On 30 May 2006, Age Concern launched Heyday - marking the launch by carrying out the UK's biggest survey, asking 10 million people born in the 1940s and 1950s for views on issues such as ageism, pensions and health.
Heyday was launched as a separate not-for-profit membership organisation for all people who are thinking about, planning for or in retirement. Heyday offered members access to expert advice on finances, work, retirement and health, as well as providing them with a voice and putting them in touch with one another, for a small annual subscription.
With ambitious membership targets, a year after launch, Heyday had proved an expensive and controversial exercise within the Age Concern federation. Due to lower than expected membership take-up, Age Concern restructured the Heyday scheme, introducing new recruitment channels such as through corporate schemes, and streamlined the supporting infrastructure to more closely meet the lower level of activity.
Shortly after a Charity Commission report made a number of recommendations, Heyday announced that the membership scheme would close on 31 March 2009, noting that Heyday would maintain a presence on the Age Concern website following the merger with Help the Aged.
The charity itself commissioned Sir Christopher Kelly to investigate the project. His report, published in June, 2009, concluded that Age Concern had lost over £22 million on the venture.
Read more about this topic: Age Concern