Acts of Kindness: Our Carers Share Their Stories

To celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week, we caught up with two experienced Bluebirds, who shared acts of kindness they’ve been a part of while caring for customers.

Sammie, Care Assistant

“Having kindness in your day just makes your day ten times better. And if you have kindness towards yourself, it makes it easier to give it to other people, because you know the impact it can have.

“In terms of acts of kindness, something springs to mind that happened with a customer last week. I see her twice a day for two daily walks, and when it’s really cold out I encourage her to wear her hat and scarf and gloves. But this one morning when it was incredibly cold, she was a bit reluctant to wear her hat! She thought she looked silly.

“So, I said to her, ‘well, here’s the deal, if you wear your hat this morning I’ll come back later in my hat and we’ll go back out together looking silly in our hats together!’

“She was quite pleased with that. In fact, she laughed at me! And she was happier to wear her hat in the afternoon knowing that I was looking silly too.

“She’s a little frail and at risk of falling so she can’t go for walks by herself, but she’s very adamant to get her walks in. It’s nice to be able to help her do that.

“We take her dog with us too, so she’s pleased her dog is getting the exercise as well!

“I think little things like that really make a difference in what we do. It’s the companionship. With that particular customer, she enjoys having someone to chat to. It means a lot and it just prevents the loneliness that can creep in.

“Of course, she does have family, but it’s good for her to be able to have a chat with someone who’s more like a friend than a carer.

“We chat about all sorts of things. Her dog. Her family. The weather is quite a common one that comes up! It’s just a catch-up really to see what she’s been doing.

“I’ll go in the morning and see how her evening was, then go in the afternoon and see what she’s done for the day. And even though her memory isn’t what it used to be, she always remembers to say thank you for taking her out.”

Mia, Care Assistant

“I’ve been working in caring for… ooh, between four and five years. It’s now my full-time job. A bit of a change of pace from doing admin for the navy, which is what I was doing before!

“I’ve seen a lot of kindness in that time, but there’s a few examples of things I’ve done recently where I didn’t have to, but I wanted to help out and make our customers happy.

“One is a lady who’s not housebound as such, but she needs people to go out with her, and her communication’s not that great. She wanted some new furniture in her house.

“Because I work nights, in the daytime I was able to take a walk down to the furniture shop she asked me to have a look in. I took a couple of pictures of some furniture that she was after, then when I saw her in the evening I showed them to her and she told me which ones she wanted. Then I went back to the shop the next day, put the deposit down for her and arranged the delivery. It turned up a week or so later!

“There’s another lady who’s supposed to have help with housework duties but her cleaner seems to have stopped coming. I’ve been helping her with hoovering and polishing just to give her a hand because she can’t do it herself.

“One thing I always try and do is treat our customers how I’d hope to be treated when I’m older. It’s good karma. There are a lot of people who can’t do things for themselves and I think ‘if I was in that position, what would I hope for?’

“I don’t think any carers do these things because we expect anything from it. But it is always nice when you get a thank you. It gives me a lot of pleasure knowing that what I’ve done that day has helped. Even if the customer can’t show much emotion, I know they appreciate it. And even if I’ve had a bad day myself, it makes me feel really good inside. I think; ‘that’s just made my day, knowing that I’ve made a difference.’”

Could our carers’ kindness benefit you?

If you or a loved one could use a regular visit from someone kind and caring, our team are here to offer just that. Visit our companionship care page or get in touch  to find out how we can help.