You’ll probably be unsurprised to hear the short answer to this question is “it depends…” but in this article we’ll help you to understand single  factor that most influences the cost of care and give you a better idea of price ranges to help you know how much you are likely to pay for care when you need it. We’ll also link to local care agencies as well as to Sparrow’s introductory agency service to make it easier for you to get a personalised quote and find out how much care will cost you. Spoiler alert: 🚨 Self-employed carers are usually significantly cheaper than care agencies.  Sparrow Self-Employed carers typically start from £22 per hour (including our 10% fee). Compare that to agency care that usually starts at around the £30 per hour mark and you’ll see why self-employed care can be a really good way to get personalised care from a person you know and trust AND save money too. What are my care options? When looking for care for yourself or a loved one you generally have two main options: 👇 A self-employed carer (likely cost £20 - £25 and sometimes up to £30+ per hour) A care agency (likely cost (£30+ per hour) There are advantages and disadvantages to both care agencies and self-employed carers. We’ve covered those in a previous blog post so we won’t go into that here but choosing which route is right for you is the thing that will affect the price of care perhaps more than anything else. So that’s the best place to start… we’ll cover specific options and prices under the two sections below. How much do care agencies cost in the Tyne Valley? Care agencies don’t make it easy to answer this question and most don’t advertise their costs on their websites. You typically have to call them and get a specific quote based on your individual circumstances. Below, we’ve linked to four care agencies that provide care at home that are based in the Tyne Valley to make it easy to do just that. We’ve estimated the cost of care they will likely charge and we would recommend speaking to all four of them since they are the only care agencies actually based in the area. (There are also other care agencies who are not based in the Tyne Valley, but who offer services in the area. We haven’t included those in the list below but they may also be worth considering.) You can expect all four care agencies to be in the region of £30 an hour or above. BelleVie and Helping Hands are often  slightly more expensive than Helping Hands or Burn Brae. BelleVie - South Northumberland Home Instead - Tyne Valley Helping Hands - West Northumberland Burn Brae Care - Prudhoe How much do self-employed carers cost in the Tyne Valley? The cost of an independent carer varies from individual to individual, as you might expect. A fairly typical range would be from £20 - £25 per hour. A sm all number of carers may charge less than this while some charge up to £30 an hour or may have higher rates for evenings and weekends. As you can see the cost of even the most expensive self-employed carer is usually comparable with care agency prices and most are significantly cheaper. So if money is a key determinant, we would recommend considering finding a private carer first. The cheapest way to do that is to find a self-employed carer and ask them to provide their services to you directly. . Good self-employed carers are hard to find though so an introductory agency like Sparrow can help you to find the right person, make sure they have valid references, DBS checks and are personable. We only work with carers who we would be happy to have look after our own mum and dad.  We also support our carers with DBS checks, insurance training, bookkeeping, and accountancy services. So the peace of mind and support you and your carer get is often well worth our 10% fee, which is the lowest in the industry. Give us a call today on 07855010853 or visit www. sparrowcarers.co.uk to find out more about us and how we can help you to find the right carer for you.

In a previous blog post we talked about the difference between care agencies, self-employed carers and introductory agencies like us. In this post I wanted to tell the story of how and why we became self-employed carers ourselves and how that led us to start Sparrow Self-Employed Carers. Sparrow is a family run business started by two carers, big sister Anna and little brother Tom. We’re an introductory agency based in Hexham, Northumberland. We find great people, support them to become self-employed carers and match them with people looking for care in and around the Tyne Valley. We both had careers before starting Sparrow. Anna was a nurse and Tom worked in various roles including as an Operations Manager but in the end we both gravitated towards care work. For both of us, as for so many people working in care,  the first step was to work as agency carers. We loved the job, but we did get tired of checklists, crazily short appointment times and sometimes it was hard to take the time to make the simple changes we knew would improve our clients’ lives. In short, we both wanted to provide better care than we were able to by working for agencies. One weekend we did the sums and realised that when we included unpaid training and travel time or the many unpaid ‘breaks’ between clients, we were actually working for below the minimum wage. 🤪 It seemed like the typical agency model of care wasn’t working for anyone, least of all for us carers. We knew what a difference good care made to people’s lives and we knew we wanted to keep working as carers, but we also knew there had to be a better way. It was big sister Anna who found the way forward when a chance with an acquaintance led on to the topic of care for her elderly parents.  When Anna mentioned that she was a carer she was quickly asked whether she would consider working as a self-employed carer and looking after her parents. Anna agreed and began working as a self-employed carer just a week or two later. She quickly found that self-employed care was soooo much better. She managed to earn a fair wage (in time she doubled her agency pay) and she had the freedom to choose the hours she worked, who she worked with and the care that she provided. Tom soon became a self-employed carer too. We both loved it and although it took a little time, as news of our services to spread we eventually found we had no shortage of work. Best of all we also realised that without the agency fees, which are usually over 50% of the fee, we were saving our clients money too. It was win-win. 