# £400,000 boost to help older Londoners in need

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2025/12/30/400000-boost-to-help-older-londoners-in-need/
- Published: 2025-12-30T09:26:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The City of London Corporation’s Emanuel Hospital charity has awarded £400,000
to Friends of the Elderly to fund grants for older Londoners facing poverty and 
hardship, over the next four years.**

The Emanuel Hospital charity was founded in 1600 following a bequest by Lady Anne
Dacre, daughter of Sir Richard Sackville, Elizabeth I’s treasurer of the exchequer,
to build an almshouse at Tothill Fields, Westminster “for the relief of 20 aged 
people”. It came under the City Corporation’s control as corporate trustee in 1623,
and today, alongside continuing to support 20 older people known as Lady Dacre Pensioners,
distributes funding to organisations helping older Londoners in need.

The new grant follows over £345,000 given to Friends of the Elderly over the past
four years, which has supported 773 older people across the capital. The funding
covers essential costs such as household appliances, unexpected bills, food, clothing
and energy, with grants awarded over the past year including £400 for a dishwasher
for an 88-year-old woman in Newham with disabling arthritis, £1,000 towards funeral
expenses for a 78-year-old woman in Wandsworth whose son had died suddenly, £600
for an iPad for a bedbound 81-year-old woman in Hammersmith & Fulham, and £368 for
a new bed for a 68-year-old woman in Southwark undergoing cancer treatment who had
been sleeping on the floor.

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**Alderman Gregory Jones KC**, chair of the City Corporation’s Emanuel Hospital 
Management Sub-Committee, said:

> “Although the grants Friends of the Elderly make with our funding may be small,
> the impact on the lives of older people across London is huge, lasting and transformative.”

**Rachel Hill**, chief executive of Friends of the Elderly, which is marking its
120th anniversary this year, said:

> “We are absolutely thrilled to have the continued support of the Emanuel Hospital
> charity, which has made a huge difference to hundreds of older people across London.
> Thanks to this funding, we know that every London pensioner who meets our criteria
> and comes to us asking for financial assistance, can receive a grant, which is
> incredible.”

Older people who may benefit from a grant can be referred to [Friends of the Elderly](https://www.fote.org.uk/grants)
by community centres, housing associations, advice organisations and other referral
agents.

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