Home Care in Cranbrook
Do you need home care in Cranbrook for a parent who came to be near you?
One independent carer covering Cranbrook and the villages around it, on the east side of Exeter
Cranbrook is Devon's newest town, built from nothing over the last decade or so on the old A30 east of Exeter. Most of the people who live there are young families, and a surprising number of them have parents who followed them, into a bungalow round the corner or a spare room in the house. Home care in Cranbrook is very often about those parents, and about the working day.
Free visit, no obligation, and an honest answer about whether I am the right fit.
- Enhanced DBS checked
- Fully insured
- Free home visit
- Same carer, every visit
Home care in Cranbrook, and what makes it different
Cranbrook did not exist fifteen years ago. The first homes were occupied in 2012, the station opened at the end of 2015, and the town has been growing along the old A30 between Exeter Airport and Whimple ever since. It is a place of new houses, young families, a school campus and a community centre, and its services, from the surgery to the shops, have been catching up with its population the whole time.
That shapes what home care here looks like. There is not, yet, the settled network of older neighbours and long-established shops that Topsham or Heavitree have. What there is instead is a lot of people in their thirties and forties whose parents have come to live nearby. They are trying to combine a full-time job with a parent who is starting to need more than a phone call.
Parents who moved to be near their children
This is the situation home care in Cranbrook most often comes down to. Mum sold up in another part of the country, or another part of Devon, and moved into a bungalow ten minutes from her daughter. For a few years it worked perfectly. Then the driving stopped, or the memory started to go, or there was a fall, and suddenly the daughter is going round before work, at lunchtime and after work, and it is not sustainable.
What I can offer is the working day, and evenings if they are needed. A morning visit to get the day started properly. A midday visit for a hot meal and company. An afternoon check if it is needed. The daughter goes back to being a daughter in the evenings and at weekends, and a message after each visit means she knows how the day went before she gets home. It is not about replacing the family. It is about making the family arrangement last.
The villages around Cranbrook
Cranbrook sits among much older places. Broadclyst, with its green and its church, is across the fields. Whimple, Rockbeare and Clyst Honiton are minutes away. All of them are EX5 and all inside the area I cover. If you live in Cranbrook and your parents are in one of the villages, or the other way round, I can take on both ends of the arrangement. Further east, towards Ottery St Mary and Honiton, I would want to talk it through, because keeping visits close together is what keeps them full length.
New houses, and why they help
One genuine advantage Cranbrook has over the older parts of Exeter is the housing. Level access, wide doorways, downstairs toilets, bathrooms that were designed rather than squeezed in. For somebody who is unsteady, that removes a lot of the risk that comes with a Victorian terrace. It means care here is often less about managing the building and more about routine, meals, medication and company. It also means getting out is easy. The country park is flat and close, and Killerton at Broadclyst is ten minutes by car.
What I do not do
I work alone, which for a Cranbrook family usually means one thing to be clear about. I can cover the working day and the evenings, but I cannot be a waking night, and I do not offer live-in care. I am not a nurse, and I cannot move somebody who needs two people. If that is what is needed, I will say so at the first phone call and help you find a service that can do it. I would rather lose an enquiry than take one on that I cannot do properly.
What I can help with in Cranbrook
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Home Care
Help at home with the things that have become hard, from one carer you know.
About home care -
Visiting Care
Regular visits, morning, midday, afternoon or evening, that last as long as they need to.
About visiting care -
After Hospital Care
Support for the first few weeks back at home after a stay in hospital.
About after hospital care -
Long Term Care
An ongoing arrangement that changes as needs change, with the same face throughout.
About long term care -
Domiciliary Care
What the term means, how it works with a direct payment, and how I differ from an agency.
About domiciliary care -
Personal Care
Washing, dressing and continence support, done with patience and privacy.
About personal care
Why an independent carer works well in Cranbrook
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A new town, still finding its feet
Cranbrook has grown fast and its services are catching up. Having one known person who can come to the house fills a gap the town has not yet closed.
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For parents who moved to be near you
A lot of older people in Cranbrook came to be close to a son or daughter. I can cover the working day so that closeness does not turn into full-time caring.