🥳 But we had to admit that going it alone as a self-employed carer came with some definite disadvantages. We had loads of research to do at the start, we had to find out about the CQC, arrange DBS certificates, insurance, training etc. etc.. We also had to learn to run our own businesses, how to send do the invoicing, which expenses we could claim for and how to navigate tax returns. 😰 We missed having colleagues we could ask questions and get support from too. Sometimes after a hard day a conversation with someone else in the same boat can make all the difference to your morale, or help you find a solution you wouldn’t have thought of alone. Finding suitable clients was always a worry too. We had countless conversations about how we wished there was someone to help us get set up and navigate becoming a self-employed carer. Over time we told everyone we knew about how great it was being a self-employed carer and we tried to convince other carers to join us. We knew loads of people who we knew who would make great carers, but they were put off by the reputation of care as a poorly paid and thankless task. When we talked about self-employed care it seemed like a huge step and we realised many people would never make the leap by themselves. So we set up Sparrow to break that leap into a series of small steps so we could help people we knew would make great carers, to get started and ultimately to thrive as self-employed carers. Our overall aim is to find enough high quality carers to meet the huge and growing demand for care in the Tyne Valley. To achieve that we make it as easy as possible for people to become self-employed carers. We want to let as many people as possible know that this is a great option that is not only, meaningful and rewarding but also can be well paid. Most of our carers earn £20+ per hour while saving their clients money. We take all the uncertainty out it through our introductory course, we provide everything people need to get started and then help them find clients. We don’t need loads people with loads of direct experience (although it’s great when people have it). What we really need is to find fantastic, sociable, caring, hard-working and competent people to join our growing community of carers. That will help us to provide the care that we so badly need in this area one outstanding self-employed carer at a time. So... what is the Sparrow bit all about? Now that you know why we started Sparrow you probably get the self-employed carer bit, but you might still be wondering why we're called Sparrow. Because for us being a self-employed carer is all about freedom. The freedom to earn a decent wage, the freedom to work how and when you want and the freedom to provide high quality care. Nothing symbolises freedom more clearly than a bird but we wanted to find the right bird that would symbolise the qualities that make a fantastic self-employed carer. Sparrows are understated but charismatic, birds that are sociable and industrious. They work together to do many of life’s chores, foraging, preening, dust-bathing and roosting together. We thought this made the humble, sociable sparrow the perfect metaphor for our self-employed carers who are not only free and independent but also part of a well connected network of other carers. —- Do you know someone who would make a great self-employed carer? Share our story with them and ask them to join the flock. They can give us a ring on 07855010853 or visit our website www.sparrowcarers.co.uk. We'll be happy to have a chat and help them decide whether being a self-employed carer is right for them. —-- Do you know someone in need of care. Our carers can provide great value, personalised care, companionship and home help in the Tyne Valley and surrounding areas. Call us on 0785010853 to or visit www.sparrowcarers.co.uk for more info.

Suppose you needed to find a carer to help your parents to continue to live independently in their own home. How would you find the right carer? This blog post will cover three potential ways you could find the right carer for your family. The main options we will look at are 1) through a care agency 2) by hiring a self-employed carer directly 3) by finding a self-employed carer through an introductory agency. This article will walk you through how each of them works and as the pros and cons to help you decide which might work for you. Care agencies Most people are familiar with how care agencies work. It usually goes something like this. 👇 You contact a care agency. They send a manager (usually with a glossy brochure) to discuss your care needs. The agency employs carers to provide the care, while the care agency is responsible for staff selection, training, and planning and supervising the care. Advantages and disadvantages of agency care Agency care might be a good fit for for you if  you need care quickly, if you need lots of care (perhaps several visits every day of the week) or if you need specialist care. There are typically lots of local agencies, so this is usually the easiest way to find care too, although more recently many agencies have been struggling to find enough carers. On the downside, you won’t always get the same carer for each visit and your carer probably won’t receive a great wage. Care agencies typically take more than 50% of the fee, leaving your on around the minimum wage or sometimes even less when travel is accounted for. (Hmmm… maybe that could be related to the shortage of carers. 🤔) Care agencies are often the most expensive way to source care at home too, starting at around £28 per hour. Self-employed carers A common alternative to agency care is to find a trusted local person (let’s call her Mrs Cannybody ) to care directly for your parents. Self-employed carers are sometimes called independent carers, private carers or personal assistants (PAs) but it’s all the same thing. Here’s how it typically works: You hear on the grapevine that Mrs Cannybody is a carer who might be available, so you approach her and ask her to care for your family. Mrs Cannybody comes for a visit, and as long as she can provide the care you need, when you need it, Mrs Cannybody will take on responsibility for every aspect of the care she provides. Simple. Advantages and disadvantages of self-employed carers Working with a self-employed carer can be great. We have been self-employed carers ourselves and we know it can lead to high levels of care and great value too. Self-employed carers typically charge from around £20 per hour, although this can very widely depending on the area, the skills and experience of the carer and the requirements of the care. Since all of the money you pay goes to the carer, they receive a fair wage for their efforts too. 