Help the Aged and Age Concern boards give merger green light

Help the Aged and Age Concern England look certain to form a single new charity in April 2009 after both charities’ boards backed the measure.

Trustees from both organisations were persuaded to vote for the merger after it received widespread approval from stakeholders.

Dianne Jeffrey, current chair of the Anchor Trust, was appointed as chair for the merged organisation earlier this month and will now take up her new post on 1 October. She reported that the process of recruiting a chief executive for the new charity was already “well advanced” and would now be finalised.

Trustees of Age Concern and Help the Aged in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland will also decide within the next few weeks whether to merge.

Help the Aged chair Jo Connell said: “We believe the new charity will provide even better services and support for older people, be able to raise even more funds, have greater influence and be able to exert more pressure on policy makers.”

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