Christie first noticed signs of dementia when he found it difficult to complete a crossword after doing them for over 50 years, but stresses his musical talent and memory have not been affected. He’s now helping those with dementia to find relief from their symptoms through the power of music.  Music is a proven way of helping those with dementia to reconnect to old memories and prompt cognitive stimulation. According to Dementia UK, music can be a powerful way to trigger positive feelings and connect with others.

Last year, Christie along with other stars such as Sting and Nile Rodgers, rerecorded the single ‘Thank You for Being a Friend’. The wonderful Tony sang this single at a dementia-friendly event at Lichfield Cathedral. He was also an ambassador for the organisation ‘Music For Dementia’ and is often seen championing the benefits of music to those with dementia. Tony says ‘My doctor told me music is one of the best therapies for anyone with dementia’ and he continues to perform to wide audiences at the age of 81!

Christie’s positive outlook that draws on his own experiences is a great example of how to live well with dementia. If you or someone you love has been diagnosed with dementia, there are many resources out there to make the transition a little easier. The NHS, DementiaUK, Alzheimer’s Society and more are there to help diagnose, treat and manage your condition so you can live just like Tony Christie does – to the fullest.

Here at Helping Hands, our staff undertake dementia-specialist training which means they have a thorough understanding of the condition and can adapt our dementia care approach to most benefit you.

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 At Helping Hands, we love to keep up to date with what’s going on, how our carers and customers are doing, and how we’re helping to make a difference. We often hear many stories from across the UK of our various customers living life to the fullest. We thought we’d share one of our customers, Mitchell, with you.

Mitchell is a 34-year-old man with a brain injury and is supported full-time by the carers of the wonderful Evesham branch. We’re over the moon that Mitchell has formed a strong bond with the team since his care journey began, especially with his carer Paulina.   

Sadly, Mitchell had previously been involved with substance misuse which was inevitably having a detrimental impact on his health and wellbeing. Because of this, he encountered an increased risk of falls and was struggling to keep a positive mindset in life. The carers from the Evesham branch have shown remarkable compassion by trying to help Mitchell through this troubled time.

Fitness had always been something Mitchell loved, but he had felt isolated due to the COVID-19 pandemic and had not been able to exercise as much as he would like.  Our carers came to the rescue though, and Paulina and her team encouraged Mitchell back into the gym! Swimming and lightweight training are both fantastic means of exercise which supports your muscular and core strength, and Mitchell was encouraged to build his fitness back up. His ultimate goal was to be fit and well enough to visit his Dad in Spain later this year.  

The Evesham branch has worked tirelessly to help Mitchell at the gym and has seen fantastic results. His substance abuse has significantly decreased and is now much more well-managed. His carers work endlessly to help Mitchell on the road to a better life, and we’re all delighted that the Evensham branch has supported him so resolutely.  

While all of our carers deserve the highest praise for their work with Mitchell, we’re especially grateful to Paulina who encourages him in a range of activities. As a result of Paulina’s friendship and care, Mitchell is now feeling more confident, happy and healthy.

There are hundreds of stories just like this at Helping Hands; it’s why we’re the UK’s number one home care provider after all!

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Here at Helping Hands, we love getting to know our carers and showing appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Without employees like Jayne, we wouldn’t be the high-quality, bespoke and compassionate company we are today. We thought we’d chat with Jayne a little about her journey so far. 

What made you decide to embark on a career in the care sector? 

I started with Helping Hands in 2004, on an initial part-time basis on Saturdays and Sundays. It was the influence of Denny Bruce, who is now a Live In Carer Champion, that got me into caring, and I would shadow her. At the end of the shift, she said to me that I would make a good carer, and I really warmed to it. 

What was your role when you started working at HH and What is your role today? 

