D&G HandyVan Team Are Back Helping Across The Region

The D&G Handyvans are back on the road providing small repairs for the vulnerable and disadvantaged residents across Dumfries & Galloway.

DG HandyVan manager Rachel Reekie told DGWGO “It’s great to be back helping those in our community. Charlie and Dave are busy catching up on jobs and we are working our way through the backlog.

If anyone requires our help please do give us a call in the office on 0800 069 9173. You can also contact us via the D&G HandyVan website or Facebook Page”

The Lockerbie based charity provides small repair services and also a dementia friendly design service.

The Small Repair & Home Support Service

Who is eligible?

The client is either a home owner or a tenant of a private landlord and in addition be either over 60, disabled (no barrier age), have learning difficulties or mental health problems (no barrier age) or be a victim of domestic abuse (no barrier age)

Services Provided

Home Security – free supplying and fitting of smoke alarms, CO detectors, door chains, spy holes, door locks, window locks, etc.

Small Repairs – free fixing of leaking taps, putting up shelves*, etc.

Falls Prevention – free supplying and fitting of grab rails; free tacking down of carpets, putting up curtain rails*, changing of light bulbs*, etc.

Minor Adaptions – free supplying and fitting of socket safes etc.

Gutter Cleaning – (chargeable) for one or two storey homes when weather permits.

Keysafes (chargeable) – free installation. The use of a keysafe at an external door allows carers access (after entering a pre-set code to the keysafe to retrieve the house key), while giving the peace of mind of security.

*Materials such as curtain rails, draught proofing, door bells, shelves, etc. are supplied by the client.

Who can refer?

Referrals come from various sources:

• Self-referrals
• Social Services
• Carers
• Police or Fire Brigade
• Day Centres
• Food Train
• Family, neighbours, etc.

Dementia Friendly Design

The charity can support people and their carers at home by providing

Small Adaptations – such as replacing an opaque kitchen cupboard door with a glass door to enable the person to see what is in their cupboard.

Colour Grab Rails – as appropriate

Enhance Lighting – (non-electrical)

Advice can also be given on environmental design, such as lighting, colour and floor coverings, and decluttering and signing.

Volunteers Urgently Wanted

D&G HandyVan are always looking for additional volunteers and would love to hear from you if you could spare a few hours.

Some tasks require more than one person eg gutter cleaning, moving furniture, or putting up handrails and an extra set of hands can really help assist the team at D&G HandyVan to deliver these essential services.

All D&G HandyVan fitters and volunteers undergo basic background checks.