History

The Universal Beneficent Society is a national charity, founded in 1857, with Charles Dickens 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 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 services, such as regular telephone calls and personal visits, wherever 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 and cards at Christmas
  
• We can also provide items such as bedding packs, hospital packs, thermal slippers, knitted hats, scarves, gloves and blankets as well as small mobility aids.

"Thank you for the wonderful Christmas hamper, which I have just received. It gave me such a 'feel-good' feeling!"  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
2007
2008

Should you wish to see a copy of our full financial report and accounts, which have been independently audited, or if you would like to know more about individual donations and legacies, please email Michele Marriott at michele.marriott@ubs.independentage.org.uk  and she will be happy to help.