We help those frail or disabled with gardening and basic DIY. You can receive help if: What we can do Basic gardening e.g. grass cutting, trimming hedges, small repairs to fencing, weeding, light digging, etc. Basic DIY Painting but not wallpapering, repairs, curtain fixtures, some security locks etc. What we don't do Making a request How it works
You are a resident of the Colchester Borough boundary AND are frail and/or disabled. You should also be unable to tackle the tasks yourself AND have no friends or relatives that could help you. You should also be receiving one or more Benefits, AND be without enough resources to engage a workman.
We cannot undertake any job that is the responsibility of a landlord. We are not an emergency service and cannot guarantee to be able to help you immediately. We can only provide the service when we have suitable volunteers available. In case of bad weather we may have to defer our visit.
Requests can be taken from social work teams, community care workers, other voluntary organisations, and self referrals. We will arrange for our Supervisor to visit and assess the help needed. All information is confidential and used only for our records. To Register with HELPMATES costs £1.00 
When a task visit is agreed we will contact suitable volunteers to see if they are available to take on the request for help. If a task visit is then arranged with the householder we will confirm that in writing. In order to be fair to everyone each task visit needs to be requested and it will then join our waiting list. So, for any further help you would need to contact the Volunteer Centre. The Supervisor will bring any equipment required. When the volunteers arrive All HELPMATES volunteers carry an ID CARD, please ask to see it. If they do not have one, then don't let them in. All our volunteers have basic skills and have chosen to do this type of volunteering. They will want you to be happy with the finished job, so please ask for advice and explain how you would like the job to be done. Volunteers carry out the tasks in their spare time, they are not paid and there is no charge made for labour. You will be asked if you can make a financial contribution of £5 to help cover volunteers travel expenses. You will also need to pay for the cost of any materials, if required. We may be able to provide paint, through the Re-paint scheme. If you would like to find out more or make a request please contact us on 01206 768930.
Volunteer Centre Colchester (c) 2007-2010
A member of the national network of Accredited Volunteer Centres
UK Registered Charity No. 1114556
Website implemented by Alwyn I. Williams