In the 200 and more years since 1769 the Society has concerned itself with the care of the elderly in Bristol and neighbouring areas in a number of ways. These include:

• funding annuities and grants for emergency expenditure. A number of dedicated volunteers visit annuitants in their own homes and fill a vital role of companionship, guidance and support.
  
• collaborating with other charities in a joint scheme of 15 sheltered flats at St Ambrose in St George, Bristol.
  
• building a Day Centre, called The Beehive at St Ambrose, now used by more than 140 people each week, and funding a number of places there
  
• in 2003, opening New Anchor House on the site of the old Gaiety cinema in Knowle, Bristol, with 21 sheltered flats in a joint scheme with the Guinness Trust
  
• in 2005, as part of a scheme for the refurbishment of 32 sheltered flats by the Guinness Trust at Southlands in Knowle, the Society has provided a Day Centre at a cost of £300,000. The Centre has been called the Joyce Needham Cooper Day Centre in recognition of Mrs Needham Cooper's generous support of the Society's work over many years.

The affairs of the Society are managed by a Committee, which for the year 2005-06 is as follows:

Work in progress at New Anchor House