Bryson Energy Handyperson Service Helps Older People in Belfast

Bryson Energy is piloting a Handyperson service for residents over 60 living in the Belfast and Greater Belfast area.  The service is supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies, a limited life foundation, and has been implemented to help older people with small jobs in their home that they cannot manage themselves.

Grainne O’Neill, Housing and Energy Services manager explains:

“Most of the jobs carried out in and around the home, through the Handyperson service are small but vital to improving the quality of life and health for those that live there.

“Jobs carried out under the service could range from fitting curtains poles to putting up shelves, fixing fences, hanging internal doors, power-hosing, checking smoke alarms, securing carpets, fitting locks and moving furniture within your home. The householder can be reassured that all staff used in the delivery of this service have been police checked, are friendly and deliver their work to a high quality professional standard.” 

The service is subsidised for all those aged 60 and over.  As feedback has indicated, getting small jobs completed is challenging for older people and can be prohibitively expensive. For those in receipt of benefits the service costs £15 for three hours or pro rata and for individuals who are not in receipt of benefits, the service can be accessed at a cost of £30 for first hour and £10 per subsequent hour up to a maximum of two additional hours.  The service is accessible Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm and requests are taken on a first come, first served basis.

The service has received very positive feedback from customers.  Mrs Mary Godfray, from the Oldpark area of North Belfast, who used the service in April and in May 2014 says:

“I was delighted to find out that there is a service which primarily helps older people to get a number of small jobs done in and around the house.  I had a number of things that needed attention. My door locks had to be fixed and several mirrors needed to be safely put up. I also asked for assistance with a shelf, curtain poles and curtain brackets and repairing part of the outside downspout.  Through the Bryson Energy Handyperson pilot scheme I got a number of the jobs completed.

“I was really satisfied with the initial work, so I decided to make a list of other things that needed done and these were completed in one day in May.  What I really liked about the service was the fact that I knew what it was going to cost in advance, which means you aren’t worrying that someone is going to charge you an over-inflated price once the work is complete.  I’m really delighted with the service and I would recommend it to others.”

Explaining how the service supports Bryson Energy’s whole house solution to tackling fuel poverty in Northern Ireland Bryson Energy Director, Nigel Brady says: 

‘As a social economy Bryson Energy constantly reviews issues that are impacting on households across Northern Ireland.  We have a number of projects operating which seek to tackle fuel poverty but it is clear that in order to effectively do this, a whole house approach is required.  The Handyperson service is an additional channel through which older people can access another form of support which helps them to maintain their property and get certain small tasks completed, in a cost effective way.  By supporting older people to remain in their properties and have small tasks such as downspouts fixed before the problem escalates into a much larger issue, such as damp, we are adopting a whole house solution which is the Bryson Energy model for tackling fuel poverty in Northern Ireland.”