Fears grow for vulnerable residents as Nottinghamshire support service is axed
It's raising concerns about how vulnerable people will access vital face-to-face support
Fears have been raised by elderly Nottinghamshire residents who say they've been left vulnerable after a support service was axed by officials.
The Connect Service has been helping to support Nottinghamshire adults in areas such as housing, care, finances, benefits, talking therapies, befriending groups and carer support since 2016.
Connect is a community-based service provided by Nottinghamshire County Council (NCC) and partners where adults can seek advice and guidance from support workers face-to-face on these topics across various community facilities in the county.
An updated service was relaunched by the authority in 2023 and Connect’s whole aim is to provide a “brief, time-limited intervention” for up to 7,000 people aged 18 and over to help them avoid being in a situation of crisis and need.
Framework Housing Association provides the service for north Nottinghamshire, covering Bassetlaw and Age UK provides it for people in the rest of the county.
However, in March this year, NCC decided to decommission the Connect service, which it says will deliver “significant in-year cost savings”.
The yearly contract cost for the service currently sits at £1,840,000.
The council’s reasoning behind the move was due to the changing landscape of how NCC, health service and other partners are delivering preventative care, with plans to move away from “discrete” and “standalone” services that signpost and shift towards more integrated, neighbourhood support.
Those involved and accessing the service locally in Retford have questioned ‘where people will go’ after a weekly Thursday Connect session in the town comes to an end.
Dorothy Arthur, 86, and her partner, John, 89, from Sturton le Steeple, have been using the service at Goodwin Hall in the town for just over two years and they “don’t know what they would have done without it”.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Mrs Arthur said: “My husband had an operation and he’s rather disabled at the moment and they’ve been a big help to us.
“They can support with getting help in the house and help in the garden, anywhere he can’t do things anymore.
“People are in need. Where do they go where they can get any help? What are they going to do? If people start coming in when Connect is finished here, where do they turn?”
Mrs Arthur said she was last informed the service in Retford was supposed to end in June 2026.
Stephen, a support planner in the service, told the LDRS he was “devastated” at the prospect he was being made redundant unless an alternative role came up and called the service a “godsend” for older residents.
He said: “Older people trying to navigate online things, like blue badges – older people can’t do it anymore. I don’t know what’s going to happen to these older people.
“To many of the people we help, it’s a godsend, it’s something that stops them worrying and lifts a weight off their shoulders.
“They can get a gardener in, a cleaner in, through support allowance. For some people it’s given them a new lease of life.”
He said Connect is a “human service”, adding: “It’s like the council forget these are human beings, real people, not just figures on a sheet.”
Wendy Quigley, the chair of the management committee at Goodwin Hall, told the LDRS “half a dozen people” were waiting to access Connect’s Thursday service at Goodwin Hall at the time of speaking.
She said: “This is a serious matter for a lot of people and we’re very concerned. A lot of elderly people come in that don’t know how to do online things, people need face to face.
“We’re in the middle of town so it’s easy for people to come here and we have our own car park.”
The Nottingham and Nottinghamshire service has helped more than 4,000 in 2025, supported more than 350 people to leave hospital early and has assisted older people in accessing more than £5 million a year in benefits.
A spokesperson for the county council said: “We recognise and acknowledge that the cessation of the Connect service has come as a disappointment.
“There has been a great deal of change, including new community support becoming available and improved understanding about how communities prefer to be supported to help residents get the right help at the right time.”
The authority said it was working hard to “redesign its prevention service”, adding: “NCC would like to take this opportunity to thank Age UK Notts and Framework Housing Association for delivering the Connect Service so diligently and effectively to Nottinghamshire residents to date.”
Part of this redesign includes the council’s investment into digital self-serve support, where an online self-referral tool is due to be launched in April 2026 as”increasing numbers” of people are choosing to access information and advice online.
A spokesperson for Age UK Nottingham & Nottinghamshire said: “We are disappointed with the decision and we know it will have a detrimental impact on local older people.
“We know that this will be upsetting news for the older people we support, as well as our staff, volunteers and supporters.
“We would like to thank all of our staff and volunteers for their hard work, dedication and commitment to our work, and to the local community for their support.”
Age UK says existing service users should expect to hear directly from the charity but anyone with a new enquiry about community support should contact the County Council’s customer service on 0300 500 8080 or submit an enquiry online on the authority’s website.
A petition to save the Connect Service across the county has been set up by Goodwin Hall which has received 101 signatures at the time of publication.
Older people, along with their friends, families and carers who are looking for support can contact Age UK’s national advice line on 0800 169 6565.
Framework Housing Association was contacted for comment.