Become A Care & Repair Ambassador

Have you had a positive experience of a Care & Repair service? If so, you could support our work and be a voice for older people in Wales.

Care & Repair Ambassadors are individuals who are happy to speak openly about their experiences so more people hear about our services and so that older people’s voices are heard by those in power in Wales.

We are looking for people who are happy to share publicly, whether that be to a camera, in front of a group or to a member of the Senedd.

What Care & Repair Ambassadors do

Simply, our Ambassadors share their story with others. This could mean speaking about things such as:

• What Care & Repair has done for you or a loved one.
• Your experiences of heating your home and paying energy bills.
• Your experience of hospital discharge.
• Your experience of sight loss, hearing loss, or a stroke in relation to your independence at home.
• Your experience of adapting your home so that it is suitable to your needs as you grow older.
• Your experience of having a fall at home and the changes that it led it.

Ambassadors are free to share as much or as little as they want. They can also say no to any opportunity that arises for them to share their experiences.

The Type of Opportunities Ambassadors Might Be Involved In

• Sharing your story and photo publicly (E.g. on our website)
• Speaking about your experiences to the media (E.g. BBC Wales)
• Joining Care & Repair events (E.g. Our national Conference – all expenses will be paid for)
• Having a visit from a local councillor or politician to share about what Care & Repair has done in your home.
• Taking part in surveys about the work Care & Repair does.
• Speaking to our funders about your experience of our services.

Our Ambassadors have the freedom to be involved in some of these things and not others. The list is not exhaustive but gives an idea of what opportunities usually arise.

Who Can Be a Care & Repair Ambassador?

The criteria for being an Ambassador is very simple, and is:

• Someone who has received a Care & Repair service in their home (in some instances it may be appropriate for a family member or carer to be the Ambassador on the persons’ behalf.)
• Someone who is happy to speak openly and honestly about their experiences of our services and more broadly of the challenges of living independently and safely in their own home.
• Welsh and English speakers are equally welcome.

How does it work?

A Care & Repair Ambassador will be contacted occasionally by Care & Repair Cymru staff and asked if they would like to be involved in an upcoming opportunity. This could be an in-person event, a TV interview, or just a quick chat on the phone. Ambassadors can pick and choose what they want to be involved in.

If you agree to the opportunity, then we will walk with you every step of the way. Safeguarding is important to us, and we wouldn’t ask you to do anything that we thought was not a good idea.

Obviously, we would like you to speak positively about Care & Repair, however your broader experiences of ageing, housing and health may not be so positive. If this is the case, it is up to you how much you want to share, but anything shared must be truthful.