The Age Action Care and Repair Programme works to improve the quality of life of all older people and their carers - especially those who are most disadvantaged and vulnerable - by enabling them to live full, independent and satisfying lives for as long as they wish in their own homes.

Age Action continues to develop the Care and Repair Services for older people in Ireland. The programme is currently available in Dublin, Cork and Galway City. More than twenty local community groups (or Franchise Partners) also deliver the service with the support of Age Action throughout the country.

Age Action sees the Care and Repair Programme as an innovative opportunity to create new services of value to older people in Ireland and to help Age Action fulfil its core goal of making Ireland the best country in the world in which to grow older. 

The Care and Repair Programme consists of five services:

1.      The Repair Service uses a pool of volunteers and handypersons to carry out small repairs and to complete minor home tasks for older people. The most common services required by older people are:

• Minor gardening (e.g. mowing lawns)
• Minor painting (e.g. front door, garden gate)
• Changing plugs, fuses and light bulbs
• Hanging curtains
• Installing security locks and chains
• Installing domestic smoke alarms

2.      The Care Service is a home visiting or befriending service using volunteers to provide social contact to older people who are at risk of isolation in their own homes.

3.      The Trades Referral Service is an option whereby a register of reliable and honest tradespersons is maintained. Through this means, informed recommendations can be made to older people who may have job requirements which are beyond the scope of the Care and Repair Programme. In this way, clients can have confidence that the prices charged for these larger jobs by professional tradespeople will be reasonable and that the service provided will be of a good standard.

4.      The QuoteCheck Serviceis a service whereby an experienced volunteer visits the older person’s home, assesses a large job and gives an informed opinion about quotations received by the client from professional tradespersons. QuoteCheck gives the older person peace of mind and the assurance that the prices being quoted do not constitute a “rip off”.

5.      The DailyContact Service is a daily phone call made to the client at a pre-arranged time by a volunteer. The purpose of the call is to make sure that the client is in good spirits and not in need of urgent support (especially medical attention).

For more information call our lo-call number 1890 369 369: