Case studies – the human face

1. In one instance 80 years old Mrs Jones had been burgled. She lived on the outskirts of Chelmsford, she was frightened not only to leave her house unoccupied but also to stay there on her own. Only receiving low income from a basic pension she could not afford the luxuries such as locks on windows and doors, even safety devices such as smoke detectors were beyond her means. Mrs Jones is a proud lady who had owned her modest semi-detached home for over 20 years, but since the death of her husband she had found it difficult to cope. Simple repairs to the house were left because she was unable to do them herself and had no immediate family to turn to. She was alone in this world, only seeing a home help and a milkman to talk to. The burglary had taken its toll on Mrs Jones and she was becoming more and more distressed due to recent publicity of burglaries and the tendency for 40 per cent of burglars to return within 12 months.

2. The unthinkable happened again. The police passed her name and address on to Victim Support. The volunteer from victim support was a member of the Chelmsford Home Safety Campaign committee set up by Help the Aged and filled out a referral form putting Mrs Jones’ name forward to receive the Home Safety Kit. The form was marked urgent due to Mrs Jones’ circumstances. This was passed to the chairman of the committee and then on to the Eastern Electricity Campaign Manager’s office. The referral was processed and an acknowledgement letter was sent with an information pack two days later because of the seriousness of the situation. The local Eastern Electricity co-ordinator arranged a volunteer fitter the next day, then phoned Mrs Jones to confirm a date and approximate time of calling.

3. The fitter, Brian Davies, duly arrived the next day showing his identification card to Mrs Jones. Mrs Jones being a sensible lady phoned to confirm his name and details to check that he wasn’t a bogus caller. Mrs Jones, even though she was told, was still wary that all these security and safety items were going to cost her a lot of money. She was reassured by Brian, an Eastern Electricity trained volunteer fitter, that the supply and fitting of products was free of charge. Brian proceeded to survey the house to see what safety items he believed would make the house more secure and safe. Brian then discussed with Mrs Jones the items that he would like to fit to her house. He suggested a mortice lock. Two smoke detectors, window locks, mortice bolts for the back door, a door chain and a door viewer. The joy and amazement at what was going to be fitted was evident on Mrs Jones’s face, she just could not believe that it was all free, it seemed as if a weight had been lifted from her mind. Brian began his work and Mrs Jones insisted on him drinking plenty of tea and eating some home baked cakes, how could he resist? They discussed the campaign and once finished Mrs Jones asked ‘could you please fetch me a box out of my loft as I’ve not been able to get up there for some years.’ Brian showed Mrs Jones how to operate all of her locks and advised her not to lock her windows and then leave the key in the lock. Once she had tried the locks herself and was satisfied, the fitter’s job was finished.

4. Two days later a thank you letter was received at the Campaign co-ordinator’s office, expressing thanks to all involved and especially Brian’s attention to detail. A letter was sent back to Mrs Jones, from, the Campaign Manager’s Office, thanking her for her gratitude and conveying how pleased Help the Aged and Eastern Electricity were to have helped her feel more secure in her home.

5. Mrs Jones is just one of the satisfied customers who has benefited from the Help the Aged/Eastern partnership. Brian Davies is just one if the 100 employees who has been trained as an installer and now spends a proportion of his time improving the lives of some of the older people in the region.

6. Case studies such as that of Mrs Jones have been at the heart of almost continual local and regional media coverage of the campaign.