This photo is shared with permission of the model. This was one of her recent trips out to have an eye test and choose some new glasses, which she is very happy with. Hook Home Help has also taken her food shopping, to the doctors and dentist and as well as the boring essential trips, she has done some Christmas shopping too.

Recently one of our clients had a fall at home and when Helen from Hook Home Help arrived, her neighbour had already called the ambulance. Helen sat with her to make sure she was comfortable and calm. She contacted her daughter to update her and reassure her too. Helen is calm and competent and supported everyone who was involved. She will always stay as long as is needed and as long as it takes for an ambulance to arrive.

Recently Hook Home Help had a different sort of day out as we were helping out at the funeral of one of our clients. On this day we learnt that this person was much loved and it was a delight to see photos of them throughout their lives and how many people came back after the ceremony to remember him.

Today I have been given this lovely little plant by the daughter of a client to say thank you for looking after her dad. She lives abroad and appreciates that I pop in and keep the house clean and tidy and take him to appointments, and let her know how he is getting on. Whenever she comes over she leaves me a litte gift and today I have this pretty plant and some French biscuits.

It is lovely to know that we are supporting not only the client but their family as well. We are a contact for their alarm service should anything go wrong and the people who they can call in last minute to check in and see how he is.

One of the lovely things about walking with this gentleman and his dog is that whenever we are in the fields he will stop and say how grateful he feels to be living in such a beautiful place. Every time we are out we talk about the colour of sky and the type of clouds. We stop and look at the different shades of green we can see, or how the autumn leaves are changing colour, and we say how lucky we are to live here. 

He has travelled far and wide during his long life and he tells me about his adventures and the places he has seen and he also tells me that some were beautiful, some were exciting and some were places that he would never want to live. He always tells me how happy he is that he is able to live here. 

This week Hook Home Help has been out and about taking people to the hairdressers and other appointments. I am often at Hooked on Hair in the village but today's lady likes to go to this little studio where she is the only person there. Either way, both are looked after well and come away feeling a little bit brighter.

Feedback from a recent client: “Woof! I am so glad to see you! When you come to my house we go for a long walk through the woods and all the way back home and you look after me and my favourite human and make sure that we don’t get lost along the way. Sometimes my favourite human forgets where we are and how to get home and that is scary for him and his family and for me, but when you are there we can go a really long way and I can sniff all the sniffs in the fields and we get home safe and sound. He is happy, his family is happy and I am very very very happy! Woof! Get the lead, let’s go!”

"Helen was so efficient today (not that she isn't efficient every day!), reminded me of a sweet advert on TV I like for Astonish cleaning products. I went into my bathroom after she'd been and "everything was so sparkly, sparkly" just like in that ad! Helen went over and above today, of course I thanked her but I wanted you to know too."

Recent feedback from a happy client. We are a small team of family and friends making life easier for people in Hook. Home help often includes some cleaning, changing the sheets, making a cup of tea, picking up some shopping - things that are simple until they aren't.

"This week has been the toughest week of my life, but has been made easier by both the Helens. They are both incredible people, both so thoughtful and helpful and have been a great support. There are so many people in the care world who are in it to make money, but both the Helens are kind people who just want to help."

Hook Home Help has now evolved into a small team, two of which are called Helen! This is some recent feedback about the Helen team who have been working together to support a family who has become very special to us. We are not an agency but are a small team of family and friends working together to support people in the local community.

"Absolutely delighted with the job Mikey has achieved."

Today Hook Home Help was at Hook Flower and Produce Show, supporting my mum. Here she is with her first prize winning flower arrangement! It was such a lovely afternoon and I'm so glad we went.

Every week brings a different challenge. This photo represents the amount of ice that I found inside a client's freezer this week. He said that the problem was that the drawer wouldn't fit in because of the ice build up. And then mentioned that he got the freezer when he moved in about ten years ago and had never defrosted it, which might have contributed to the problem. I said cheerfully, I'll try to sort that out. I was secretly wondering though if one hour was enough to solve the problem...

"Penny provides an excellent service and has a great team working with her. The team are professional, efficient and friendly and have really helped my elderly parents with their catering needs and other household chores."

As Hook Home Help has got busier, we have expanded into a small team of very lovely ladies. Over the summer we have worked together to cover each other's holidays to be able to make a healthy lunch for a very special couple in their nineties every weekday.

Hook Home Help has been helping with decluttering. Any sort of tidying is hard to start but so rewarding when it is done. It can be helpful to have some company to help get things started and to have someone to help with the decisions of what to keep - and also someone to take away the heavy bags to the charity shops.