The pair who masterminded a home transformation scheme are seeking an extra pair of hands to help them continue supporting families in need.
Rebecca May Marston from Ipswich and Sacha Naylor from Woodbridge are the joint directors of Dora Brown Homemaking, a service that offers a “reset” to people who are struggling to cope.
According to Rebecca, she and the volunteers at Dora Brown are used to seeing homes which have reached a stage of “domestic neglect.”
"What a lot of people don’t understand is, how can they let it get like this? How can they just leave all that rubbish piling up?” said Rebecca.
“But when you get to that stage, the overwhelm prevents you from doing anything. People just freeze and it gets worse and worse.
“They cannot get out of it themselves, and they need help.”
People can be referred to Dora Brown through social workers, health visitors, or through other charities.
While some clients may be suffering from mental health issues, this is not the only reason someone might need Dora Brown.
“There may be poverty at work, but then there are other factors like abuse, illness or divorce,” Rebecca explained. “When a home gets to the state when it’s hazardous hygiene and domestic neglect, there is no self-care happening.”
She said that the well-being of families can be significantly improved by ‘resetting’ their home.
“When it’s done, it’s just incredible. This is something everyone can empathise with, because when your home is clean, tidy and fresh, you feel 100% different. It really does reset families into a much better state.”
Rebecca, Sacha and their volunteers have been busy transforming homes around Ipswich, Felixstowe and Woodbridge.
Now, they are trying to recruit a project manager to allow them to help more families in need.
“It’s an all-rounder job,” said Rebecca. “They will be leading our teams of volunteers and meeting with social workers, so they will be dealing with referrals.”
This project manager will be working 12 hours a week at £10 per hour.
The most important quality they will need to have, said Rebecca, is compassion.
“The main thing is that when we visit these people, we have to make it supportive and fun,” said Rebecca.
“It’s a real people-person job, and you have to care.”
The deadline to apply is Monday, October 17. To apply, email: dora@dorabrown.com
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