Conwy and Denbighshire Care & Repair marks 10th anniversary

Conwy and Denbighshire Care & Repair has delivered £4.6 million worth of repairs and improvements for vulnerable people across the region over the past 10 years.

The charity, part of the Grŵp Cynefin housing association, has supported nearly 50,000 people aged 60 or over who live in privately owned or rented homes, helping them to remain safe, warm, and independent.

Clifton Robinson, chairman of Conwy and Denbighshire Care & Repair, said: "I have been involved in lots of different organisations over the years, but I must say I feel with Care & Repair I have saved the best until the end of my career.

"I am so incredibly proud of Care & Repair both in terms of the staff, who are just tremendous, and also of my board colleagues - they are one of the best boards I have had the privilege of working with."

The charity was formed in 2015 through the merger of care and repair services in Conwy and Denbighshire.

Since then, it has saved the NHS an estimated 16,735 hospital bed days through its Hospital to Healthier Home service, a quick discharge service.

It has also helped 1,741 people access an additional £7.4 million in previously unclaimed benefits.

Chief officer Lynda Colwell said: "It means the world to know you're actually doing something for the good, that you can go home and think 'I’ve helped somebody today, I’ve changed somebody’s life, I’ve made somebody safer, I have made them warmer.'

"It’s a sense of pride as well that we have a team who all work together, that we all have the same goals and strategies and want the same outcomes."

She added demand for their services continues to grow, but funding has not kept pace, saying: "Our adaptations grants are available but there are more and more people needing them and the grant isn’t increasing by the volume of people who require our help.

"The problems are not going to go away, and it will become more of a challenge to access grants over the next 10 years."

One recent case involved a pensioner referred by the Stroke Rehabilitation Centre at Llandudno Hospital.

She was struggling to use her shower safely following a stroke and the loss of her husband.

After learning that her late husband was a veteran, caseworker Amanda Derbyshire contacted SSAFA, the Armed Forces charity, which agreed to fund the conversion of her bathroom to a walk-in shower.

The partnership also produced other improvements, including more accessible steps to the back garden and better access from a side door.