BBC Radio 4 appeal generates donations and volunteers for elderly charity

Howard Lake | 4 June 2003 | News

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National charity, Contact the Elderly, has reported a significant response to its BBC Radio 4 appeal, broadcast in May this year.

The appeal, presented by actor Maureen Lipman, has brought in over £5,000 in donations and has received nearly 100 enquiries for more information on how to become a volunteer for the charity.

The script for the appeal raised concerns about Britain’s hidden elderly – the one million old people who suffer feelings of isolation and loneliness. It also highlighted that elderly people are in the highest risk group for suicide and are twice as likely to kill themselves as young people.

Monica Hartwell, director of Contact the Elderly, said: “We operate a very lean, volunteer-led organisation and the money raised by Radio 4 listeners will have a significant impact for us. Our message about what we do and our need for volunteers obviously came through very clearly, in spite of the traditional appeal for donations being the main focus of the ask.”

The BBC appeal forms part of Contact the Elderly’s ‘Circle of Friends’ campaign aimed at faith and community groups. The charity is targeting community and faith leaders, initially in the North West of England, and asking them, through their congregation, to become more actively involved in volunteering to support elderly, isolated people in their community. An integrated marketing, PR and advertising strategy has been developed by Cascaid Marketing and Contact the Elderly hopes to roll out the campaign at a national level.

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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.