Our mission is to promote the well-being of all older people and to help make our later lives a more fulfilling and enjoyable experience
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| Principles |
| Values and
principles underpin what we do, why we do it, and guide how we work to
achieve our mission. Our underlying principles are: |
- ageism is unacceptable: we are against all forms of unfair discrimination, and challenge unfair treatment on grounds of age
- all people have the right to make decisions about their lives: we help older people to discover and exercise these rights
- people less able to help themselves should be offered support: we seek to support older people to live their lives with dignity
- diversity
is valued in all that we do: we recognise the diversity of older people
and their different needs, choices, cultures and values
- it is only through working together that we can use our local, regional and national presence to the greatest effect.
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Values Our work is also guided by a set of values:
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Enabling: we enable older people to live independently and exercise choice
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Influential: we draw strength from the voices of older people, and ensure that those voices are heard
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Dynamic: we are innovative and driven by results and constantly deliver for older people.
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Caring:
we are passionate about what we do and care about each individual.
Expert: we are authoritative, trusted and quality-orientated.
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About us
Age Concern Okehampton & Torridge (ACOT) is an autonomous, unincorporated, UK registered charity, No: 1011780, which is managed by a board of seven trustees with diverse skills and drawn from the local area.It is an accredited Age Concern Group member within the Age Concern Federation. The Federation was formed in July 2000 and has a Membership of around 350 Age Concerns who work locally, regionally and nationally providing a range of activities and services. Each Age Concern is an independent charity working on behalf of older people, raising and spending its funds in its local area of benefit.
Our main initiatives
We offer broad support for older people in the current climate where most funding is aimed at services for the frailest and most disadvantaged. We engage with all over the age of 50, helping them to enhance the future of their lives by linking them with available help. We are always looking for new ways of supporting older people when no support is available from the government, local authorities or existing projects in the voluntary sector.
AIMS
We aim to help older people maintain their dignity and independence by supporting their;
- Social needs,
- Economic needs,
- Cultural and Spiritual needs,
- Environmental needs.
We are especially concerned that everyone should have the opportunity to remain in the home of their choosing for as long as is possible.
The organization
ACOT was established as Age Concern Okehampton and District in 1991 and changed its name in December 1999 to Age Concern Okehampton and Torridge to reflect the scope of the area in which it had become involved. It is an Age Concern Group member within the Age Concern Federation. It is a very small but radical and innovative organisation that seeks to follow a proactive approach in every aspect of its work in the 2,000 km2 of a sparsely populated, rural area consisting of moorland and mainly agricultural land in the South West of England: this area equates to that within the M25 motorway around London but with only 1.33% of the population level. i.e.,100,000 people.
A major change
During the years 2000-2002, ACOT faced serious challenges which significantly tested its ability to conduct its work to satisfy need. The Foot and Mouth outbreak in 2001 affected all of the project area, limiting transport movement, which as a consequence hampered Day Services provision and information distribution. It subsequent related its experience of managing major projects through IT and Internet connections in a submission at a public enquiry.
Not only did this outbreak affect the actual delivery of services, but it also depressed the capacity of the organisation to plan for growth. In the early part of 2002, Devon County Council, in an overall spending restructure, withdrew funding for Day Care Services provided by ACOT operating in six centres, on a turnover of £ 75,000. ACOT has consequently focused on the effective and efficient core provision of information and advice, advocacy, the befriending of older people in prison and representing voluntary sector initiatives to Health professionals, and more recently a Foot Care service.
What we do.
We offer services to 50,000 older people over 50, of whom 25,000 are over the age of 65, in an area with a population density of 0.5 persons per hectare. The population of the area is expected to grow by 25% over the next 25 years, with the number of older people over 65 increasing by 8%.
Communications are limited by the absence of major roads, railway lines or an airport. Bus services are irregular, uncertain, and require overnight stays for some hospital appointments.
We are using a survey from the past four years to inform our development in the creation of an organization that uses Internet Communications Technology to provide low cost, accurate and quality information and signposting across the whole of North West Devon.