Care & Repair: Free DIY jobs for Older People

Here are some quotes taken from interviews with members of our maintenance team:

"Sometimes, the really small things, well, they are the biggest things. Somebody could have been a really big gardener in the past, but then they can’t manage it now. They are sitting at the window watching the garden overgrow, and they can’t do anything about it. Trimming back a few hedges and tidying it up offers them some relief, and they feel they have control over their own environment again."  Conor Hegarty, Age Action West

"I always have a cup of tea with the client when it’s offered. You don’t just walk in and do the job. You could be the only person that they see from one end of the week to the other. Just to sit and talk for a while. Sometimes people have no visitors. A lot of our clients have no family at all.

We met a woman 6 months ago in Cavan, registered blind, and could only see shadows. All her family live abroad. She had a weekly cleaner and a carer who came to get her up and put her to bed but other than that she doesn’t see a person. So for us to come and stay for that a cup of tea and a chat makes a huge difference."  Martin Lawlor, Age Action Eastern Region

"Age Action helps people age in their own homes. So, hospital jobs are a priority for us. We have 5 working days to complete them because we want to get them out of the hospital and back to their homes. And they all want to get home, they want to get out of the hospital.

For anyone that doesn’t know what I mean, we move bedrooms from upstairs to downstairs – we’ll move the wardrobe and everything, rearrange everything so it looks like we moved the bedroom the way it was upstairs but now downstairs. They are delighted to get home, they like being around the stuff, they are used to the layout, it’s their home.

They get to sleep in their own bed again. It makes your day when you’ve done something good because you can walk away knowing that they are happy."  Patrick Powell, Age Action Eastern Region