Help the Aged’s Scottish arm and Age Concern Scotland are to merge, with the loss of 25% of their staff – most of whom are over 50.
The two main charities for elderly people north of the border will be relaunched in April as Age Scotland. The number of staff will be reduced from 53 to 40, with two members being forced to take compulsory redundancy.
Lindsay Scott, communications and campaigns co-ordinator for Age Concern and Help the Aged in Scotland, told the Herald Scotland: “Following the merger there has been a reorganisation which has resulted in the total number of full-time posts between the two organisations falling from 53 to 40 by the end of March.
“The vast majority of those who left either accepted a voluntary redundancy or early retirement packages, which were considerably above the statutory minimum.”
She added: “Most of those whose jobs had been affected had served the charities well for many years and would have been in their 50s. But that is hardly unusual in the voluntary sector.”
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Scott added that the charity was introducing more home working for field workers.
Across the UK, all Age Concern bodies are to merge with Help the Aged.
