CareandRepair

New scheme helps older and disabled people live longer in their own homes

Pictured L-R are: Jane Creed, van back row: Alan Twinning, Ciaran Brazington, Kelvin Anderton, van front row: Ann Driver, Chris Coleman, Jacqui Taylor, rear of van: Sue Martin, Alan Welsh.

OLDER and disabled people who want to remain independent can now get help with jobs around the house, thanks to the new Handyperson Plus service from Stroud Care & Repair.

The new service was launched after support from Co-operative Futures through the Stepping Up programme, which helps community and voluntary organisations become more financially sustainable in particularly in the face of public sector funding cuts.

Jane Grindey, who manages Stepping Up, explained: "Many community and voluntary organisations are facing a future with greatly reduced or no grant funding. Our job is to help them become more financially sustainable.

"It's not about fundraising or bids, but getting organisations to look at the products and services they are offering in different ways.

"We run workshops, publish guides and offer one-to-one support at a time when public sector funding is being drastically cut, and organisations are having to adopt a far more business-like mentality to ensure their own futures.

"We also advise organisations on innovative ways of raising finance, like the issuing of community shares and bonds, which invites communities to invest in local organisations for a stake in the future success of their own local services.

"This can work well for community pubs, village shops, local sustainable energy companies, and even football clubs.

"One of the biggest opportunities facing the social sector is the 'personalisation agenda' of care budgets, where recipients get money from government and decide the services on which their allocation will be spent.

"We have been helping voluntary and community organisations to meet this change. With a fresh approach, organisations like Stroud Care & Repair can survive and thrive."

Care and Repair is a not-for-profit home improvement agency whose aim is to help older and disabled people live in their own homes, as an alternative to residential care.

Since 2001 Care & Repair has completed over 20,000 jobs for 13,000 local people, ranging from small tasks like changing a tap washer to major renovation work.

Handyperson Plus offers clients a managed service for all kinds of work - from fixing a leaking tap to installing handrails or a new heating system. Clients only have one number to call, work is performed by vetted contractors and Care & Repair ensure the job has been completed satisfactorily.

Care & Repair will even help clients access funding from public or charitable bodies to pay for the work.

Care & Repair currently receives funding from Supporting People through Gloucestershire County Council, Stroud District Council, and Social Services.

But, said manager Jane Creed, Care & Repair is unlikely to receive grant funding of the same level in the future.

"We have to turn ourselves into a self-sustaining organisation, and that's where Stepping Up has helped us.

"We've looked at what we do and how, what opportunities there are to provide new services, and how we reach new clients."

Care and Repair Stroud can be contacted on 01453 753471 or at general@careandrepairstroud.co.uk

Stepping Up, which is funded by the Capacity Builders Modernisation Fund, run by the Gloucestershire Infrastructure Group, and managed by Co-operative Futures, can be found online at www.glossteppingup.org, and contacted at jane.grindey@co-operativefutures.coop or on 0845 456 2506.