A LITTLE HELP
Over the past 12 months The Helping Hands Group Home Help Service has really come into its own. Founder Suzanne Waring explains how this service has become a lifeline to many
The past year has been a worrying time for most businesses and while some were able to continue working others were forced to close.
For Suzanne Waring, founder of Ribble Valley-based The Helping Hands Group, it has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride – at one point, with all her team furloughed, she found herself on her own, working five days a week at three different sites cleaning for a major client.
Today her cleaning business is as successful as ever. Thanks to The Helping Hands’ scrupulous approach to safety, the majority of commercial and domestic clients have returned and many new ones have been enquiring about their services. But lockdown has brought to light an ever-increasing problem that Suzanne is currently addressing: “The past year has had a huge impact on the elderly. Many have been frightened to go out and have had no support or family around them.”
Having a good number of elderly clients, Suzanne has adopted a rigorous safety regime – she has invested in full PPE, but while safety has been a priority, loneliness among the elderly has become a real issue: “I started to notice that many of my elderly clients were simply lonely – they had no-one to talk to and no-one to help them with day to day tasks, so during lockdown we started calling them two to three times a week just for a chat and to see if they needed our help with anything at all.”
Giving her clients more confidence and someone to talk to has since led to a surge in business for The Helping Hands Group, which historically has provided home help, but on a low key basis.
“We don’t offer home care, we offer home help to those in their own homes, who are quite capable but need additional support. It may well be that they don’t have a family or their family live away. We provide that extra help – it may be arranging a dental appointment, shopping or helping them with a task in their homes.
“It is clear that this is a rapidly growing area within our business.”
With cleaning at the core of the company, The Helping Hands Group has bounced back stronger than ever from lockdown – investing in a new van and new team members.
“On the cleaning side of the business we have many clients returning and a good number of new clients. On the home help side we have really noticed a difference – the past year has really brought to the fore, what had been a quieter side to the business. We are fit for purpose and we can adapt to suit our clients’ needs,” adds Suzanne. “For example, we have an elderly lady who returned home from a hip operation, but was not confident taking her morning shower as she was afraid that she may fall. All she needed was for someone to be in the house, so one of our team makes breakfast for her while she showers.
“Another client who suffers from dementia and who loves to cook, had lost all her confidence so a member of the home help team visits and together they prepare a meal from scratch two or three times a week, and it’s working incredibly well.
“Our full and part time home help team really do care about what they do – and they are making a real difference. The team I have recruited into this area of my business are people who genuinely have a caring nature and who I would trust to help me look after my parents.”
Helping Hands Group
5 Windmill Cottages
Preston New Road
Mellor Brook
Blackburn BB2 7NT
01254 812144
helpinghandsgroup.co.uk
