This week one of my jobs was to polish some brass things for a lady who has suddenly become much less mobile than she was. She knows she needs to rest but she also really wants her house to be clean and tidy. I think we have all been here. However old we are, when we are laid low with flu or something that means that we can’t do the things we usually do then we feel frustrated and defeated. Some of us feel down and give up, and others push through and do the things but maybe delay our recovery in the process. It is hard for us all to admit when we are less able than we were. 

Last weekend I went to see a dance performance by the Inner Ground Dance Company, a leading contemporary dance company for mature dance performers. They say, "We believe that dance is life-enhancing and creates happier, healthier people connected through the firm bonds of shared experience".

A study from the University of Leeds showed that, "Physical inactivity is recognised as one of the main risk factors for non-infectious diseases and mortality. Over time there has been a decline in physical activity in older adults, and this is particularly apparent in people over 75 years of age. Opportunities to engage adults in physical activity are a global priority as they support healthy ageing and slow progression of disease and disability." So they invited older people to start dancing and at the end of the trial, the researchers found that people who had taken part increased the amount of physical activity they did each week, and kept this up over the 12 months.

Tonight I met this lovely chap, Ray, at The Park gym in Hook. He takes the Recovery Yoga classes. As I was doing this class, I was thinking that one of my clients might enjoy this class and maybe one day she will be well enough for me to bring her down here. Earlier today, I took this client to physiotherapy at the hospital where she was told that it was her commitment to yoga and staying mobile that has helped her recover so well from her recent fall.

Today someone introduced me by saying, “And this is my angel”. When I had arrived she wasn't feeling quite right so I got a drink for her and her husband and encouraged her to eat some fruit. She's trying to move back upstairs following a period of not being able to manage the stairs. So we decided that the best use of my time was to strip the downstairs bed, change the sheets on the upstairs bed, put the washing on and take as much upstairs as possible so that she wouldn't be tempted to carry things while she was managing the stairs themselves. That was more my thought than hers, she is hoping to be back to normal, but really isn't, and meanwhile everyone around her is trying to prevent her from falling again. 

Today is World Kindness Day. Today the first thing I did was to help someone with some forms. They struggle to understand the forms and they struggle with written English. They were so grateful that at the end they held my hand and said, “I don’t know what I would do without you”.

This week the sun has set for the last time for  one of our beloved clients. We are saddened by the loss but grateful to know that he went peacefully in the home that he loved. Over the past few months he didn’t often leave his home and we were one of the few people who he saw other than his immediate family who were always on hand to look after him.

When his family member called me this morning, she said, “Thank you for all your help, he always said that his helper was very hard working and lovely company and he did enjoy her visits”. 

We have only known him a few months but he had become part of the Hook Home Help family and will be missed.

This week I took a lovely lady to visit her brother in a care home. They are both in their nineties and are both doing so well but recently her brother has had some problems and has had to go into a home. She told me about this casually when we were chatting over tea one day. She seemed a bit concerned so I asked if she would like to go and visit him and see how he is. It was quite a way but I assured her that we should go while he was well enough for visitors and that some things shouldn’t be put off. She had a think and booked an afternoon when we were both free. 

“I feel so much better for sitting out in the garden with you and seeing the garden come together and feeling the sunshine and being with you. Thank you so much, I would never have come outside if you hadn't suggested it”