I have always been in a carer role and started off in Redditch, Bromsgrove and Studley, with some work from the Head Office in Alcester. I then branched out to Hagley, Kidderminster and Stourport. My role today is that of a full-time carer working from the Harborne Office in Birmingham. I have been working full-time for the last 10 years since I was made redundant from my previous role. When I was made redundant, I informed Denny, and she offered me a full-time position at Helping Hands. 

What do you love most about your role? 

Each day is different, a challenge, and incredibly rewarding. I go home knowing that I have done a good job, and have enabled people to stay in the homes that they love. I may be the only person they see all day. Over the years I have made some lovely friends and have met some really nice people. 

What are your plans for the future? 

I have only got 4 years until I retire, when I will hang up my uniform and look forward to travelling through Canada, Alaska and Australia. 

We all thank Jayne for all those incredible years of care with Helping Hands; she is a prime example of how our carers consistently make a difference in the lives of our customers. Explore our home care in Birmingham services today.

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We’re ‘excellent’, folks!

Helping Hands are rated ‘excellent’ on Trustpilot with an amazing 4.8 stars out of 5 and a whopping 82% of those reviews are 5-star. We already knew our carers are excellent at providing care and helping others, but hearing it from you brings great reason to celebrate here in Headquarters. We love reading your feedback and we always try to answer each and every one of you. We always relay your compliments back to our wonderful staff and make sure we consider your suggestions. We love the fact we’re ‘excellent’ and we want to keep it that way so we can help bring high-quality, superb care to those who need it in the homes you love.

A word from our Head of Capacity and Development

Jackie Wilson says:

“Helping Hands are proud to have received over 3000 verified Trustpilot reviews with the majority being 4 and 5-star reviews.  This is a testament to the foundations of our company where the values of kindness, person-centred care and dedication to our clients is key. We know that it’s really important for our clients to remain in the safety and security of their own homes and this is pivotal in all we do. We are extremely proud to be the leading care company of choice in England and Wales too. We have a wonderful network of dedicated branches, teams and operational staff throughout the country who work tirelessly and we are extremely proud of what we have achieved. We strive for excellence at every opportunity.”

Trustpilot who?

What exactly is Trustpilot? Well, it’s a platform where people can leave reviews about their experiences with businesses. Ranging from theme parks, restaurants, hair salons, home care agencies… you name it! It allows you to browse the many reviews about a company, both good and bad so that all businesses are trustworthy, open and constructive. You can browse our now 3,000 reviews on Trustpilot and explore different people’s experiences with us. For us, it’s heartwarming to see how much of a difference we make in people’s lives; it’s why we’re here, after all.

Take a look at our Helping Hands Trustpilot profile by clicking on the link.

Why bother? ‘Excellent’ question.

It can be easy to forget about leaving a review about a service. As long as it works for you, what’s the point in providing feedback?

Feedback is what keeps us at Helping Hands turning. We love constructive criticism and we use it to make our homecare better. We’re also regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), so we’re dedicated to improving here too. Reading negative feedback can be unpleasant and we hate to let anyone down, but we can only rectify matters if you provide us with that feedback. On the more positive side, who doesn’t love hearing praise? We delight in reading your five-star reviews and we know it means a lot to the carers who work to make life a little easier for those who need it. Just picture a carer at the end of their shift, exhausted and with a long way off until their next holiday. We make sure that carer gets the positive feedback you’ve provided so we can turn the day around for them and put a huge smile on their face!

So with our ‘excellent’ live-in care and visiting care, we hope you enjoy our services and head over to Trustpilot to help us get to 5,000!

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Jane took a particular interest in the experiences of our live-in carers arriving from South Africa, wanting to ensure that they weren’t exposed to any unethical practices or potential modern slavery concerns at any point in their recruitment journey. She interviewed carers on the frontline, senior members of the team, and colleagues working in the central hub to discover exactly what our people said about working for Helping Hands, assuring confidentiality so that honesty would be achieved.

