Why I started Carers & Cleaners
When my mum, Jean, was diagnosed with dementia at 82, I went to stay with her and my dad, who was 86 and had asked me to help support her.
As time went on, we realised Mum needed some help. She was still looking after herself, but week by week she needed more encouragement with things like washing and personal care. It didn’t feel right for me to be doing that for my mother, and after talking it over with Dad, we decided it was time to find some help from outside the family.
So the search began. I tried Google and Facebook, and found it surprisingly hard even to know what to search for. In the end I found a carer by chance, through a post on a Facebook jobs page. We met, and everything was great.
Then Dad fell and broke his hip. I was working, I needed extra help, and the only cover I could find was through agencies. The service just wasn’t the same as we’d had from an independent carer, and it was an expensive and disappointing time.
More recently, as things changed again, I needed to find another carer. This time I asked the lady who runs the local club Mum goes to, and she put me in touch with a fantastic carer who is still with us today. Even as Mum’s dementia progresses, she seems to have the magic touch, and I’m so grateful for everything she does for her.
When we decided to get a cleaner too, I went back to Google and Facebook, again with no luck. Then one morning I happened to mention it to our carer, and she put me in touch with a cleaner who has made a huge difference. Dad is really happy that the house is getting back to how Mum always used to keep it.
That’s when I thought: I can’t be the only one facing this. There are good independent carers and cleaners out there, but families usually find them by word of mouth, if at all. Our carer even told me the local council doesn’t keep a register of independent carers and cleaners that it can share.
So I built Carers & Cleaners: an easy way for families to find independent carers and cleaners near them, and a place for carers and cleaners to be found. It’s free for families, and just £1 a year for carers and cleaners, because I didn’t want cost to stop anyone from joining.
This is for families like mine, with someone like my lovely mum Jean, who spent her life looking after everyone and now needs her family to look after her. I hope it makes things a little easier for you.
Martin