If you share our values and beliefs about how important it is for all older people to live rewarding, fulfilling, safe and happy lives, then we would love to have you join the team either as a member trustee, or as a volunteer.

Members

So what do our members want from us? Here are the results from the members survey 2023!

You asked. We answered! The results from our 2023 Members Survey are in, and we are so grateful to everyone who took the time to respond. So here is what you said – and what we are doing in response!

• We asked, would you benefit from general networking opportunities with other organisations who share your goals? 100% of respondents said yes.
• All members have been invited to participate in the VCSE Barometer survey through the Members Newsletter Sept 2023 edition. This survey consults a broad range of charities across the country, and surveys their current “state of play”. This latest survey is focussed on staff and volunteer wellbeing. Each respondent to the survey will be invited to an online feedback meeting where are participants can review the data collected and share knowledge and good practice on how to keep charity staff and volunteers engaged, safe and well. This forum provides a wealth of opportunities to network with other charities that share values about how we work and live, and is an invaluable source of networking for shared projects.

• We asked, would you benefit from opportunities for partnership working to enable greater impact and reach of your work? 46% of respondents said yes. 54% said no.
• We will share opportunities that we learn about in the Members Newsletter and in the Campaigns section of this website, so those that want to participate have an opportunity.

• We asked, would you benefit from general resources to help support older people speak up about issues including health, employment and housing as well as other key topics. 100% of respondents said yes.
• We are continuing to build up our bank of Advocacy Checklists. These checklists are free to download and can be used by anyone. If there is a particular checklist that you need, please make your request to colette.isaaks@opaal.org.uk and we aim to deliver that asap.

Trustee roles

If you have never been a trustee before or served on a board, then please don’t let that put you off from getting in touch with us. What we are looking for is those with a real interest in improving the lives of older people, and you can certainly be an “expert by experience” even if you have never worked with older people or on older people’s issues – your energy and commitment will be more than enough! We conduct most of our meetings remotely, so there is no difficult travel involved, and we are always delighted to welcome new board members. Interested? Email our friendly Director, Colette Isaaks at colette.isaaks@opaal,org.uk to arrange an informal chat.

Volunteer roles

We would also love to hear from anyone with a few hours to spare to give us feedback on our free resources. If you could give a couple of hours to look over some of our downloads and “road test” them for suitability before they get distributed to the public – this would be a great help! We don’t know what we don’t know, so your insight, just based on your own experiences would be hugely valuable to us. Email our Operations Lead, Sharon Jenkins at sharon.jenkins@opaal.org.uk to get involved!

Here’s our Equality, Diversity and inclusion policy.

Here’s our Safeguarding Vulnerable Adults, Children and Young People.