A MOTHER-OF-TWO has launched a business to help elderly people “live life to the full” after being inspired by her experience looking after a friend with dementia.

Barbara Davey, from Paisley, quit her job as an NHS administrator in March this year to pursue her dream of providing older people with a companionship service that enables them to get out more and enjoy themselves with activities such as day trips or meals out.

Ms Davey, 54, says it is her goal to provide elderly people with “a bit more” than what is available from council-run social care services.

“I’m very passionate about it because I really feel for the elderly after Covid,” she said.

“I think they’ve had a raw deal and to help them to enjoy their lives again would just be fantastic.

“At the moment many are still so frightened to go out, which is limiting them.

"I’m not taking away from what [social carers] do - it’s a fantastic service, especially over the last 18 months - but I just think our elderly people deserve a wee bit more.”

READ MORE: Virus 'will keep spreading even if everyone is fully vaccinated'

Ms Davey first came up with the idea for Olden Goldies while studying for a degree in care management at the University of the West of Scotland, when she was put in touch through friends with a lady in her 80s who had dementia but whose children lived in Spain and England.

The Herald:

“I became a valuable family friend," said Ms Davey. "Her family were living away and didn’t manage to get up very often.

“It was Monday to Friday - sometimes I helped out at weekends - but I ran her diary. I would take her to appointments, I would go in and do her breakfast, make her lunch before I left.

“We would go out and about, and she just loved it. If I said ‘we’re going out today’ her face would light up and when I dropped her back off she was just delighted that she’d been out and she’d done something. She was quite happy for the rest of the day.”

The Herald:

Ms Davey, who graduated in 2015, continued to act as a companion and helper for seven years, until the lady's daughter moved her into a care home closer to her own home in Manchester.

However, the experience inspired her to design a business that could offer the same opportunities to other elderly people who may be lonely or isolated from relatives.

The project was on put backburner while Ms Davey, at the time a single mother who is now married, focused on looking after her sons, aged 16 and 21, but she has now replaced her Audi with a wheelchair-accessible Ford and enrolled in manicure and pedicure training so that clients can be pampered at home.

READ MORE: When and how will physical distancing end in the NHS?

Olden Goldies is built around two-hour minimum visits and is guided by whatever the client wants, from having housework done to shopping for groceries, watching television together, playing board games, going for walks in the park, or outings for coffee, lunch and trips to the seaside, museums, garden centres or cinema.

It is open to both men and women, and dog-loving clients can also spend time with Paddy, Ms Davey's registered therapet.

“We go beyond the carer who comes in and washes, dresses and prepares a quick meal," said Ms Davey.

"Our public services are pushed to the limit and although these workers are doing a great job they are time limited and cannot spend quality time that really is needed.

“Our services all pivot around what the client wants. Within reason, ‘Olden Goldies’ will help our clients to do whatever makes them happy.”

The service is currently operating in the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire areas, but Ms Davey hopes to expand to other areas in future by creating a network of 'Barbaras' across the country.

The Herald:

Olden Goldies currently charges a basic rate of £15 per hour - with additional fees depending on travel costs and activities - with Ms Davey stressing that she is keen to make it as affordable as possible.

She added that she found it “sad” that such a service was not already available for free to older people who needed it.

She said: “I would love to be able to go out and say ‘there’s no fee for this’ because you deserve to have trips out and to enjoy your life, you shouldn’t be lonely.

"In my mind it’s sad that it has to be a paid service.

“During lockdown I had some elderly clients that I would take to the park, just to boost their confidence and get them out for a bit of exercise.

"Since things have opened up we’re able to get out and about a bit more, going for coffees and lunches and trips to the coast.

"They don’t mind where they’re going to go - they’re just so happy to be out and seeing life again."

READ MORE: Parents' anger as Edinburgh teen, 16, given unauthorised Moderna vaccine

Ms Davey added that a return to more normality after months of Covid restrictions could also see families with less time available for older relatives.

“A lot of families have been working from home and it’s maybe been easier to go and see Mum or Granny, but now that the world is opening up again - what’s going to happen?

"People are going to be back to not having the time, work is going to become a priority again, and to have the knowledge that there’s ‘a Barbara’ there who can pop in to see Mum, who can take Mum out - it gives them reassurance that their loved ones are in good hands.”

More information and contact details for Olden Goldies are available here.