🎉 There are some potential downsides to working with a self-employed carer though - both for the carer and the person receiving care. For the carer it can be hard to get started and to know about the regulations and responsibilities they have. There are DBS checks, insurance, training and more to look into. It can also be hard for new carers to find clients and they can feel isolated with no colleagues to turn to for advice or support. For people looking for care, it can be difficult to know whether Mrs Cannybody is well suited to the job, whether she has a clear DBS check, any relevant experience, references, training or insurance. Checking this all typically falls onto the person looking for care. Perhaps most importantly, it can simply be very hard to find a good self-employed carer with availability right when you need them. Finally, if Mrs Cannybody is sick or if your care needs increase then it might be tricky to find additional care. It would be nice to have some backup when needed. Introductory agencies Introductory agencies are less well known than care agencies. They are basically match-makers that help people in need of care to find suitable self-employed carers. Unlike care agencies, introductory agencies don't directly employ carers, or manage the care itself. Instead they make introductions to vetted self-employed carers who are responsible for the care. This model is becoming increasingly popular in the UK because it leads to a personalised approach to caregiving, better pay and conditions for carers and can save people in need of care money too. 🥂 Here’s how it works with an introductory agency. You call the agency or fill in a form to let them know what care you are looking for. The introductory agency will then review potential carers and put you in touch with any that are suitable. You meet the carer(s) to decide whether they are right for you. If you go ahead they work directly for you and are fully responsible for the care they provide. The introductory agency have no ongoing role in the care. Instead, they are there to help support you and your carer and to help you find more care when needed. Advantages and disadvantages of introductory agencies Essentially, introductory agencies make it easier to work with self-employed carers.  They typically vet the self-employed carers they work with to make sure they have everything in place from DBS documents to training and insurance, so it can give you confidence that the carer has met certain standards. Since introductory agencies usually have lots of carers on their books it can make it easier to find the right person. Finally, some introductory agencies are a port of call for advice and when your circumstances change or you need to find additional care they are there to help you find the care you need. The main potential downside of working with an introductory agency is the additional cost compared to working directly with a self employed carer. Introductory agencies charge a fee to introduce clients so it will likely cost more than employing Mrs Cannybody directly. It’s worth noting that even with this fee introductory agencies usually lead to care that is significantly cheaper than using a care agency. Who are Sparrow Self-employed Carers? Sparrow Self-Employed carers is an introductory agency based in Hexham, Northumberland. Sparrow was set up by Anna Davis, a former nurse and self-employed carer and her brother Tom, a former operations manager and a carer too. As self-employed carers ourselves, we set up Sparrow to make it easy for other carers to become self-employed and to earn a fair wage. We think improving the pay and working conditions of carers is the best way to encourage more people to become carers and to provide more high quality care which we so desperately need. Sparrow help potential self-employed carers to get started working for themselves. We simplify everything for new carers through our introductory course, we arrange DBS certificates, help with insurance, offer access to training and provide ongoing help with invoicing, bookkeeping. We even arrange for carers tax returns to be done for them. All of this support means our carers can focus less on running their business and more on providing you with the care you need. Our fees are the lowest in the industry too. We don’t charge carers anything at all and people looking for care pay just 10% on top of the care costs of their self-employed carer. So if your carer charges £20 per hour your total cost of care will be £22 per hour. This represents a significant saving when compared to agency care costs. 💰 For many people, having an organisation they can turn to find them a vetted, self-employed carer when they need one as well as any ongoing support, advice and help to find additional care when needed makes this well worth the extra cost. So which model is right for you? There is no single right way to find the care you are looking for, care agencies, self-employed carers and introductory agencies can all be great options depending on your circumstances.  We hope this article has helped you to clarify the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and clarified the options to give you a head start should you ever need to find care so you know where to start when the time comes. Do you know someone who looking for info about finding care for their loved ones? You can find out more about us on our website and submit a form to enquire about care at https://www.sparrowcarers.co.uk/find-a-sparrow-carer Or call us on 07855010853 to discuss what you are looking for. We will be happy to try and point you in the right direction whatever your circumstances. Do you know someone who would make a great carer (and earn £18 -£25 an hour instead of the minimum wage)? Ask them to visit https://www.sparrowcarers.co.uk/become-a-sparrow-carer or ask them to give us a call on 07855 010 853 to discuss how we can help them get started.