Age UK’s ‘care in crisis’ campaign is involving an inflatable piggy bank around the UK to highlight the urgent need for more funding for social care. ‘Penny’ hit the streets of Brighton last Friday sitting between the Palace Pier and the zip wire as well as visiting party conferences around the city.

Rachel Cashman, CEO of Age UK Brighton & Hove said: “It’s unacceptable that some of the most vulnerable older people are left unable to do the day-to-day tasks many of us take for granted. Older people should be able to live well, not just survive.” Their campaign highlights the lack of funding in social care means older people are being kept in hospitals longer than necessary costing the NHS £500 a minute.

Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: “These numbers show the Government’s current approach of feeding the NHS at the same time as starving social care is simply a recipe for wasting money, and one that produces a lot of suffering and distress for many older people in need.”
The ‘care in crisis’ campaign aims to ensure Theresa May keeps for promise to ‘put the state-funded system on a more secure and sustainable footing.’

“We are really pleased the Government is giving more money to the NHS but much of it will be frittered away until they also plug the yawning funding gap in social care. The Government is expected to publish proposals about the future of social care by Christmas, but however good or bad their ideas turn out to be they won’t make any practical difference to older people for several years to come,” continued Ms Abrahams.

You can follow Penny’s journey via Age UK’s Twitter, and for more information please visit the Age UK website.