A lifelong Bushey resident is doing everything she can to help elderly people and those with dementia in the area.
Alexis Neighbour, 43, of Vernon Road, Bushey, has dedicated both her work and private life to making elderly people and those with dementia feel as comfortable and looked after as possible.
She has been co-owner of Home Instead Watford, which hires carers to look after vulnerable elderly people from the comfort of their homes, alongside her husband Peter for almost 10 years. When she’s not taking care of business, she’s volunteering for The Alzheimer’s Society by speaking to local organisations, schools, churches and businesses about how they can become dementia-friendly.
Alexis told Bushey News: “I’m incredibly passionate about the work I do both as a co-owner and a volunteer. The people I help in both instances are very local people which makes it all the more fulfilling.
“Because I’m a local girl who was born and raised in Bushey, I’m incredibly connected to the people I’m helping. Some literally live down the road from me, some are connected to friends of mine or people I went to school with, so there’s a real feeling of helping my own community with everything that I do.
“The idea of Home Instead is to ensure that elderly people in the area who are vulnerable but don’t want to move out of their homes are well looked after. Some of these people have lived in their Bushey homes for around 50 years, maybe raised their kids in them. They aren’t willing to let them go, even if they need care.
“That’s when we come in. We make sure that those who use our services get enough care to stay at home comfortably.
“We’ve helped some 400 elderly people in the past 10 years, which is an absolutely massive achievement.”
Alexis finds her volunteering equally rewarding.
She said: “I think our talks with local organisations has a big impact. We get calls from so many schools, businesses and churches, who ask us to come in and explain the struggles people with dementia have and what they can do to become dementia friendly.
“We worked with the Mayor of Watford recently to open up the Dementia Café in St Mary’s Church and we’re organising a Christmas concert to raise money and awareness for the charity.”
For more information on Alexis’s volunteer work, go to www.alzheimers.org.uk/
To learn more about Home Instead, visit www.homeinstead.co.uk
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