Our project is all about working with local people to solve problems which are important for them. 

PramaLife works across the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole conurbation and East Dorset with older adults to enhance their health and well-being. There are about 37,500 pensioner households in the conurbation alone, which have a household income of £15,000 per annum or less; and life has been complicated for them for a long while and will continue to be, because of their low incomes, the cost-of-living crisis, changes to welfare benefits like the universal winter fuel payments and for many other reasons. 

Above all, many older adults tell us that life can be a challenge, for example some households have managed to put aside modest savings, which should be a good thing, but these savings can then disqualify them from receiving welfare benefits and now the winter fuel allowance. 

Life is also complicated for older adults for lots of other reasons further affecting their household budgets, including:

• Older adults can struggle with their mental well-being, they can be lonely and isolated from their friends and family and support which is available for them. A national estimate suggests that 40% of those eligible are not claiming pension credit (additional money for people who just claim state pensions). 
• Caring causes older adults additional costs, caring for a partner with a long term health condition costs people a lot, for example in purchasing equipment, additional trips to the hospital and paying for care workers. 

PramaLife is doing a lot to solve these issues with the older adults themselves, like Tony who you will hear from in our video. 

PramaLife will use the funding raised to recruit, support and train volunteers to be available in public venues to support older adults, including lonely people, or those who are going through key life changes e.g. becoming a carer. The support will enable the person to review and plan their finances and lives, and be backed up by information about social, financial and seasonal resilience e.g. keeping well in winter. This will be new way of delivering our support based on the Danish model of ‘borrowing a person for a conversation in a library’.

Winter 2024/25 is going to be challenging for many people, and our aim is to support the most vulnerable older adults in Dorset.