Elder is an award-winning marketplace connecting families and self-employed home carers across Great Britain.
On average, services facilitated by Elder are 35% cheaper than traditional alternatives.
Whenever and however you need it, you set the scope of your service.
Pick your favourite self-employed carer from personalised matches.
Use our platform to plan and manage care from anywhere, and chat to 5* rated support teams.
Long-term 24-hour support
Temporary 24-hour support
Flexible home visits
Why 9 out of 10 elderly people would prefer to be cared for in their own home.
Live-in care means a focus solely on your loved one: care tailored to their unique needs and wants, from a familiar face, 7 days a week.
Care at home allows the elderly to preserve their independence, routines and friendships. 97% of people receiving it say it’s improved their quality of life.
Moving to a care home often causes anxiety, whilst the unfamiliar location is proven to increase the chance of life-changing falls by 50%.
All carers on Elder pass a rigorous screening which includes a background check, character and skills assessment, and verifiable professional references. Only 2% of applicants are successful. As a result, 9 out of 10 customers are very satisfied with their first carer.
Find your ideal carer
We have connected over 5000 families to carers so far.
Tell us what you're looking for using our simple request form or speak with a dedicated care advisor to build your care profile and describe the care you need.
You’ll start receiving profiles of your uniquely matched carers in 24 hours. Chat online to carers you’d like to know better, or arrange a phone or video call.
Use MyElder to communicate with your chosen carer and the Elder support team, manage your care schedule, and set up secure payment.
Still have questions?
0333 920 3648Every carer must pass our interview process and provide:
– At least 2 verifiable references
– Examples of at least 6 months’ experience
– An enhanced DBS certificate
As an introductory provider, we are unable to provide bespoke training. However, through our carer loyalty programme, carers who actively find work through our platform have access to a third-party online learning platform, where they can enhance their skills.
We match based on the skills and experience you tell us you need, for example, if your loved one has dementia, we’ll only match you to self-employed carers with experience of looking after someone with the condition. We consistently re-evaluate which carers we work with based on feedback from families.
We’ll always send you an introductory video of each carer you’re matched with – where they’ll tell you about their background, what they enjoy about being a carer, and their hobbies and interests.
Once you’ve chosen your carer, we’re happy to set up a virtual meeting too, such as a Zoom call so that you can get to know them better before they arrive.
We have a large nationwide network of 6000+ independent care professionals, and have connected families to carers in 123 of 124 postcode areas in Great Britain. This means we can usually get care in place within 24 to 48 hours if your needs are urgent.
Yes if the medications are non-controlled. However carers can prompt and remind, but aren’t allowed to administer controlled drugs and injections. If this is a hard requirement, it might make financial sense for you to have a nurse visit in addition to the main carer, rather than hiring a clinically-trained carer.
Yes. Every carer we work with must have a good level of written and spoken English.
If you’d prefer a carer who also speaks a second language, simply let us know.
No. We do our best to keep the number of carers that visit you to a minimum as we recognise the importance of routine and consistency to the elderly. Plus it allows them to do a better job, and they take pride in that.
Yes, many of our customers use funding from their local authority to cover all or part of their care costs. Often customers choose to receive their funding as a direct payment, so that they’re free to choose their own the carer provider, rather than the council picking one for them.
If you’ve not started the process of applying for local authority funding, we have mapped out the full process here.
If you or a loved one is living with an on-going health condition, it’s worth applying for NHS Continuing Healthcare too. If you meet the criteria, this form of funding will cover every penny of your care costs. However, bear in mind that this funding is reserved for complex conditions which may fall out of the scope of what a self-employed carer can provide.
No, you can book as little as 1 hour. However if you require a large number of hours, we offer live-in care which might suit you better. Our care advisors can explain it all, just give us a call if you’re unsure.
Elder is an introductory agency so we’re not CQC regulated. We’re here to help match and introduce you to a self-employed care professional, and help the ongoing relationship run smoothly. You can learn more about our status here.
Not having the status allows us to keep our prices affordable, and we still go to great lengths to ensure the quality of carers – as described above, as well as in our safety and trust guide.
Highland
9 years
was great because he was organised, reliable and helpful
Bath and North East Somerset
10 years
My 96 year old mother, who is very attached to her resident carer, got on well w...
Hartlepool
7 years
Carly is a dedicated professional who put's my wife Margaret's care needs first ...
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole
37 years
Yongmei was everything I could have wished for when I came home after hip surger...
Glasgow City
21 years
Esther is very kind and compassionate, she is a pleasure to have in the house wi...
North Ayrshire
8 years
Lorraine is an experienced carer . She is a very calm person and this had a soot...
Reading
24 years
Sylvia was very caring and helpful and understood my mums needs very well
Hertsmere
15 years
Phil was kind, reassuring and always helpful. We both enjoyed his company.
Warwick
17 years
Pauline was extremely kind and patient at all times in what was an unusual carin...
North Lanarkshire
15 years
Lydia is a most caring, respectful person who felt part of the family. She is i...
Brent
12 years
I am writing this be cause the person Patricia is caring for is not able to do s...
Perth and Kinross
41 years
Exceptional in every area
Birmingham
22 years
Cathrine came just as cover for the week, she slotted straight in, lovely energy...
Rotherham
10 years
Christian is very friendly and as he is a Christian he is very comparable with m...
Rotherham
35 years
We were very happy with Mercy. My mother can be a bit resistant to new carers b...
West Lancashire
12 years
She got on very well with Dad and he enjoyed her cooking. Dad seemed very happy...
Sheffield
23 years
Joyce has been an excellent carer, fully aware of dad's needs, she has excellent...
Coventry
31 years
We were delighted to have Jayne look after our mum . Excellent skills and we wou...
Hillingdon
7 years
What a lovely carer - 5 star
Southwark
35 years
Gugu built a great rapport with my mum. I was confident I could go away and be h...