Here’s just some of what Jane had to say about her experiences with Helping Hands:

“The dedication of all the colleagues I have had the pleasure of meeting has been evident in our exchanges which is the main reason I believe that they are so committed to supporting their internal teams and continuing to provide high ethical standards of service. Their shared vision runs continuously as a heartbeat through the business, and I believe this distinctive detail will protect the Helping Hands brand, and all those working within the business and contribute strongly to its continued success.

Due to the carers coming from overseas, the best practice is to check the recruitment route to mitigate any concerns of Human Trafficking/ Modern Slavery happening. I have gathered the relevant information, provided to me, and spoke to some of the group of carers from the recent assessment to understand the stages of their journey for work in the UK, focusing on their initial enquiries and applications for working for Helping Hands.

Before candidates are approved to come to the UK, they attend an assessment day in South Africa, at the Helping Hands registered location, which is run by two members of the SA Helping Hands team. This is an excellent idea for the potential carers to meet representatives of the company that they will be working for at the first stage of their application, and a valuable piece to give them the information provided to find out more and check if the role will suit them before they commit and take their journey to the UK.

Research shows a higher risk of labour exploitation occurring in the care sector when agencies are involved in the recruitment and placement process. With Helping Hands employing their carers directly, with no agencies present in the chain, a lot of these identified risks are mitigated. There is a strong focus on the carer’s documentation & records, and well-being. If night-time disturbances occur, these are monitored, and sufficient steps are taken to cover the night times to help the live-in carer. Assessments are carried out at every location in detail before any carers are placed, breaks are covered with other carers to allow the suitable rest periods needed, and detail in matching skills and personalities together to help the process run smoothly for the engagement in carers to clients’ lives, this is just a few of the examples of robust focused, strong processes in place.”

We are highly encouraged that Jane found so much to celebrate at Helping Hands, and she recognised that our carers really are the beating heart of our company. So if you’re looking for a rewarding role as a live-in carer in the UK, get in touch with us today. It might just be the best move you ever made!

If you would like to read Jane’s full report or our Modern Slavery statement, you can do so here.

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Employee Net Promoter Score measures employee satisfaction and highlights how likely you are to recommend the company to your friends and family. It is calculated on a scale of -100 to 100. In terms of scores, anything above 0 is acceptable, between 10-30 is good and above 50 is excellent.

According to the survey, 91% of the carers stated that they would recommend Helping Hands to their family and friends. The carers shared positive views stating, “It’s an amazing place to work”, “I feel valued” and “I’m genuinely proud to work for Helping Hands.”

Some of the salaried employees expressed their roles as ‘stressful’ and ‘demanding’, while most of the staff used words such as ‘caring’, ‘challenging’, ‘rewarding’ and ‘supportive’.

Marketing Director, Mark Beavan, said: “Having an NPS score of 50 is absolutely fantastic and goes to show the hard work that the company has put into caring for its staff over the past few years. Being able to not only love what you do but love where you work is so important to us, because without the buy-in of our valued members of staff, we wouldn’t be where we are today. It’s our employees that make the company what it is; a truly great place to work.

He continued: “Ultimately, happy staff means that we are able to provide exceptional care but also go the extra mile for our customers. The positivity felt by employees filters down to the team throughout the company, giving the customers we care for the best possible experience and enabling them to stay in the home they know and love.”

To commemorate employees for their hard work, Helping Hands launched the Moments of Kindness scheme in 2020. This initiative was put in place to reward and recognise when employees go above and beyond their roles.

The company has continued to introduce several employee benefits, including guaranteed pay contracts, early pay, mileage allowance, hybrid working for office staff and a free Blue Light Card, which offers more than 15,000 discounts from national retailers and local businesses.

If you are interested in becoming a carer or joining the support office team, visit the Helping Hands website.

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Watch the branch walk-through here.

In a recent audit conducted by Alzheimer’s Society, the Rothwell branch, near Leeds, received a level 1 rating out of 4, where the environment provides the best possible opportunity for people living with dementia.

