Non-medical companionship and home support

This is the heart of what we do. A caregiver comes to the house and spends real time with your parent — a card game, the crossword, a walk to the corner and back, the radio on while the kettle boils, a proper conversation about the people in the photographs on the wall.

Because the same caregiver comes back each visit, the conversation picks up where it left off. They know the names of the grandchildren. They know which chair is the good one. That continuity is the difference between a visitor and a companion.

We shop for, cook and serve meals in your parent's own kitchen — and we eat with them if they would rather not eat alone. Caregivers learn the dishes your family actually makes, so what comes out of the kitchen tastes like home rather than like catering.

Where a family or a doctor has asked that certain foods be limited or avoided, we keep a simple written note of what was eaten and pass it on to the family. It is a shopping-and-cooking record kept by a companion, not an assessment.

The everyday tidying that gets harder to keep on top of: dishes, laundry, changing the bed, wiping down the kitchen and bathroom, taking the bins out, watering the plants, keeping the walkways clear.

This is light housekeeping in the ordinary sense of the phrase. We are not a cleaning company and we do not take on heavy work — no moving furniture, no ladders, no windows, no carpet shampooing.

Some clients want the outing and come along; others would rather hand over a list. Either works. We shop for groceries, collect dry cleaning, post parcels, pick up the things that have run out, and return what needs returning.

Receipts and change come back every time, and we write down what was spent. Families who are managing a household from another city tell us this is the part that quietly takes the most off their plate.

We drive to the appointment, park, walk in with them and check them in at the desk. Then we wait with them — in the waiting room, alongside them, rather than dropping them at the door and coming back later.

Afterwards we walk them back out, collect a prescription if the pharmacy has one ready, and drive them home. We let the family know the appointment happened and when the next one is booked.

At the time the family has agreed, the caregiver reminds your parent that it is time to take what they have been given, and makes sure there is a glass of water to hand. If a dose is missed, the family hears about it the same day.

This is a prompt and nothing more. The boundary matters, so it is worth stating plainly: we remind, we do not handle, sort, or administer medication. We do not open containers, fill organisers, measure doses, give injections, or advise on what should be taken or when. Those things belong to the pharmacy, the family, or a licensed health professional.

Most of the families who call us have someone already doing the caring — a daughter, a husband, a neighbour — who has not had a full day to themselves in a long time. Respite is booked cover so that person can go to their own appointments, sleep, take a holiday, or simply stop for an afternoon.

It works best as a standing arrangement rather than an emergency measure. The same caregiver, the same afternoon each week, so that the person stepping back can actually relax instead of waiting for the phone to ring.

For families who are comfortable during the day but uneasy about the hours between bedtime and morning. A caregiver stays in the house overnight — either awake through the night, or sleeping over and on hand if they are needed.

Overnight cover is often what lets someone stay in their own home rather than move, and it is frequently the first thing a family books after a fall or a hospital stay.

A caregiver moves into the home and provides companionship and household support day to day, with their own room and agreed rest periods. For some families this replaces a move into a residence altogether.

Live-in arrangements are built around a schedule the family sets, and are reviewed together regularly. They take a little longer to arrange than an ordinary visit because the match matters far more when someone is living under the same roof.

For someone living with dementia, an unfamiliar person in the house can be the hardest part of the day. Sending the same caregiver every visit is not a nicety here — it is the whole point. Over weeks they become a known face rather than a stranger to be worked out again each time.

Our caregivers work at the pace of the person in front of them: following the conversation wherever it goes, using photographs and music and old routines as a way in, and keeping the day recognisable. We support families who are learning as they go, and we never argue with a version of events.