This year charity Care & Repair Edinburgh celebrate four decades of helping out.
The body was established to provide practical help around the homes of the elderly and disabled residents of Edinburgh, and with the intention of “helping elderly people who are in most need and whose homes require repair or improvement”. Forty years later the charity still provides affordable DIY and repairs for older and disabled residents of Edinburgh, however the services and the number of people being helped has dramatically increased.
Between a four-year period of 1985 to 1989 670 clients were helped but in 2025 the charity will help nearly that number of elderly and disabled people in one month! In 2024 Care & Repair Edinburgh carried out over 6,000 DIY jobs around the homes of Edinburgh’s most vulnerable residents. This has ranged from changing lightbulbs and putting up pictures through the Volunteer Service or installing keysafes so that an older person can stay independent in their own home with a little bit of help from friends, family members or carers. Small electrical repairs have been carried, which have included changing cracked light fittings and socket plates. The joiner has fixed sash cords in windows, installed grab rails and handrails so clients can get out into their garden or installed shelves and curtain poles to make a house more homely.
Interestingly the age range of clients that the charity has helped has also changed over the years. In 1985 only 17% of the clients were over 80 years’ old, while today the figure is more than 46% and 11 over 100-year-olds were supported last year.
Care & Repair Edinburgh’s Director, Allison Strachan, said: “It is wonderful to see the difference that we can make to the lives of the elderly and disabled residents in Edinburgh, and we receive such kind feedback from clients. Sometimes what seems like an impossible job for an elderly person who does not have very good mobility, for example climbing a ladder to change a lightbulb can be done by our wonderful volunteers in a flash!”
Today Care and Repair Edinburgh help older and vulnerable people stay independent, comfortable, safe, and secure in their own homes for as long as they can and want to. Please get in touch with Care & Repair Edinburgh if you think we can help you and need some practical work carried out around your home or you would like to volunteer or make a donation so that this Edinburgh institution can carry on for another 40 years.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
