Supporting Edinburgh’s older people: inside our charity partnership with LifeCare

Baillie Gifford staff voted for LifeCare as our 2025/26 Charity of the Year in March 2025.

In this interview, Colin Lennox, partner and chair of the Philanthropy Committee, speaks with Claire Montgomery, LifeCare’s fundraising and communications manager, to learn more about their work in the community and the difference our partnership has made.

Colin: Claire, to begin, who are LifeCare?

Claire: We are a registered charity based in Edinburgh with a proud 85-year history of providing uplifting, positive and practical support for older people, and we’ve never been needed more.

We were established by trailblazing women in 1941 to support issues that still exist today. Our vision is of a society where no older person is left alone or isolated. We believe that older people should be supported to thrive in their own homes and be active members of their community.

Colin: What services does LifeCare provide to your clients?

Claire: We provide support for older people aged over 50 who need our care, including those living with dementia, poor physical or mental health, mobility challenges, isolation and loneliness, as well as dedicated unpaid carers.

As of today, we support about 1,000 clients and unpaid carers. Our services are tailored to what people need at that point in their lives.

Some are registered services, for example, our day clubs support older people who may be living with dementia, are frail or feeling isolated. Our care team goes right to the door, helps people out of the house, brings them into our hub in Stockbridge for a full day of social activities and a lovely lunch together, and then takes them home in the evening.

As part of that, we also offer an outreach service, which is one-to-one support. This might mean companionship, help getting to hair or doctors’ appointments, or simply enabling someone to keep doing the things they enjoy but can’t easily manage on their own anymore. We also offer practical support at home, such as shopping, cleaning, and ‘Meals on Wheels’.

Alongside our registered services for older people, we also recognise the stresses that unpaid carers are under at the moment. So, we offer a range of health and wellbeing activities, like Zumba, as well as services like massages and haircuts. These sessions are designed to give people the chance to look after themselves and connect with others in similar situations.

Colin: How do you engage with the wider community?

Claire: On top of our core services, our hub in Stockbridge runs activities for the whole community. This spans everything from our annual Christmas lunches and summer barbecue to weekly game afternoons and IT advice sessions.

We get around 47,000 visitors to the hub each year, and having this space where everyone, regardless of age, can come together has created some very special intergenerational moments.

With the cost of living, even simple things like going out for a cup of tea or an activity you once enjoyed can become unreachable. Most people don't pay for the activities and services we offer, which really helps break down the barriers to socialising.

People of all ages come in, and it's lovely to watch. Every Monday morning, we have a ‘Chatty Cafe’ session at the hub. This started with one table and has since grown to three, where, if you fancy a chat, you sit at one of these tables, and everyone knows you're open to a conversation. We now have many familiar faces who come in every week, and it has become part of their routine.

Colin: What do you personally find most rewarding about the work you do?

Claire: We ask for feedback from our service users, and one quote that always stays with me is: “LifeCare is my lifeline.”

Social connection is incredibly important for wellbeing, especially as we get older. Research shows isolation can be more harmful than smoking 14 cigarettes a day, and Edinburgh is recognised as one of the loneliest cities in the UK for pensioners.

It’s especially nice when someone first comes along with a son or daughter who's unsure or thinks they don’t need help, and then you see them come back on their own the following week. You see them build friendships. That gives them something to look forward to, and that’s the whole point of life, isn’t it?

Colin: What key challenges do you face as an organisation?

Claire: Two things: money and reaching people as early as we’d like.

Like most charities, we don’t always know where next year’s money is coming from. We need to raise about £300,000 each year to keep our subsidised and free services running. While we’d love to grow, with demand increasing and social care provision shrinking, the reality is that our focus has to be on sustaining the services we already deliver.

Beyond that, 85 per cent of our clients live alone, and it can be difficult to reach those who are at home on their own and let them know we’re here. The pandemic had a huge impact. People were shielding, their confidence dropped, and their mobility declined. We’re now seeing people come to us later than we might have in the past, which puts additional pressure on our services.

Colin: The charity is approaching its 85th birthday. What does that mean to you?

Claire: It’s absolutely a chance to celebrate and look back! We’ve had volunteers sorting through old photographs and annual reports, and you see the fashion from the 40s and 50s and all the afternoon teas people enjoyed. And here we are in 2026 still organising afternoon teas. Technology has changed, but our basic needs haven’t.

Also, while it may be a bit crude to say, it’s an opportunity to bring in more money. We’ll be running events throughout the year and using the milestone to fundraise. In April, we’re launching our ‘Friends of LifeCare’ campaign, and we’re also producing a film with support from Baillie Gifford.

Colin: What has been your experience of the Charity of the Year partnership?

Claire: We were delighted when we found out, especially because we didn’t put ourselves forward. One of your colleagues did. As a fundraiser, you get used to filling in forms and waiting for decisions, so that unexpected call was huge.

Unrestricted support is exactly what you want as a charity. It came at the start of our financial year, which meant we could go into it with a real boost and confidence in our service delivery.

Beyond the financial support, everyone has been so generous with their time and skills. We’ve had conversations about campaigns, website development and storytelling, and we’re currently working with your Film and Photography Team on our first-ever film. These are things we simply wouldn’t have been able to pay for otherwise, and they’ll help us for years to come.

Colin: To round out the interview, what’s the one message you’d like to leave readers with?

Claire: I hope that everyone remembers we are here, whether that’s for someone who could benefit from our services now, or in five, ten or twenty years’ time. Our doors are open seven days a week, so please pop in and see us for yourselves.