Care & Repair: Free DIY jobs for Older People

The first puplic health "lockdown" restrictions were put in place in Ireland in March this year. Older people were among the worst affected, forced to "cocoon" and isolate themselves from society. Age Action's Care & Repair service put safety protocols in place so that it could deliver the service when it was needed most. 

From March 12^th, when the first restrictions were enforced, to July 20^th when we moved passed phase 3 of the National Covid-19 Response plan and the most stringent elements of the lockdown were eased, our services in Dublin, Cork and Galway provided;

DIY/Home Safe visits to 206 clients, during which we did 342 urgent DIY jobs requiring 430 hours of labour.

Hospital Discharge Service to 14 clients who were returning home from hospital. We did 42 jobs requiring 76 labour hours for these clients.

Trade referrals to 464 people who needed to employ professionals for larger jobs.

Total 684 clients accessed our services.

We will shortly begin a process of conducting feedback calls to gather first-hand information on the impact that our service made in people’s lives. This together with the numerical data will present a picture of how the Care & Repair service responded to the Covid-19 crisis. 

It has been an exceptionally strange and challenging time for everyone in Age Action. I include in that the people who could not work during the lockdown period. Those who remained responded fantastically well to the multitude of challenges, particularly in the early stages when everything moved so quickly in terms of our own internal working arrangements as well as the escalating pandemic.

The dedication and commitment shown by our staff and volunteers were greatly appreciated by the older people whom they supported when needed most. It was and remains a fantastic effort by everyone involved!