Posted on by Claire Robinson

Extra Help Remains Open During 2nd Lockdown

This week, we received the news we were expecting, yet still dreading. England has gone into a second, national lockdown, meaning that all our non-essential shops, bars, pubs and restaurants are to close for a period of four weeks, until 2nd December.

At the time of writing, Scotland continues to operate on a five-tiered, localised system, with restrictions in place across the whole of the country. Wales has just introduced a new set of rules, after a recent ‘firebreak’, and Ireland is currently under level five restrictions (the highest level).

This is an enormous blow to the many businesses across the UK that were struggling to get back on their feet again, after the first lockdown. The economy has taken an enormous hit and, unfortunately, it looks like a long road ahead.

However, the rules in England are definitely more lenient this time. For example, schools, nurseries and universities remain open; people are allowed to leave their homes for unlimited outdoor exercise and are allowed to meet with one person, who isn’t from their household, outside.

Formal shielding for the vulnerable will not be reintroduced and, most importantly for our clients, our home helpers are allowed to continue to work in people’s homes, as long as they adhere to strict, government guidelines. Therefore, cleaning services can continue uninterrupted, with home helpers taking every precaution to prevent the risk of transmission. This includes increasing the frequency of handwashing and surface cleaning; ensuring the rooms they’re working in have adequate ventilation and limiting contact with the client as much as possible.

As mentioned in our previous blog, we requested that all of our home helpers completed an online COVID19 awareness course when they were first allowed to work in clients’ homes again. They have also been asked to familiarise themselves with the latest government guidelines on working safely in people’s homes. The full guidelines can be found here.

Although we are allowed into people’s homes, we fully appreciate that some clients would prefer not to have home helper visits during this second lockdown. However, there are still many things we can do to provide a helping hand over the next few weeks that won’t require home helpers to enter their homes.

So, as a reminder, here’s a (non-exhaustive) list of some of the services we are continuing to offer to our clients:

  • Domestic cleaning
  • Shopping
  • Gardening
  • Meal Preparation
  • Dog Walking
  • Window Cleaning
  • Small DIY jobs
  • Looking after and entertaining children
  • Companionship for the elderly and vulnerable

We’ll all get through this pandemic by standing together so, if you need a helping hand over lockdown, give us a call on 01752 905790.  You can also visit our website to find out if we operate in your local area.