At Moving On, we're always interested to learn about the latest ideas and thinking around housing options, especially for seniors.  Obviously there are various housing ideas for those in later life but 'homesharing' is one option which,  although it offers great potential in the right circumstances, has not attracted the same level of attention as it has with our European neighbours.

Schemes can vary slightly between providers but generally involves a householder, often an older person, giving up one of their spare rooms to a homesharer, often a student or young professional. In return for their room, the homesharer provides a number of hours of home help each week, which is agreed between the householder and homesharer (eg companionship, help with shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc). This gives the householder valuable support with domestic tasks around the home, as well as the social aspect and reassurance of living with someone. Note that a homesharer is not an alternative to a carer.

Scenario:

Our client, an elderly gentleman, was moving into a 1-bed suite in a care home from his family home of many years.  He was understandably anxious about his move.  

How we helped:

We were asked to support our client and his daughter in the following ways:

Moving On were once again delighted to be able to co-sponsor the Square Peg Polo challenge summer charity event held at the Sussex Polo Club in June.  The event raised over £1000 for St Catherine's Hospice made up of donations from Pimm's sales, Square Peg raffle, St Catherine's Hospice stall sales, and general donations which was a fantastic result!

And the sun shone - another major result!

Our thanks go to everyone who supported this event and helped make it such a success both on and off the field!

Claire Jordan, General Manager of Moving On, was delighted to be given the opportunity to join other industry experts at a recent Sunrise Senior Living information seminar held at their prestigious care home in Banstead, Surrey.  

Scenario:

Moving over the busy Christmas period can add extra complications, so our role was to make this process for our clients, a married couple in their 80’s, as relaxed, efficient and smooth as possible.  They were moving from their family home of over 40 years (filled with many years’ possessions and collections) into an apartment in local Senior Living accommodation.  Timescales were short – 13 days from our initial client meeting to move-in date, including the Christmas break in-between. 

Our role was twofold – Phase 1) to quickly co-ordinate our clients’ move into their new apartment and Phase 2) to assist their family member in dealing with the remaining items in their family house & preparing it for sale in as short a timeframe as possible. 

Our approach: 

We were brought in to project manage this process and to be the ‘eyes and ears’ for our client when she was unable to be present:

• We compiled detailed inventory lists of all possessions which were either to be stored, disposed of or removed to one of two further properties
  
• We arranged and met with removal and house clearance companies at the property in our client’s absence to gain quotes
  
• We carried out research as regards options for local storage solutions
  
• We provided all quotations to the client in a clear and concise format so enable quick decision-making
  
• We were on hand to oversee the packing up and removal of all possessions to two other properties
  
• We were on hand to oversee the final clearance process and to ensure the house was ready for completion date

Moving On were proud to co-sponsor the Square Peg Polo Challenge tournament held in July at the Sussex Polo Club in the picturesque village of Rowfant, near Gatwick.  We supplied guests with traditional Pimm's to raise money for our chosen charity, St Catherine's Hospice - this provided a great compliment to a summer's day of Polo and was perfect to wash down the picnic with!

The Polo was exciting, the weather was kind, and we raised much-needed funds for a charity which supports individuals requiring end of life care, and their families.

Watch the video to see the day's highlights & to give an insight into the exciting & powerful game of Polo - the horses really are amazing to watch in action.  

Please join us next year!

The Scenario:

Having helped our client move from her home into care due to her fully nursing care requirements only 12 months previously, we had the pleasure of later moving her FROM the care home TO her own detached home within a thriving retirement village in Surrey.  Having moved into a care home, her health had improved such that she felt able to move into her own home, and she called upon Moving On to co-ordinate her move yet again.

Our approach:

We were able to help with drawing up inventory lists of her furniture (which had been kept in storage), space planning, organising full decoration of her new home, organising removal/packing services from the care home and from storage and help with utility set-ups.  We also organised a full un-pack & settling in service enabling her new home to be up, running and looking perfect within just 2 days - pictures hung, all boxes unpacked and change of address cards organised.

The result:

Although initially this seemed overwhelming for our client, we were able to alleviate the stress by taking full control of the project management of her move, enabling her to be involved at key decision-making points  

The task:

Our client, a busy professional with multiple residences, was in the process of selling one of his houses and was tasked with distributing the furniture to various other properties within the UK. Once this was decided, some possessions were also to be stored, and the remaining contents were to be cleared.

At the time of completion, our client was out of the country and therefore required a trusted contact to oversee and co-ordinate the process of furniture co-ordination, moving, storage and clearance within a tight timescale.