Elizabeth Finn Care

Elizabeth Finn Care was established as the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association in 1897 by Elizabeth Finn, aged 72,{{cite news|last=Frew |first=George |title=Distressed no more |url=http://archive.thisisoxfordshire.co.uk/2001/7/20/57470.html |accessdate=18 October 2010 |newspaper=This is Oxfordshire |date=20 July 2001 }}{{dead link|date=December 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} and her daughter Constance, after learning that gentlefolk – a British class description for "people of the better sort" – were living destitute.{{cite news|last=Rule|first=Sheila|title=LONDON JOURNAL; Lifting a Pinkie for the Upper Crust|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/09/02/world/london-journal-lifting-a-pinkie-for-the-upper-crust.html|accessdate=18 October 2010|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2 September 1989}} One of these gentlefolk was an 80-year-old woman, dying of cancer while barely subsisting on the declining returns from her failing investments. The obituary of Colonel W. W. Knollys after his death in 1904 claimed he was one of three founders.{{cite news|title=Obituary: William Wallingford Knollys|url=http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Times/1904/Obituary/William_Wallingford_Knollys|accessdate=19 October 2010|newspaper=The Times|date=15 August 1904}} An example of its mission is summarised by David Aaronovitch, saying that "if the Salvation Army took the most wretched off the streets, Elizabeth Finn’s Distressed Gentlefolk’s Aid Association identified, in the downwardly mobile, a genuine and discrete kind of misery."{{cite news|last=Aaronovitch|first=David|title=If the rich stay rich, what happens to the poor?|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/david_aaronovitch/article2381315.ece|accessdate=18 October 2010|newspaper=The Times|date=4 September 2007}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In 1989 The New York Times reported that "Some supporters and detractors have argued that the Distressed Gentlefolk's Aid Association should change its name in order to appear less class-bound and more up to date."

By 2000 the charity had decided to change its name, as "gentlefolk" had become dated and the organisation decided to honour the memory of its founder by changing its name to the Elizabeth Finn Trust. Described as an opportunity to move with the times,{{cite news|last=Black|first=Edward|title=Boswell's Diary: Overhaul for nation's least likely charity|url=http://news.scotsman.com/comment/Boswells-Diary.2462716.jp|accessdate=18 October 2010|newspaper=The Scotsman|date=19 September 2003}} the change was described as necessary by the charity's Chief Executive, Jonathan Welfare, because "we describe ourselves as an organisation that helps out with professionals rather than gentlefolk". The director of marketing and communications said that "by changing the name we hope to be more appealing to people who would otherwise be scared away by the words distressed and gentlefolk."{{cite news|last=Blakemore|first=Sophie|title=Gentle goodbye to gentlefolk; Name change as charity looks to future|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Gentle+goodbye+to+gentlefolk%3B+Name+change+as+charity+looks+to+future-a060507153|accessdate=19 October 2010|newspaper=The Birmingham Post|date=14 January 2000}} The charity later updated its name to Elizabeth Finn Care.

In 2014 the charity embarked on a project to look into the impact of coming under one brand. As a result of this consultation it was announced that Elizabeth Finn Care and Turn2us were to become Turn2us.{{Cite web|url=http://www.turn2us.org.uk/About-Us/News/Elizabeth-Finn-Care-and-Turn2us-to-come-together|title = One brand - Turn2us}} On 18 May 2015 the charity formally came under the Turn2us name and a new logo and strap-line were produced to reflect the changes. As a result of this merger all charitable activity formerly undertaken by Elizabeth Finn Care now takes place under the Turn2us brand.

The charity defines its role as follows:

{{Quote|We’re here to support people who were once self-sufficient, but who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in need of help.

We help people who have fallen below the poverty line. We help ordinary people who have been overcome by circumstances, such as family breakdown, redundancy, injury, physical or mental illness. In the UK and Ireland, there are 4 million adults who are eligible for our support.{{cite web|title=About us|url=http://www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/About_us|publisher=Elizabeth Finn Care|accessdate=19 October 2010}}}}

In 2007, the charity supported 2,500 people each year, spending £4 million in weekly grants and one-off payments.{{cite news|last=Bell|first=Sarah|title=Rise of the 'white-collar tramp'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7144467.stm|accessdate=19 October 2010|newspaper=BBC News|date=14 December 2007}} The charity set up Turn2us as a separate service in 2007 and they rejoined in 2009.{{cite web|last=Little|first=Matthew|title=Elizabeth Finn Care merges with Turn2us|url=http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/news/942629/|publisher=Third Sector Online|accessdate=19 October 2010}} Turn2us allows people to identify welfare benefits, grants and other help available to them.{{cite web|title=Home page|url=http://www.turn2us.org.uk/|publisher=Turn2us|accessdate=19 October 2010}}

Elizabeth Finn Care operates nine care homes and 10 almshouse cottages through its subsidiary Elizabeth Finn Homes.{{cite web |title=What we do |url=http://www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/What_We_Do |publisher=Elizabeth Finn Care |accessdate=19 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100927181544/http://www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/What_We_Do |archivedate=27 September 2010 }}

Elizabeth Finn Care also conducts research into issues of poverty and financial difficulty. In June 2010, they released a report stating that 2 out of 5 people expected to be financially worse off in six months time. Previous research showed that a third of people would skip meals to save money before approaching a debt charity.{{cite news|last=Read|first=Simon|title=The difference between debt misery and a solution|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/simon-read-the-difference-between-debt-misery-and-a-solution-1992064.html|accessdate=18 October 2010|newspaper=The Independent|date=5 June 2010}} In April 2010, in research with Roehampton University, they found that the recession was having an effect on the mental health of UK residents due to concerns about job losses and pay cuts.{{cite news|last=Campbell|first=Denis|title=Recession causes surge in mental health problems|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2010/apr/01/recession-surge-mental-health-problems|accessdate=19 October 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|date=1 April 2010}}

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• [http://www.elizabethfinncare.org.uk/ Elizabeth Finn Care homepage]
• [https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/may/19/volunteering.guardiansocietysupplement Guardian interview with an Elizabeth Finn Care volunteer]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120315120831/http://business.highbeam.com/4400/article-1G1-111647825/people-business Nursing Management article]
• [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/07/05/kids-summer-holidays-will-leave-many-in-debt-91466-26785764/ Walesonline reporting on Elizabeth Finn Care research]

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Category:Charities for the elderly based in the United Kingdom

Category:1897 establishments in the United Kingdom

Category:Organizations established in 1897