Rangers Charity pledges £25k to tackle pensioner poverty

The Rangers Charity Foundation announced Age Scotland as its National Charity Partner for this season, with the aim of helping more older people access the financial support they are entitled to

Age Scotland has teamed up with the Rangers Charity Foundation this season to tackle the high levels of pensioner poverty in Scotland.

The Foundation today announced Age Scotland as its National Charity Partner for this season, with the aim of helping more older people access the financial support they are entitled to.

Across Scotland, 150,000 pensioners are living in poverty, with the numbers creeping up in recent years.

The Rangers Charity Foundation is pledging £25,000 to Age Scotland which will help support their free national helpline to identify unclaimed social security for older people who call them.

The partnership comes as rising living costs and the ongoing fuel crisis are putting a strain on older households, with a third already living in fuel poverty. There are fears even more older and vulnerable people will be plunged into poverty this winter without the financial support they are entitled to.

However, an estimated four in ten older people (around 123,000 households) who are eligible for Pension Credit, which would lift them out of poverty, do not claim it. This important entitlement tops up their state pension and supports them with a range of other elements of social security such as help with council tax and household energy costs.

Rangers goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin, who was on hand to launch the partnership, said: I know the pandemic was really difficult for so many older people across the country and the current issues with energy costs are a worry for many of them, so hopefully this initiative will make life a little easier.

Brian Sloan, chief executive at Age Scotland, said: We are absolutely delighted that the Rangers Charity Foundation has selected us as their national charity partner. It’s shocking how many pensioners in Scotland are living in poverty or struggling to get by on a low income.

Teaming up with us this season shows that the Rangers Charity Foundation cares about tackling this and ending the stigma surrounding poverty. It’s clear that there is nowhere near enough focus on the impact of pensioner poverty, which we are committed to addressing together, he said.

He said: I think people will be shocked to hear that hundreds of millions of pounds in financial support for older people on low incomes goes unclaimed in Scotland every year. Many are missing out because they don’t know about it, find the process of claiming it daunting, or feel too proud to accept help. But they’ve paid into the system all their working lives and deserve to enjoy a decent standard of living in retirement.