charity, please contact Lynne Wilkins, Chair, Age Concern Bromyard & District, 5 Broad Street, Bromyard HR7 4BS