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The villages around it too
Broadclyst, Whimple, Rockbeare and Clyst Honiton are minutes away. If your parents are in one of those and you are in Cranbrook, I can cover both ends.
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Level, modern housing
New homes mean level access, wide doorways and bathrooms that work. Care here is often simpler than in an old house, and more about routine and company.
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The country park on the doorstep
Cranbrook Country Park and the paths around the town are flat and close. Getting out for half an hour is easy.
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A station in the town
Cranbrook has its own station on the Exeter to Waterloo line, which matters for family visiting from further east.
How care in Cranbrook gets started
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Step 1: A phone call
Tell me what is going on. No script and no sales pitch. If it is not something I can safely take on, I will say so on that call.
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Step 2: A visit, free of charge
I come to you. We sit down, talk through what would actually help, and you decide whether I am the right fit. No charge and no obligation.
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Step 3: A written agreement
Days, times, what I will do and what it costs, in plain English. Yours to keep, and nothing in it changes without asking you first.
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Step 4: We start
Same carer, every visit. After a few weeks I know the routine, the neighbours, and which mug is the right one.
Getting out and about in Cranbrook
Not being indoors all day is one of the things families ask for most, and one of the first things a rushed visit drops. These are the sort of places a visit in Cranbrook might include, depending on the weather and how someone is feeling that day.
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Cranbrook Country Park
The green space along the edge of the town, with level paths, benches and a lake. The obvious place for a short walk that does not involve a car.
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Killerton
The National Trust house at Broadclyst, ten minutes away. Gardens, a cafe and level paths near the house. Ashclyst Forest, part of the same estate, is good for someone who wants trees rather than flower beds.
Killerton website (opens in a new tab) -
Broadclyst village
The old village across the fields, with its church, green and pub. For someone who finds a new town a little featureless, an afternoon somewhere that has been there for centuries is a tonic.
Where Cranbrook sits
Cranbrook is EX5. The map shows the area rather than an office, because there is no office. I come to you.
The map comes from Google and only loads if you ask for it, so Google sets no cookies until you do.
Or open Cranbrook in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)What it costs
Hourly rate
£20 to £40 per hour
Where in that range depends on what is needed. I give you one fixed figure at the free first visit, in writing, before anything is agreed.
- The rate is all in. Mileage is included, there is no VAT to add, and there is no registration fee or charge for the first visit.
- Minimum visit one hour. Usual minimum term three months, paid in advance, open for discussion at the first visit.
- A visit I miss, or cannot complete because I am ill, is not charged. The time is carried over to another visit or refunded, whichever you prefer.
- A visit you cancel with 48 hours notice is carried over. With less notice it is charged.
- 14 days to change your mind after signing the agreement. Visits you asked me in writing to start in that time are paid for.
- Two weeks notice to end the arrangement, from either of us. If it ends early you pay for the visits made and the notice period, and the rest is returned.
Questions from families in Cranbrook
Do you cover all of Cranbrook?
Yes. Cranbrook is EX5 and it is a straight run from the east side of Exeter along the old A30, so it fits comfortably inside my patch. Every part of the town, from the original phase by the station to the newest streets.
What about Broadclyst, Whimple, Rockbeare and Clyst Honiton?
Yes to all of them. They are EX5 and they are minutes from Cranbrook, so they fit the same patch. Further east towards Ottery St Mary or Honiton I would want to talk it through, because a tight patch is what keeps my visits full length.
My parents moved to Cranbrook to be near us and now need more help than we can give around work. Is that what you do?
Yes. I cover the weekday visits so that you can carry on working and go back to being a son or daughter in the evenings rather than a carer. A message after each visit means you know how the day went before you get home. Weekends can stay with the family or come to me, whichever works.
Do you offer overnight or live-in care in Cranbrook?
No. Visits at agreed times, any day of the week, but never overnight stays. I work alone so I cannot send a replacement for my own absence. If nights are the problem, I will say so at the first call and help you look at services that can cover them.
Care at home in Cranbrook
Ring me and tell me how the week is working, and where it is not. I can usually see a pattern that would help quite quickly.