PRESS RELEASE

Main Contact: Karen Steele – Marketing and Partnerships Manager
Tel: 029 2068 3604 / 07584 346 015

For immediate release: Monday 2nd November 2020

Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale is delighted to announce that the National Lottery Community Fund #National Lottery have provided a grant to support the charity’s Engagement Project: Building Resilient Communities. The grant will build on previous engagement work and support our volunteer programme that has been providing vital help for older people who have been shielding and self-isolating.

The COVID pandemic has highlighted the difficulties some people have when they don’t have family and friends they can turn to for that little bit of help. The loneliness and isolation felt by so many is heart breaking, but the issue is not one solely linked to the COVID pandemic but rather an issue that many older people face on an ongoing basis.

The funding will enable Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale support older people who do not have family and friends that can help, to put interventions in place and to assist them to find solutions to issues they may face.

Launching on 2nd November, the National Lottery funded Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale Engagement Project will reach out to local older people affected by the COVID 19 pandemic and the restrictions imposed on them. It will explore the difficulties they have encountered – from loneliness and isolation, to digital exclusion and simple things such as getting cash, shopping and prescriptions. It will also consider with them what could be done to make life better as we enter the winter months and the prospect of further restrictions.

Leading this project, Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale is delighted to welcome Kelly Brightman to its team. ‘I am excited to be part of the Age Connects team and grateful to the National Lottery for providing the funding for this vital project. Over the coming months, I will be looking at the impact COVID 19 has had on older people in our communities and exploring with them what they feel would make them better placed to cope when they don’t have the support and comfort of being able to turn to family and friends. If anyone would like to talk about their experiences, then I encourage them to contact me at:

                 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  or 07485 325 989’

All this would not be possible if it wasn’t for the thousands of people who play the National Lottery that raises millions of pounds for local community projects. Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale would like to say thank you to every single National Lottery player.

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Notes to the Editor:

Age Connects Cardiff and the Vale is the operating title of Age Concern Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan. Age Connects Cardiff and the Vale is an independent local charity that has been providing services for older people since 1974. A local and independently run charity that reaches out to older people in the region, many of whom live alone, are physically frail and live below the poverty line.

For more information on Age Connects Cardiff & the Vale, please contact Karen Steele, Marketing and Partnerships Manager on 029 2068 3604, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or visit ageconnectscardiff.org.uk