A SERVICE that elderly people have come to rely on for support is being axed due to lack of funds.

Age UK has announced its Village Agent Programme will no longer be running in South Lakeland.


Valerie Hale. LINDSEY DICKINGS The programme has been running for more than six years and was funded mainly by Age UK South Lakeland and the Big Lottery.

The village agent in Ulverston is Lin Weathers and she not only organises vital classes and events in town for the elderly but she also holds advice sessions for people who need support in the Age UK shop in New Market Street, Ulverston.

One woman who relies on the charity's support is Valerie Hale, 79, from Greenodd.

She said: "I think many people will be at a loss without the service, it's something that should be kept.

"When people have told me that they have problems I have always told them to go down to the Age UK shop and talk to the village agent."

The great-grandmother, who has been widowed for 24 years, has received help with her council tax bills, getting a blue badge for parking and has also been referred to the Royal Blind Society as she suffers with a damaged retina and double vision. 

She said: "It all started when I went in to the Age UK shop and got talking to the staff. They suggested that I speak to the village agent and I don't know what I would have done without that help." 

Penny Pullinger, the chief officer of Age UK South Lakeland, joined the charity seven years ago to help start the village agent programme. 

She said: "I am passionate about this programme as I have seen the difference it makes and on a personal level this has been a very difficult decision. 

"It is very sad that similar projects elsewhere in the country are being funded, but unfortunately in South Lakeland where this innovative program was developed, the value of the work of our village agents in improving the health and wellbeing of our older citizens is not supported. 

"The growing need for more complex client casework means that we have to focus our limited resources on this critical area of work to ensure that older people in South Lakeland regardless of where they live, are able to access the services they need, when they need them."

The Village Agent Programme will come to an end on March 31.