Care & Repair: Free DIY jobs for Older People

A new year dawns and with it the Care and Repair Programme turns twelve; how time flies! From its humble beginnings in the Dublin Docklands in late 2016 we now work alongside our 25 Community Partners to deliver the service in locations nationwide.

The history of the programme begins with a large volume of calls to our Information Service from people who struggled to find a reliable person to carry out a small job, one too small for a tradesman but difficult for an older person to do themselves. Those small jobs like changing a lightbulb, putting up a shelf or the dreaded assembling of ‘flat pack’ furniture become a major problem for someone suffering from illness, limited dexterity or reduced mobility. So began the Care & Repair service and our volunteers have been helping people with small jobs around the house ever since.

However people also had difficulties when they needed to hire professional tradesmen to do larger jobs. Stories of “rip-offs” were all too common and highly distressing for the victims. Callers asked if we knew of any qualified tradespeople who they could hire for those larger jobs. Tradesmen who wouldn’t ‘rip people off’ and would turn up at the time agreed. We created a list of local tradesmen who agree to abide by a code of conduct and who provide their insurance details to Age Action.

Age Action provides the tradesman’s contact details to people who need them. The client contacts the tradesman and requests a quotation for the work. They are free to hire the tradesman if they are happy with the price offered, or to decline for any reason should they chose to do so.

This Trades Referral service has proven to be hugely popular, with an even higher number of calls than the free volunteer service for smaller jobs. We follow up with phone calls to ask clients how the job went and make sure they are happy, just as we do when our own team carry out a small repair. Feedback about the service is hugely positive. People feel safer than they would hiring someone they don’t know. Many of our members will always call us when they need a tradesman.

We now have lists of everything from electricians and big builders to chimney sweeps and home cleaners. Between this and our volunteers for small jobs, we can support people with most issues around maintaining their homes. Ultimately we aim to help people to remain living in their own homes in increased safety and comfort for as long as they wish.