If you are caring for a dependent relative or friend at home you need a break sometimes.
The sitters are caring, reliable women and men, who understand the difficulties faced by carers.
The Service tries to match the sitter to the person and their interests, with the aim of providing congenial company.
All sitters will have gone through a process of interview by the Service and references have been taken up.
The Carers Sitter Service is a voluntary organisation aiming to help the housebound. It is a registered charity which works closely with other caring organisations. It provides a service assisting carers and their families across Stamford, the Deepings, Bourne and their surrounding villages, and the PE9 villages of Rutland and East Northamptonshire.
The Service provides a home sitting service for the numerous people who are practically housebound because of the 24-hour care they are providing for dependent relatives and friends.
The Service attempts to meet the needs of carers and can be available on either an occasional or regular basis – during the day, evening or weekends. You can call on them for a regular visit or as and when, perhaps for two or three hours at a time, or just as a backstop to cover things you need to do.
Why do I need it?
All carers are entitled to, and indeed need, some time to themselves.
You may feel resentful that your life is so restricted and that everyone assumes you can cope. Or you may feel guilty that you are not doing enough, or that you are neglecting other members of your family.
The demands of being a carer mean that it is all too easy to become cut off from your friends and give up outside activities and hobbies. However, it is very important that you have some time to yourself. In fact, regular time off will help you to cope better and will help prevent things building up to the point where you feel you can’t cope anymore.
To begin with, many carers do find it difficult for a variety of reasons to leave their loved one with another person, particularly someone new, but even those who start by saying they don’t need any help rapidly get used to the sitter and enjoy the change.