A Year of Relentless Challenges – A Message From Our Chief Executive
Posted: 19.12.2023
Author: jack
Posted: 19.12.2023
Author: jack
We’ve witnessed historically high inflation and energy prices, record numbers in fuel poverty, increasing demand for home adaptations to support independent living, and increasing numbers of older people living in unfit housing, with no disposable income to deal with urgent disrepair and maintenance.
Against this backdrop, we’re proud of the services and support we’ve provided to our vulnerable older generations, to help improve their living conditions, accessibility, and warmth in the place they call home. Our professional, skilled, caring, and passionate Care & Repair Teams across Wales – Chief Officers, Caseworkers, Technical Officers, Handypersons, support staff and trustees – have all worked tirelessly at the front line to improve the lives and wellbeing of older people. These infographics provide some headlines of the type of services and the amount of support and help provided (all figures are estimates for the calendar year 2023).
As the national body, the team at Care & Repair Cymru have worked hard to shine a light on these problems, telling the stories of older people needing our help through our PR and marketing work, providing evidence and evaluation of the impact of our work, and through this making the case for improved policy and funding.
In 2023, we worked to develop and grow innovative projects such as Managing Better, Hospital to a Healthier Home and a new Wales wide fuel poverty service “Older Not Colder” with our partner Wales & West Utilities, which will be launched early in 2024. The stats below show the immense amount of work that has gone into our Managing Better service.
We’ve worked hard to achieve strong partnership work across the third sector, with Local Authorities and NHS Wales, with Welsh Government and to deliver quality, consistency, and innovation in our work. We’re grateful to all our partners for their support, funding and jointly held conviction about the importance of good quality housing in improving the health and wellbeing of older people.
We now look forward to 2024 with anticipation and determination. No doubt another year of challenges. Towards the end of this year, we have had several conversations and planning sessions with all our Agencies and at Care & Repair Cymru, and by April 2024, will launch a new five-year strategy setting out how we will continue to provide and grow Care & Repair across Wales, strengthen our organisations and services and continue to be at the forefront of supporting older people and improving their homes in the years to come.
Chris Jones
Chief Executive, Care & Repair Cymru