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The charity arm of national housing operator Churchill Living has announced a major new long-term partnership with Hourglass (Safer Ageing), the only UK-wide charity dedicated to calling time on the harm, abuse and exploitation of older people.
The partnership will see the Churchill Foundation donate £200,000 to Hourglass in 2025, along with a commitment to donate a further £200,000 over the next two years. This significant new funding will help strengthen Hourglass’ essential services – including its 24/7 helpline and network of frontline teams – enabling the charity to deliver life changing support for older victim-survivors, as well as their families, care professionals and wider communities.
As a specialist in providing housing for the over 60s, Churchill has a clear understanding of the challenges older people often face, and cares strongly about making sure this generation is not ignored. Its charitable Foundation shares the core aims of promoting health and wellbeing for the older generation, and reducing human suffering, making Hourglass the perfect partner for this new long-term project.
Hourglass is committed to tackling all forms of abuse of all older people and supporting communities and individuals across the UK to overcome the barriers to mainstream provision. Every year, one in six people over the age of 60 experience financial, physical, psychological, sexual abuse or neglect. That’s an alarming 2.6 million people and Hourglass deals with the very worst of these cases.
The new partnership and funding will enable Hourglass and Churchill to work together to pursue the following key goals over the coming year:
1. Strengthen Hourglass’ 24/7 Helpline by ensuring the sustainability of the team
2. Maintain Hourglass’ frontline service staff provision across England to provide community engagement and tailored support programmes to those in need.
3. Increase awareness of the issue of abuse of older people through community-based educational activities and partnerships with relevant organisations to improve support and referral pathways.
4. Recruit new Hourglass staff members in priority counties and expand its Community
5. Response service into the North of England so that older victims here have the same levels of support and protection as those in the South.
Members of Hourglass and Churchill celebrated the new partnership with an official launch event at Churchill’s Austen Lodge in Basingstoke on 12th February, where Churchill’s Chairman & CEO Spencer J McCarthy said:
“We originally created the Churchill Foundation to help focus our efforts on giving something back to the communities where we operate, and to make a real difference for charities that share our common goals. Hourglass is the only UK-wide charity dedicated exclusively to preventing the abuse and exploitation of older people, a huge and fast-growing part of our society who are all too often neglected and ignored. We understand very well the importance of looking out for this generation, especially those who are suffering in silence, which is why we wanted to offer Hourglass this unprecedented level of direct support through the Churchill Foundation.”
Chief Executive Officer of Hourglass, Richard Robinson added:
“Our vision is a safer ageing society that truly values older people, and they can live free from abuse and neglect. So often, this is perpetrated by those they trust. Our ethos closely aligns with the aims of the Churchill Foundation, and we’re excited by the potential of this new partnership to not only strengthen and expand the vital services we provide, but also to help raise broader awareness of the Hourglass charity and the important work we do. Together we can work towards a future where older people are protected and do not face abuse as they age. By investing in these efforts now, we strive to create a safer environment for all.”
Dame Esther Rantzen also welcomed the partnership, saying:
“I know and admire Churchill’s work in providing well designed, comfortable, safe homes for older people with plenty of company and activities if that’s what they enjoy. I also know Hourglass does invaluable work protecting older people from abuse, bullying and exploitation. So I am delighted to see the creation of this partnership which I know will benefit many older people, especially those who are vulnerable.”
About Churchill:
The Churchill Living Group has built and continues to manage over 200 specialist retirement living developments located throughout the country. An award-winning, family run British company, Churchill has achieved multiple top WhatHouse? Award wins over the years, including Gold for ‘Best Retirement Home Developer’ in both 2023 and 2024.
The Company has received the maximum five-star rating in the independent HBF Customer Satisfaction Survey nine years in a row and was also named in The Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2023 where it ranked in The Top 10 Best Big Organisations to Work For.
The Churchill Foundation enables the Group to focus on supporting local communities as well as national charities, based on its three core aims:
- The relief of sickness, disease and human suffering
- The promotion of health amongst the elderly
- The support and wellbeing of the young
The Churchill Foundation is proud to have raised over £2,300,000 and supported over 300 different charities since it was set up in 2015.
