Question 1

Who can Happy to Help Gateshead provide services to?

Accepted Answer

We support older and disabled people who experience difficulties doing their own domestic tasks, shopping and errands or who need or would like one to one assistance to go out and about.

Question 2

How much do you charge?

Accepted Answer

We charge a fixed hourly rate for our home help support, and for our assisted outings service.
 
Our hourly rate is often lower than other agencies because we are a charity, therefore we have no paid directors, large overheads or shareholders. We prefer to pass these savings onto our clients instead.

As a charity, we are also able to raise funds to provide the service free of charge depending on the type of funding we are able to raise. All of the news about any free services we have available will always be on the home page of our website, so please keep checking.

Question 3

Where do you operate?

Accepted Answer

We cover the whole borough of Gateshead. If you live in the surrouding areas, get in touch on 0191 4785919 as we may be able to support you.

Question 4

Who carries out the initial home visit/assessment?

Accepted Answer

All of our initial home visits are carried out by our Project Co-ordinator, Liz Close, who has been working for Happy to Help Gateshead for many years and has a wealth of experience of supporting older and disabled people. If you'd like to chat to Liz, she's available on 0191 4785919.

Question 5

You are a not for profit organisation, how does this benefit me as a client?

Accepted Answer

As a charity, we provide you with a number of services and promises that offer Added Value that a private company is not obliged to offer. For Happy to Help Gateshead, we fulfil our promises to put people over profit, and this means that every service we deliver and decision that we make has to be in the interest of our community to make it a better. We have unpaid directors, no shareholders and low operating costs which allows us to charge our clients the lowest fee possible, and every penny is reinvested into our services and into the community.  We are also able to raise funds and apply for charitable grants, to provide free support to the most vulnerable residents in Gateshead. Keep checking our home page of our website, and our social media accounts to keep up to date about our funding news.

Question 6

What happens at the initial home visit/assessment?

Accepted Answer

When Liz arrives she will show you her ID badge so that you know who she is and that she is from Happy to Help Gateshead. The visit is very informal, and Liz will chat to you about our services, and answer any questions you have. During the visit Liz carries out an assessment to help create your care plan for either Home Help or Outings Support (or both).
 
The total visit lasts about one hour to one hour and 30 minutes depending on individual needs. Your care plan is created based on your needs and wishes. 
 
Liz always encourages clients to continue to do what they can safely manage. Some clients prefer to do their own dusting, for example, or like to wash their own benches. Our tailored packages of support ensure that people hold on to their independence and feel in control of their own homes by doing the jobs that they still want to do for themselves. For all of those other jobs, we're more than happy to lend a hand. If you feel like you'd like us to take care of all of the chores, however, that's also absolutely fine by us.

To find out more, our Home Assessment Blog has all the info.

Question 7

What checks do you do on staff?

Accepted Answer

All new staff have a DBS check before they start and we ask for two references from previous employers or where this is their first job we ask for two character references. Staff receive training and an induction period with an existing member of staff so that we can make sure that all new staff are right for the job before they start working with our clients.

Question 8

How do I recognise your workers?

Accepted Answer

Our workers will always wear a yellow polo shirt with Happy to Help Gateshead embroidered on the front in navy, on the left hand side. They may also wear a navy tabard over the top of this, which has Happy to Help Gateshead embroidered on the front, on the left hand side, in yellow. They also wear a Happy to Help Gateshead ID badge.

Question 9

Do I always have the same worker each time?

Accepted Answer

Yes. We have a wonderful team of Home Help Gateshead workers who are all fully trained. What’s more, we match our workers and clients. After decades of experience, we get a good sense of which workers our clients will get on well and who you will be happy to welcome into your home each week. We have a team of cover workers too who you will get to know well. They cover in times of absences of your regular worker (holidays, sickness etc). This means you will always know, trust and look forward to seeing your workers each week. If someone is going to cover your visit, our head office team, Liz and Nancy, will get in touch to let you know in advance.

Question 10

Can I give my worker a tip?

Accepted Answer

No. We keep our fee as low as possible and we currently offer the cheapest hourly rate amongst providers of a similar size. We are able to offer low hourly rates for a high quality service due to being a non-profit-making organisation. We are very proud to be able to offer you an affordable service of such high standards and therefore we will always politely decline any other financial contributions from clients or their carers or loved ones.

Question 11

When my worker is off on holiday or unwell, what happens to my visit?

Accepted Answer

Happy to Help Gateshead has a wonderful team who are able to provide cover when needed to carry out all of your home help visits or your outing support if your regular worker is unwell or has booked time off. This means that you will always recognise your worker and cover worker and can get to know them well. Our cover workers wears the same uniform as our other workers, and has an ID badge.

Question 12

Do you have a head office team I can ring to talk to?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Our wonderful head office team includes Nancy and Liz who are available for you to talk to Monday to Friday’s between 9am and 4:30pm.

Question 13

What happens if I become unwell when my worker is with me, or just before they arrive?

Accepted Answer

Our staff are fully trained and experience to support you if you become unwell or if you are unwell when they arrive. With your permission, they will always get help for you, either by calling the emergency services, your GP, carer or next of kin. They will then contact our head office team so that they are aware of the situation. The last thing we would want, is for our clients to be worried about our service charge in these situations, therefore we would never charge our clients if you become unwell just before, or during our visit.

Community Home Help Charity for Older People and People with Disabilities in Gateshead

0191 478 5919

Frequently Asked Questions

Who can Happy to Help Gateshead provide services to?

How much do you charge?

Where do you operate?

Who carries out the initial home visit/assessment?

You are a not for profit organisation, how does this benefit me as a client?

What happens at the initial home visit/assessment?

What checks do you do on staff?

How do I recognise your workers?

Do I always have the same worker each time?

Can I give my worker a tip?

When my worker is off on holiday or unwell, what happens to my visit?

Do you have a head office team I can ring to talk to?

What happens if I become unwell when my worker is with me, or just before they arrive?

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Frequently Asked Questions

Who can Happy to Help Gateshead provide services to?

How much do you charge?

Where do you operate?

Who carries out the initial home visit/assessment?

You are a not for profit organisation, how does this benefit me as a client?

What happens at the initial home visit/assessment?

What checks do you do on staff?

How do I recognise your workers?

Do I always have the same worker each time?

Can I give my worker a tip?

When my worker is off on holiday or unwell, what happens to my visit?

Do you have a head office team I can ring to talk to?

What happens if I become unwell when my worker is with me, or just before they arrive?