Using the Alzheimer’s Society’s Dementia Friendly Audit Tool, the branch was rated on eight key areas including signage, lighting, navigation and décor – with the criteria being met for all eight categories.

The seating area in the branch is in a traditional style, with images on the wall to display the history of the local area to encourage visitors to take a step back in time.

Helping Hands and Alzheimer’s Society are working together on an ongoing project to make the home care provider’s 160-plus branches dementia friendly, a first for any home care organisation in the UK.

Richard Venables, Head of Property for Helping Hands, said: “It’s great to be working in partnership with the Alzheimer’s Society and gaining accreditation from them for our dementia-friendly spaces. We are aiming to incorporate this standard in all of our branches going forward, to give the best working environments for colleagues, the best training opportunities for carers and inclusivity for customers.”

He continued: “Our contractor, REMS Solutions Ltd, who completed the fit out of the branch, conducted research with Alzheimer’s Society before the plans were submitted and have done a wonderful job on the look and feel of the interior.”

There is a sensory bookcase in the seating area to encourage people to handle objects on display.

Sophie Tucker, Product Development Officer for Alzheimer’s Society, said: “Dementia-friendly design is important to make spaces more inclusive for people living with dementia. As dementia progresses, people can experience a range of difficulties that can make navigating the environment more difficult. They might experience visio-spatial difficulties where it is not as easy to recognise depth-perception, or might mis-perceive patterns on walls and flooring. This could cause the person with dementia to become upset, scared or more confused when in an unfamiliar environment.”

When asked, how do dementia-friendly spaces help individuals with dementia, Sophie said: “It can help the person with dementia to navigate both familiar and unfamiliar environments, providing them with a positive experience of the space, reducing anxiety and confusion. It can also enable the person to be more independent if it is clear how they can move around the space or how to enter or leave rooms. It can also be key to ensuring the space is safe for the person with dementia to be in, enabling them to live independently for as long as possible.”

Providing a warm welcome to visitors, the reception desk is clearly marked for those visiting the branch.

The home care provider are committed to supporting people at home living with dementia, and have put a list together of ways in which you can make a home more dementia-friendly. They include minimal decoration, labels for key items and displaying photos of loved ones.

For more information on how to make any environment dementia friendly, visit the Alzheimer’s Society’s Learning Hub.

If you would like care for yourself or a loved one living with dementia, you can find out more here.

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Rated Excellent On Trustpilot

Helping Hands are also rated ‘excellent’ with 4.6 stars out of 5, with nearly 90% of those reviews rated 4 stars or above.

Sarika Dhillon, Live in Care Director, said: “We are over the moon at achieving this milestone of 1,000 reviews, with the majority of those being 4 or 5 stars, which really is fantastic. Receiving feedback from our customers is invaluable for our service because it helps us to improve areas that need some care and attention, but also highlights the quality and integrity that our care teams deliver to our customers throughout England and Wales. I’m really proud of all of our carers and office staff who have put Helping Hands at the forefront of home care, and I encourage as many customers as possible to let us know what we’ve done well and where we can be better.”

About Trustpilot

Trustpilot is just that – a review platform that allows users of a service or product to leave a genuine evaluation of their experience, thereby building trust for existing and future customers. Providing valuable feedback allows an organisation the chance to praise staff where necessary or look into any issues that have arisen which are not quite up to standard.

Why We Value Your Reviews

Reviews are probably the most informative way that prospective customers research a company before using their service or purchasing their product, even more so for home care, choosing who will provide care for yourself or a loved one is perhaps one of the most important decisions someone can make.

Welcoming someone into your home to provide care, housekeeping services and general companionship is such an emotive and personal decision, particularly if they are reluctant to accept that they need extra support. Which is why a widely recognised platform like Trustpilot is so important for both us and our customers to have access to – as we are committed to constantly maintaining and improving our high-level of service.

Have Your Say

We want to hear from you! To leave us feedback on your experience of Helping Hands or to read our existing reviews, visit our Trustpilot profile here.

