Paul and Zoe Martin own and manage Seniors Helping Seniors Ashford & Swale, providing outstanding service and employment to towns and villages in the area.

Paul & Zoe met at school in Rochester where Paul was a cathedral chorister and they married in the cathedral 28 years ago.

The Kent couple have a lifetime of experience helping and caring for people. Both have service backgrounds. Zoe’s career started in healthcare in the NHS and private sectors and Paul had a successful career in an estate agency. They launched and ran their own award-winning estate agency practice in Charing village for 13 years which they sold in 2019.

Paul explains: “We’ve always felt drawn to help people and we were pleased to find Seniors Helping Seniors because it’s a service people need and it resonates well with both of us.

Helping the older generation move home, often making the difficult decision to downsize, became the part of estate agency work Paul and Zoe treasured most. Helping people during one of the most stressful times in people’s life, became a mission.

Much closer to home the couple have twenty-five year’s direct personal experience managing and co-ordinating care for close family. First-hand experience of the responsibilities associated with Powers of Attorney and a passion to help people remain comfortable at home for as long as possible inspires the great leadership the couple offer.

What inspired you to start a Seniors Helping Seniors center?

Paul says “We’ve always felt drawn to this. Zoe enjoyed working in health and, during our estate agency years, most of our clients were of the older generation. Some were very fit and active with a large social network and others, either not as fit as they used to be, or alone and needing help.

The idea of offering work to people with time on their hands and the skills to help others who need support just made sense to us and we want to make a difference in the Ashford and Swale areas. We both love running a local business. Operations in Canterbury and Thanet are going so well, we are extending what already exists into an area we know well and cherish.”

Christian Wilse owner of Seniors Helping Seniors UK says “Clients from their estate agency days call Zoe and Paul friends and mentors due to the way they were guided through life’s biggest decisions. They epitomise going above and beyond to help others. They have great empathy and patience and they know the area well. Paul and Zoe are ideal partners for us”

How do you believe Seniors Helping Seniors is different from the other area services?

Zoe says “Seniors Helping Seniors home care is different in so many ways!

• The active recruitment of life experienced seniors to become carers.
• Our meetings to understand the client, their likes and dislikes, their passions and their wishes.
• Matching our carers to ensure mutual interest and empathy.
• Award winning customer service. Courtesies like introductions and not rushing visits without time to do anything much and taking time building relationships.
• We have no restrictive contracts and we are completely flexible in the hours our clients can book. One hour a week or 24 hours a day.
• Our fee structure is flat so it’s easy to budget.
• Finally, excellence in management structures, back up for customers and carers, and collaborative work.

All of these reasons are why Seniors Helping Seniors carers enjoy their role. Carers work when they want to. Everything is made super easy and fuss free.

The Seniors Helping Seniors elderly home care franchise came to us as a real breath of fresh air, we love working for ourselves and we know we have a trusted brand and great team to support us.

We’ve found qualities here that feel natural and right, sustainable and responsible”

What services will you be providing?

Seniors Helping Seniors non-medical, in-home elderly home care has been matching seniors who need help with seniors who want to help, for more than 21 years with outstanding success. Peer-to-peer assistance allows seniors in need to receive elderly home care from someone who they can trust and relate to and it takes many forms.

Our senior carers offer many non-medical in-home services including but not limited to:

• Companionship
• Housework
• Garden help
• Transportation to Hospital, Doctors or anywhere else you need to visit
• Trips to local events
• Medical appointments
• House maintenance and small repairs
• Shopping
• Dementia care
• Meal preparation
• Mobility assistance
• Respite care (supporting regular carers)
• Overnight stays
• Pet care
• Holiday companionship
• and so much more…

Their plan is to be 100% hands-on in all elements of the business, Paul says, “Looking to the future, the business model provides the flexibility to employ a manager to run the business if we were to travel or retire from the day to day running of the business.”