Gateshead OPA saves the public purse hundreds of thousands of pounds

Gateshead Older People’s Assembly supports the wellness and wellbeing of people aged 50+ who live in Gateshead.

The impact that the organisation has on the lives of its beneficiaries is massive but it can often be difficult to measure - this can cause problems for the Assembly’s staff team when they are reporting on grants they have received or when applying for the grants required to undertake activities.

The Assembly used a grant from The Big Lottery to commission an external consultancy firm to undertake an independent and objective report of the social and financial benefit of our activities. The consultants worked with stakeholders of the Assembly and accessed national statistics and costs to work out how much people’s lives are improved and how much money is saved from the public purse. The final report was published in December 2017 and the results are amazing. Here are some of the headline figures:

• For every £1 of public funds invested in the Assembly, it generates £2.96 of additional income
• Volunteer labour generated by the Assembly is worth £65,453 per year 
• The social return on public money invested in the Assembly's 59 volunteers is between £129,800 and £236,000
• The Staying Steady classes are supported by public health funds of £19,146. This provides estimated savings of at least £968,736 compared to the spend on public health without this investment 
• For every £1 of public health money invested in Staying Steady classes, the return to the public purse is £50.59
• Between £55,020 and £100,000 in costs are being avoided as a result of volunteers leading social groups across the borough, in terms of injuries and illness to vulnerable older people being prevented

Click below to read a copy of the report