Stockport care home residents team up with community group for a DIY project

A care home in Stockport has joined a nationwide campaign for International Repair Day.

Residents at Ladybrook Manor on Dairyground Road, have been rolling up their sleeves and getting stuck into some hands-on DIY all in the name of spotlighting traditional repair skills.

As part of Care UK’s ‘Fixer Uppers’ programme, at Ladybrook Manor, the team held a repair shop style event run by Marc Ward the home’s Maintenance Coordinator and Diane Smith the Head Housekeeper. 

During the event, residents and members of Physofit Ltd were given the opportunity to bring items that needed fixing, giving their belongings a new lease of life. The Physio Fit team also repaired and replaced the residents’ frames and sticks.

George Hill, resident at Ladybrook Manor said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the sense of purpose — everyone working together, sharing skills. It makes far more sense to repair things than to throw them out. In my day, we valued what we had, and I believe it's important that we continue to do so.”

Susan Cameron, General Manager at Ladybrook Manor, said: “Our maintenance and housekeeping teams consistently go above and beyond maintaining the care home and supporting meaningful activities for residents. Their involvement in the Fixer Uppers project has made a real difference, and it’s been wonderful to watch residents build on their talents under their guidance.

“Many residents have spent years honing their DIY abilities, so taking part in hands on workshops with our skilled maintenance and housekeeping teams has been incredibly rewarding.

“We’d like to thank Marc, Diane and Physio Fit for coming to the home to host the repair shop. With such positive feedback from residents, we’re already planning the next session, and it can’t come soon enough.”

The initiative aims to revive traditional repair skills – such as fixing furniture, mending clothes and tackling small maintenance jobs – and celebrate the invaluable knowledge older generations can pass on while promoting sustainability.

The repair shop was overseen by Ladybrook Manor’s dedicated sustainability champion, as part of Care UK’s bid to embed environmentally conscious practices across all homes. Sustainability champions work closely with the Care UK ESG advisory committee to identify opportunities for greener ways of working, from reducing waste to encouraging biodiversity in care home gardens. 

To find out more about Fixer Uppers, please visit: careuk.com/Fixer-Uppers 

Designed to enable residents to live active and fulfilled lives, while also promoting independence, Ladybrook Manor provides full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care, and incorporates plenty of space for leisure activities and hobbies. 

The building has been configured into a series of neighbourhoods to help facilitate the creation of close-knit communities and encourage social interaction among the residents, and the home has its own couple’s suites, café and hair and beauty salon.