NCVO joins Age-friendly Employer Pledge programme
Melanie May | 7 June 2023 | News
The National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) has signed the Age-friendly Employer Pledge, joining almost 40 existing signatories from the charity and voluntary sector.
Established late last year by the Centre for Ageing Better, the Age-friendly Employer Pledge is a free nationwide programme for employers who recognise the importance and value of older workers. It currently covers almost 300,000 employees including in finance, hospitality, voluntary and public sectors.
The NCVO is the 153rd employer to join the scheme.
Advertisement
There are currently another 37 pledge signatories from the charity and voluntary sector, including a number of RSPCA and Age UK local branches, the Fawcett Society, and Impact Initiatives. Other employers that have signed the pledge include Natural England, Oliver Bonas, Virgin Hotels, Zurich Insurance and Ipsos UK, as well as government departments for Work and Pensions, Business and Trade and the Treasury.
The Age-friendly Employer Pledge was launched to help overcome ageism in the workplace as well as assist employers to resolve skills shortages and record vacancy rates.
By signing the pledge, NCVO has committed to taking at least one action a year to improve the recruitment, retention and development of older workers. Recently it announced that it was supporting a paid charity internship programme for the over 50s founded by Maya Bhose.
Pledge signatories also commit to identifying a senior sponsor for age-inclusion within their workforce and ensuring that age is specifically named within their Equality, Diversity and Inclusion policies.
Woosh Raza, Director of People, Culture and Inclusion at NCVO, said:
“We are delighted to be making this pledge to recognise and celebrate the wealth of knowledge and experience older workers bring to the sector.
“We will be working hard to listen and learn about what it means to be a truly age-friendly employer as we strive to continue building an inclusive organisation for all.”
Dr Emily Andrews, Deputy Director for Work at the Centre for Ageing Better, said:
“It is excellent to see NCVO join over 150 organisations in committing to improving work for people in their 50s and 60s and beyond.
“With an older population that is becoming both larger and more diverse, it has never been more important for organisations in the voluntary and community sector to be age-friendly. But physical, practical and emotional barriers mean that over 50s miss out on the benefits of getting involved with voluntary and community organisations all too often.
“Signing the Age-friendly Employer Pledge is a brilliant way for voluntary and community organisations to kick off their journey towards becoming age-inclusive and show that they recognise the importance of older workers.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.