Age NI is the leading charity for older people in Northern Ireland. Their work centres around supporting older people to make the very best of life. 

Lidl are supporting Age NI to raise awareness of the challenges older people are facing today, including loneliness and isolation, poor health, an unmet need for care, and poverty, and to encourage those in need to reach out for information, advice and support.

With more than 350,000 older people living in Northern Ireland, there are more people over the age of 50 than under the age of 19. In the next twenty years, the number of people over 50 will increase by more than 30%.  Age NI believe that everyone should be supported to enjoy later life. Older people should have enough money; be enabled to stay well and feel good; and have the opportunity to be equal and engaged citizens.

Age NI’s brand strapline ‘Let’s change how we age’ is at the heart of everything they do as a charity. It’s a rallying cry to all of us who want to build a society where older people are included and valued. It recognises that society needs to change its thinking around what ageing should look like and reflects our ambition to continue to change the lives of older people in need right now.  

Age NI delivers care and wellbeing services, provides advice and advocacy support, campaigns and influences decision makers to improve later life for us all. All services are free at the point of contact and are designed to meet the needs of older people. While direct care and wellbeing services are targeted at those in most need or at risk of disadvantage, Age NI advice lines are open to all older people, or anyone concerned about an older person.

Age NI reaches and supports older people in local communities through our motivated staff and volunteer base who are committed to our culture and values:  

• You matter.  
• We care.  
• Together we make a difference. 

For more information visit www.ageni.org

For free and confidential advice on benefits, care, housing and health, call 0808 808 7575.

We are delighted to be the first major retailer in the world to offer free period products in stores nationwide to women and girls across the country affected by period poverty in partnership with Homeless Period Ireland and The Simon Communities of Ireland. The initiative will see the us offer a dedicated coupon for a free box of sanitary pads or tampons per customer each month through Lidl Plus, and we have also committed to quarterly donations of these products to The Simon Communities to ensure people experiencing homelessness – who may not have access to a smartphone – can access these essential products.

Since launching, we are delighted to have been able to donate over 80,000 units of product to those affected by period poverty across the island of Ireland.

Lidl Ireland is committed to match the Living Wage as recommended by the Living Wage Technical Group for the Republic of Ireland. This decision will increase hourly pay for more than 4,200 colleagues in the Republic of Ireland from 1st March 2023 – an investment of €7.5 million by the business. This year’s Living Wage recommendation is €13.85. The Living Wage is an independently assessed and recommended rate of income considered necessary to have a socially acceptable standard of living. Its adoption is voluntary, and organisations are free to choose whether to implement it.

This is the second increase to pay rates that we have announced this year and is in recognition of the ongoing hard work and dedication of store and warehouse colleagues, particularly as the cost-of-living crisis continues.

Lidl Ireland was the first major nationwide employer to commit to paying the Living Wage in 2015, and we are proud to continue this commitment in Ireland and Northern Ireland to date.

At Lidl we play an important role in helping to tackle modern slavery. It is our responsibility to understand the risks within both our business and supply chains and to ensure that our management of these risks is effective.

We must also ensure that any identified issues are effectively remediated with all necessary support provided to affected victims. We work closely with our suppliers and expert partners on this complex and systemic issue. 

Between the bright lights, crowded spaces, noise and sensory overload, grocery shopping can sometimes be a very stressful task for people with autism. With this in mind, we have organised “Autism Aware Quiet Evenings” in each of our stores to help people and families who may struggle with the weekly shop run. Autism Aware Quiet Evening takes place weekly, on a Tuesday between 6pm to 8pm, offering our customers a more comfortable shopping experience.

We are committed to offering support to those in our local communities who espouse the values we hold dear. We are proud to support local charities and community groups who promote social inclusion, health and well-being and environmental programmes. Where a local community group is hosting a community event or fundraiser which mirrors our values and pillars, we are happy to provide Lidl vouchers to support. These vouchers have been used by hundreds of community groups and charities across the country for raffles, bake-sales, school healthy eating weeks, science projects and sports programmes.

Since the beginning of 2022, we have donated over €/£ 50,000 worth of our charity vouchers to community groups across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. To find out more information about the fund, contact csr@lidl.ie.

The Just A Minute (JAM) Card allows people with a learning difficulty, autism or communication barrier to tell others they need ‘Just A Minute’ discreetly and easily in customer service situations. As the first Irish Retailer to become JAM Card Friendly, we want to welcome all JAM Card users to shop at ease in our stores and are supporting our colleagues to recognise the card to make our customers’ shopping experience as stress-free as possible.