A CHARITY is calling on the Government to do more to improve quality of life for North East pensioners. Help the Aged made the comments after the Joseph Rowntree Foundation report "A minimum income standard for Britain: what people think" was released on Wednesday.

Charities urged energy companies yesterday to give pensioners an emergency Pounds 50m rebate this winter to help the most vulnerable avoid fuel poverty.

By ALAN MACDERMID THE adverts by finance companies paint a picture of silverhaired tourists lolling on deckchairs or strolling through the surf. But the reality for more than a quarter of a million Scottish pensioners is different, a survey reveals today.

Almost two thirds of older people do not believe the Government is doing enough to fight age discrimination.

SCOTLAND will be gripped bya dementia epidemic within decades as the baby boomer generation reaches old age, experts have warned. According tofigures released by Alzheimer Scotland yesterday, the number of Scots suffering from dementia will soar by 75 per cent in the next 25 years.