Celebrating five years of Sky Cares

Sky Cares has been Age Scotland’s valued partner since 2019. From fundraising and volunteering to community support and funding, Sky Cares is instrumental in helping Age Scotland ensure that no one faces the challenges of older age alone in Scotland.

Taking time to celebrate

We were delighted to be invited to Sky Cares’ celebration event in February, recognising the support the Time to Care team has delivered to our charity over the past five years.

At the heart of the Sky Cares partnership is the aim of reducing loneliness and isolation among older people. At the event, we took time to pause and reflect on the success of this programme and the meaningful connections that were forged through volunteer support. 

We heard from our chief executive Katherine Crawford who spoke about Age Scotland’s services supporting older people across the country and how the partnership with Sky Cares supports our community development work.

Keeping communities connected 

One of the key arms of the partnership is Sky Cares’ support for our Keeping Connected community grants programme. Last year, Sky Cares contributed £25,000 towards to the Community Grants Programme funding 126 community groups and benefiting around 7,193 older people across Scotland.

Feedback from the recipients has been overwhelmingly positive with 95% of people who used our services saying they feel less lonely. Reducing social isolation among older people is one of Age Scotland’s strategic aims and we welcome Sky Cares’ support to make this possible in areas including transport, social activities and support to reduce digital exclusion. 

A member of the Senior Centre Castlemilk in Glasgow, which received funding from Sky Cares, expressed their gratitude:

“I don’t know what I’d do without the centre. I’m in from morning to night most days and it makes me feel welcome and safe. I’m warm and relaxed here. I would be miserable at home as I can’t afford to burn my heating all day, and I’d also be really lonely. I couldn’t manage without my centre.”

Raising funds and awareness

As well as supporting community groups, Sky Cares has been instrumental in helping Age Scotland raise awareness about the challenges facing people in later life.

From partnering at our annual awards ceremony and supporting our Member Group of the Year Award in October 2025, to raising over £12,000 in fundraising events; the team at Sky Cares has provided innovative and meaningful support that goes above and beyond for older people.

We danced at their Pride festival last July, enjoyed intergenerational filming sessions at their Sky Up Academy studios, and raised festive spirits together through our Big Gift Appeal. Every opportunity that Sky Cares offers is just another chance to demonstrate our dedication to supporting older people, together. 

What’s next?

Our partnership continues to grow and we are really excited about the year ahead.

Next month Sky Cares’ Andy Arnott will be going the extra mile for older people by running the London Marathon. We are thrilled to that Andy is supporting Age Scotland and will be cheering him on the full 26.2 miles!

You can help Andy reach his goal by donating here.