Age Concern, the federation, comprises a large number of locally based Age Concern Organisations and Groups and Age Concern England - each of which is an independent registered charity, has its own funds and is run by locally appointed and accountable trustees.

The trustees form a managing committee and they can appoint staff to oversee day to day activities. Those Organisations serving large areas - main towns, boroughs, metropolitan areas and counties, always appoint paid staff to manage the day to day affairs of the organisation and to run the services it provides. However, they all rely heavily on volunteers. On average there are five times more volunteers than paid staff.