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Helping Hands Home Care have announced a brand-new 12-month partnership with the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The home care provider has committed to raising £60,000 to mark the charity’s 60^th birthday year this July with fundraising activities such as staff sporting challenges, the BHF’s famous Dechox chocolate challenge and with events in their local branches.

Helping Hands Home Care operates 143 branches across England and Wales as well as a central support office in Warwickshire, all of which will be heavily involved in reaching this fundraising target by July 2022.

Karyn MacKenzie, Group Managing Director at Helping Hands Home Care, said: “We at Helping Hands have always been inspired by the fantastic work of the British Heart Foundation. With the impact that COVID-19 has had on the charity sector, we felt it was imperative to show our support to charities like the British Heart Foundation so that they can continue with their life-saving research.

She continued: “We support thousands of customers across England and Wales who have been affected by the devastating heart and circulatory conditions that the British Heart Foundation work so hard to beat, so we are incredibly proud to be supporting them in their mission to beat heartbreak forever.”

Paul Davies, Head of Corporate Partnerships at the BHF said: “We want to say a huge thank you to Helping Hands Home Care for such generous and successful fundraising for our life-saving work.

“Without help such as this, the BHF would not be able to continue funding medical breakthroughs and helping the 7.6 million people across the UK who are currently living with heart and circulatory diseases.

“We are truly grateful for all their efforts in the lead up to our 60^th birthday and in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis that we are working hard to recover from.”

By meeting their fundraising target of £60,000, Helping Hands could fund a heart attack research project by the British Heart Foundation’s researchers for around six months. The money could also fund one of the British Heart Foundation’s cardiac nurses on their Heart Helpline for around three months, providing vital support to those who need it.

The partnership between Helping Hands Home Care and the British Heart Foundation will run for twelve consecutive months from 1 July 2021.

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Our home care Redditch Branch has recently teamed up with local schools and nurseries to create handmade artwork and letters from the children to our elderly Redditch and Bromsgrove customers.

Understanding the impact that COVID-19 had on many of his customers who were separated from loved ones, Miguel Camelo, Branch Manager, reached out to local schools and nurseries to ask for artwork from the children to lift customers’ spirits.

Brockhill Barn Day Nursery was the first to contribute artwork, with many of the customers creating drawings, artwork, cards, and knitted figures to send back to the children as a thank you.

Miguel said: “I believe that the power of the children’s energy is invaluable; they do not judge, they are pure souls with no second thoughts, and that is the energy required to boost everyone’s mood, either through an innocent comment that makes everyone laugh or through their honest feelings and ideas. And the greatest thing of all is that they can put all their feelings into a piece of artwork.

“Getting the children in contact with our customers made a massive impact; there were customers who were so proud of the artwork that they put it up on display in their homes. For other customers, this was a jump to the past – bringing back great memories of their youngest children or even of themselves as a child. I delivered the artwork and letters myself and saw first-hand our customers’ reactions, I felt so very humbled for making their day a better day.”

Monica Ahir, Area Home Care Bromsgrove Manager, said: “Here at Helping Hands, we value the communities that we’re a part of and it’s moments like this where you truly see the value in the people around you. The response from both the children and our customers to this new campaign has been wonderful.”

Patricia Thomas, a customer living with dementia, said: “Wow, these are lovely! I have asked my husband to put them up on the wall so I can see them every day.”

Walter Bottley, another customer of Helping Hands Redditch & Bromsgrove, said: “I love these drawings from the children, the drawing shows exactly what they are thinking and what it is very important to them, no second thoughts, just pure feelings.”

Helping Hands Bromsgrove and Redditch currently support 98 customers in the area and employ 54 local carers.

From visiting to live-in care, all of our carers receive an award-winning induction course to ensure that you only receive the highest quality care, all within the comfort of your own home.

For more information, please call 0330 029 8699 or request a callback and we will call you.

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