City Council agrees funding for warden and Home Call services

Exeter City Council has agreed to continue the funding of the warden and Home Call alarm services for residents in the Council’s older persons’ accommodation.

This follows a Devon County Council decision to withdraw annual funding of £182,000 for these services.

The Home Call alarm facility provides an emergency monitoring service 24-hours-a-day and helps safeguard the welfare of older residents. However, the availability of this service isn’t confined to elderly, Exeter or Council residents only.

The warden service provides support to residents living in older persons' accommodation, carrying out regular checks on their welfare and ensuring they are not left isolated.

Cllr Rob Hannaford, Lead Councillor for Housing and Customer Access, said: "We carried out a consultation exercise which demonstrated how heavily many of our older tenants rely on the warden service both to provide social contact and assist with day-to-day tasks. We decided to pick up the necessary funding to ensure continuity of service its older tenants and to avoid the situation where people are not receiving the support they need. "

Anyone who feels that they or a relative or friend could benefit from instant 24-hour support from experienced and caring operatives should telephone 01392 682349 or visit www.www.exeter.gov.uk/homecallalarm for further details.