Home care staff in Swansea have been described as angels for their work during the cold weather.
The 400 strong team has been acting as a lifeline during the freezing weather to those who depend completely on their visits to get through the day.
Praise has been heaped on the carers who have been walking miles, working way beyond their normal working days and coming in on their days off to ensure that vulnerable people get their essential care.
Julia Crawley is the Principal Officer with Swansea Council’s Home Care Service. She said some of the people who require the team’s support simply would not survive without their visits.
Julie said: “The reality is that if we don’t get to some of these people they will either be unable to get out of bed or will be unable to go to bed. We are their contact with the outside world and, in the rare events that the team can’t reach someone in spite of their best efforts, we are making sure they are safe.
“Everytime there’s a crisis, I’m amazed at how everyone pulls together, both out there in the community and here in the offices. I’m proud to be part of a workforce who are without question committed to supporting some of the most vulnerable people living within the City and County of Swansea.”
Elderly or vulnerable people have continued to receive hot meals throughout the cold snap as staff working for the company which provides community meals on behalf of Social Services battle the conditions.
Morag Firth from Swansea Council’s Social Services Department said: “Appetito staff have been delivering to the vast majority of customers. Any people who may be hard to reach have already been identified and we’ve ensured that they have meals in their freezers and are not wanting.”
Eiddwen Jenkins from Gorseinon, whose husband Cliff requires home visits, called the team “Angels”.
She said: “They turn up in all weather and it has been really bad here. I can’t fault any of them; they’re terrific girls, angels.”
Hazel Hutchings, of Waunarlwydd, said: “They are incredible, they really are. They get to me whatever the weather is doing and they’ve never once let me down. We live down the bottom of a cul-de-sac and they park their cars on the main road and make it down here somehow.
“Every single day I’ve had the care I need and they always ask if I need anything like milk.”
