The great and growing proportion of old people in the community is one of the most serious problems confronting the nation. Social workers in Glasgow have been alive to this problem for many years. In 1941 an effort was made to form a Committee to coordinate and extend the activities of the statutory and voluntary bodies interested in the old people of Glasgow, but owing to the pressure of war work, that effort had to be abandoned. After the war the project was revived and, on the 9th January 1948, at a meeting convened by The City of Glasgow Society of Social Service, attended by representatives of over thirty statutory and voluntary bodies, the Glasgow Old People's Welfare Committee was formed.

In 1948 at a public inaugural meeting in the rooms of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow, presided over by the late Sir Hector Hetherington, Principal of Glasgow University and attended by 180 people, a resolution was passed unanimously welcoming the formation of the Glasgow Old People’s Welfare Committee, and commending it to the support of every member of the community.

In 1986 at the Annual General Meeting it was unanimously agreed to amend the Constitution to change the name "Glasgow Old People’s Welfare Committee" to "Glasgow Old People's Welfare Association".

In 1995 at a Special General Meeting held in the City Chambers it was unanimously agreed that effective from 1st April 1996 Glasgow Old People's Welfare Association become a Company Limited by Guarantee and the Insurance Service part of the work be incorporated in a trading company called "Glasgow Old People’s Welfare Insurance Services Limited".

In 2010 after sixty two years of progress, the many services established and maintained by this Association, outlined in the ensuing pages of this Report, are being enjoyed by older people throughout Glasgow and surrounding areas. In the years ahead, these services must expand and facilities increased to meet the challenge of longer life. This is particularly true in terms of Day Care and Sheltered Housing in view of care in the community.