Help the Aged enters the online networking market
Howard Lake | 23 November 2006 | News
· Help the Aged and actress Liz Smith team up with life history and social networking website meRemembered
Help the Aged has signed a CRM deal with new website www.meRemembered.com to promote the reminiscing and social networking site among its supporters and older people.
The website gives its members the perfect opportunity to chronicle, update and share their life stories online, keep in touch with friends and family via email and search the database for old acquaintances. Bereaved members can create an online ‘memorial’ to record the life of a loved one, and all profiles can be formatted as a pdf file and printed out for members to keep as hard copy.
The deal sees Help the Aged hosting a link to the website in the online shop section on www.helptheaged.org.uk; the charity will receive 20% of the registration and annual fee as a donation from meRemembered for every member who signs-up via this link.
Alison McCormack, Head of New Media for Help the Aged said: “The Internet offers fantastic opportunities for people of different ages to communicate and is an ideal way of older people staying in touch with younger generations of their family and sharing their life history with them.
“Sharing life histories and knowledge is a great way to bridge the gap between different generations and start a communication that can enrich the lives of everyone involved. “
Contrary to the popular image of older people being slow to accept new technology, research from Help the Aged, conducted by Ipsos MORI, shows that 24 million (26%) people over 65 recognise new technology as a way of remaining independent later in life (1), with web based networking sites proving to be as popular with people approaching retirement age as with younger generations (2).
Celebrity case study:
Royle Family actress Liz Smith becomes the first to upload her life story online via www.helptheaged.org.uk
Earliest memory:
I wasn’t very old. In fact I wasn’t even walking. But my earliest memory is of being pushed across our lino floor in the kitchen in an enamel bowl and squealing with delight.
A scarf would be tied around the bowl, I’d sit in it and it would then be hurled around the room like a fairground ride. I loved it.
Fondest memory:
My fondest memory is sitting by an open fire having long talks with my grandfather. I would be about four or five. He gave me some great advice. He used to say ‘ there is an answer to everything in life – you only have to look for it’. I adored him and even at that early age we would share a glass of beer together.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Sources:
1. Research details
Ipsos MORI interviewed a representative sample of 1,859 adults aged 18+ across GB
Interviews were carried out face-to-face, in home, using CAPI, as part of the Ipsos MORI Capibus
Fieldwork was conducted between 7 April and 13 April 2006 in 162 sampling points
The sample design ensures that data accurately reflect the GB population in terms of region and area types as well as informant demographics. In order to correct for minor deviations, Capibus uses a rim weighting system which weights to NRS defined profiles for age, social grade, region and working status – within gender
2. “The most significant shift has occurred among teens 12-17, who accounted for 24.7 percent of the MySpace audience in August 2005, but today represent a much lower 11.9 percent of the site’s total audience. Conversely, Internet users between the ages of 35-54 now account for 40.6 percent of the MySpace visitor base, an 8.2 percentage point increase during the past year. Over 55s made up 11.0% of the MySpace visitor base.”
Quote from comScore report Oct 2006
meRemembered.com was conceived by Tony Fisher and is jointly owned and operated by marketing and creative services agency The Communications Practice. The deal sees the two organisations working together for minimum of one year.
meRemembered subscription fees (20% of the following costs are donated to Help the Aged):
Individual: £4.95 per annum Unlimited text; up to 1.5mb of space
£5.00 One-off registration fee
£4.95 Multimedia up-grade (5mb of extra space)
Family (up to 4) £9.95 per annum Unlimited text; up to 5mb of space
£10.00 One-off registration fee
£9.95 Multimedia up-grade (20mb of extra space)
Contact:
Tessa Richardson
Help the Aged PR Account Manager
Tel: 020 7239 1496
Fax: 020 7239 1929
Email:
te**************@he*********.uk
Help the Aged is the charity fighting to free disadvantaged older people in the UK and overseas from poverty, isolation and neglect. It campaigns to raise public awareness of the issues affecting older people and to bring about policy change. The Charity delivers a range of services: information and advice, home support and community living, including international development work. Help the Aged also funds vital research into the health issues and experiences of older people to improve the quality of later life.
All of these activities are only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors and Help the Aged is trying to increase the amount of funds raised to expand its charitable work and help the growing number of older people in need.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.