Frequently Asked Questions

Home help covers practical, domestic and social support — companionship, meal preparation, shopping, housekeeping, appointment accompaniment and similar tasks. It is not the same as regulated personal care.

Registered care — sometimes called domiciliary care — includes personal care such as help with washing, dressing and toileting, which is regulated by the Care Quality Commission. Home help covers practical, social and domestic support. We are a home help service.

If you need personal care, such as help with washing, dressing or toileting, you will need a CQC-registered provider. We also do not give or manage medication. If you need practical help around the home, company, meal preparation or support getting to appointments, we may be exactly right. If you are unsure, please call us and we will give you an honest answer.

Our helpers provide: companionship and conversation, meal preparation, shopping and errands, light housekeeping, accompaniment to appointments, digital support, daily welfare calls, post-hospital recovery support and respite cover for family carers.

Look for evidenced DBS checks and public liability insurance, transparency about what they do and do not provide, and willingness to introduce you to the specific person who will visit. Be cautious of providers who cannot tell you exactly who will attend.

Care services are organised in different ways, and it is always worth asking any provider how its helpers are recruited, managed and insured. Ours is a small independent business: we choose our helpers carefully, stay closely involved, and remain responsible for the quality of every visit.

Consistent helpers come to notice changes in mood, appetite or behaviour. Consistency also reduces the anxiety that can come from not knowing who will arrive each time — which matters enormously to older adults.

No. We are entirely independent — a small, family-founded business based in Formby with no franchise affiliation whatsoever. The founders stay closely involved in how every client is supported.

It shapes how we hire, train and check in on every helper — Anita's years as a senior carer and Natalie and Nicola's nursing experience bring a careful eye to spotting when something isn't right, even though the visits themselves are practical and social, not medical. It's also simply why the business exists: they saw, through their own careers, how much difference this kind of support makes and how rarely it's done well.

We charge £33 per hour across all nine of our services. There are no registration or admin fees, and any mileage or expenses are agreed with you in advance. The rate is the same regardless of which service you need. For full details please see our pricing page.

We will tell you honestly when we could start, and it is often fairly soon after our first conversation. For urgent situations — such as after a hospital discharge — please call 01704 333 188 directly and we will do our very best to respond quickly.

Visits are arranged to suit the individual — from a short one-hour visit to a longer half-day. We never cut visits short. If we say a visit is two hours, it runs for two hours.

Yes. We aim to be as flexible as possible and simply ask for reasonable notice when changes are needed.

We will let you know as soon as we can and arrange cover, ideally with someone you have already met. If a different helper needs to come at short notice, we will always try to tell you first.

Yes. Every helper is DBS checked before beginning any work with clients. We carry full public liability insurance and are happy to provide details on request.

No long-term contract is needed. We set out the rates and terms in a short written service agreement, and you can arrange visits regularly or occasionally. Single visits can be cancelled with 24 hours' notice, and the arrangement can be ended with 7 days' notice.

Weekends are charged at our standard £33 an hour. Bank holidays and Christmas Eve are time and a half (£49.50), and Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and Easter Sunday are double (£66). All rates are published in full on our Pricing page — no surprises.

We'll agree a simple, clear payment method with you directly when support begins — most families pay by bank transfer. Any mileage or expenses are agreed with you in advance and shown clearly on your invoice.

Just call us on 01704 333 188 or get in touch through the contact page. We'll have a genuine conversation about what's needed, with no pressure and no obligation — that conversation is how every arrangement with us begins.

Often, yes. Attendance Allowance is paid directly to the individual with no restriction on how it's spent, so many families use it to help cover home help costs. See our full guide to funding and costs for the current rates and how it works.

We provide regular updates to family members in whatever way suits you — a brief message after each visit, a weekly call, or a written log. You will never be left wondering.

Frame help in terms of what it enables — independence, company, a better daily routine — rather than what it replaces. We are also happy to speak directly with your parent if that would help, with no obligation whatsoever.

This is very understandable. Our introductory visit is designed specifically to address this — a relaxed first meeting with no commitment, so your parent can meet the helper before any regular arrangement is made. Trust is built gently and at their pace.

Yes. Post-hospital recovery is one of the most common urgent situations we respond to. Please call 01704 333 188 directly and we will do our best to arrange support as quickly as possible.

Absolutely — and please ask without any feeling of guilt. We can arrange regular or occasional respite visits so you can take a proper break, knowing your loved one is in safe, trusted hands.

Just let us know at least 24 hours before and we'll rearrange or skip it; visits cancelled with less notice are charged in full. Life happens — we'd rather you call us than worry about it.

Yes — Formby is our home base. Our founders live and work here. We cover the whole of Formby including Freshfield within the L37 postcode.

Yes — Southport town centre and surrounding areas including Churchtown, Hesketh Park, Marshside and Blowick within PR8 and PR9.

Yes — we cover all of these communities. Please see our individual area pages for detail, or call us if you are unsure about your specific location.

Entirely local. A small, family-founded business based in Formby with no franchise affiliation. Our founders live and work in this community.

We may be able to. Please call us and we will advise honestly — we would always rather answer the question than turn someone away without checking.