History

The Universal Beneficent Society is a national charity, founded in 1857, with Charles Dickens (pictured right) as a founder member.  The original aim was to 'assist financially all those in need with no distinction of class or creed'.  

Today

Today UBS concentrates its help on people aged 65 years and over who are isolated and/or living in financial difficulty, and without savings, friends or even family to rely on. Currently we support more than 1,100 of the poorest older people in the UK, who are living in their own homes (rented or owned), and are struggling to survive on little more than what the state provides for them.

The need

Many older people’s lives are fraught with hardship and anxiety. More than two million live below the poverty line with so many more living in complete isolation. They struggle to meet the basic cost of living with many daily essentials such as adequate heating, warm clothing, bedding and a substantial meal, being out of reach. Living in severely deprived areas, being fearful of crime and even the outside world is a sad reality. This can leave pensioners more vulnerable to physical illness and depression.

These problems are often exacerbated by the lack of family, friends or even basic mobility. UBS exists to alleviate the problems faced by vulnerable older people whilst maintaining their independence, dignity and peace of mind.

What we do

• We provide a lifelong additional income, paid every quarter
  
• We award emergency grants for example, to pay for unexpected bills, household items/repairs, medical   equipment
  
• We work to give the people we help a sense of belonging to the UBS family, by providing a range of voluntary support such as regular telephone calls and personal visits, whenever possible
  
• We produce regular newsletters to keep in touch with those people we support, offering handy hints, amusing anecdotes, advice and updating everyone on UBS news
  
• We give each and every beneficiary hampers, cash gifts and cards at Christmas
  
• We issue bedding packs to each new beneficiary, to keep out the cold and reduce the risk of hypothermia

"I wish to thank you for the lovely Christmas hamper and also the cheque which I have just received. It gives me a 'feel-good' mood for a long time."  Mrs F, Manchester

UBS Annual Reviews

Each year in June we publish our annual review and accounts for the previous year's activities. Please see our most recent publications attached here for your interest (please note Adobe Reader is required to view them):

2004
2005
2006

Should you wish to see a copy of our full financial report and accounts, which have been independently audited, please contact Michael McGrath at Head Office and he will be happy to help.