For many senior citizens, there comes a time when a choice is made to downsize their home. This may be to move into a retirement village, a care home, or move in with a relative. It can feel like an enormous upheaval, especially for people who have lived in their home for a long time and find it hard to let go.
One common factor that affects a move of this nature is downsizing – what to keep, what to store, what to sell or give away?
Sentimental attachment and letting go
Of course, along with this, comes the sentimental attachment to both home and belongings. This requires a sensitive approach to packing and deciding. Usually, this process is something that family members would also be involved in, but sometimes we are also called in to pack up people’s homes for their move. Packing is a service we offer too, alongside the supply of packing materials.
Health matters to consider of the elderly
Our teams on-site are also very sensitive to the person being moved. And also to the surroundings they are moving to, especially if it is to a care home or retirement village. During this time of Covid-19, our teams are triple-vaccinated, sanitise, and wear masks.
They also take a duty of care for fellow residents during the moving process. And coordination of timing and being on the premises also is arranged.
Moving in with family who live far away
At Shires, every move is important and handled considerately. One of our recent moves included moving an elderly parent’s car to far north Scotland. We loaded the car into a trailer that is towed by the main moving van, so that the whole move could be completed in one go.
And the convenience of not having to arrange someone to drive a car to the destination of your move is one less thing to worry about.
Moving from a larger living space to a smaller one
This kind of move is usually done from a larger living space to a significantly smaller one, and needs to be handled thoughtfully and practically. Emotional attachments to the old home, its well-placed items, and many memories will be hard to leave for an elderly person or couple.
On the other hand, other family members will also be dealing with these sentiments, while at the same time needing to be pragmatic and to keep the process flowing.
- Make sure to only relocate items that will fit in the new place’s measurements
- Avoid to relocate more than the new place can fit
Services that support moving a senior person – which could be more challenging than usual
- Providing a cost estimate, either by video or a site visit if this is conveniently located
- Proper planning and coordination on what will be moved, stored, donated – to lessen these aspects of the move, and to keep costs contained. Ensuring downsized items are distributed among family members, donated, or given away prior to packing and moving makes full sense.
- Floor plan of the new place: this will enable our team to put as many items of furniture and boxes in place, so that the elderly person being moved can quickly feel settled in their new space.
- What will be stored? We have large, secure storage facilities for any items that are too hard to let go. We can pack these directly into storage containers that fit into our removal vans, and store them straight away. Short-term and long-term storage is an option.
- Recycling and removal of unwanted furniture items: We can also take these off your hands and arrange for them to be recycled.
Choosing the right removal company
Addressing these challenges and choosing the right company for the job will guarantee a wonderful first day at the new home for relieved senior people. Undertaking a move of this size is not easy, and Shires is here to make it as smooth as possible.
We provide Local, National and International Removals, Packing, and Storage services to Domestic and Commercial customers.
You find a place, and we’ll take you there!
