How this new collaboration is aiming to improve later life for Prestonians

Parvesh Mistry and Dale Skerritt pose for a photo with a Legacy Care Support car — Parvesh Mistry (left) and Dale Skerritt

Two Preston entrepreneurs are collaborating to improve support for people in later life.

Parvesh Mistry, who runs Relaxed Retirement, is working with Director of Legacy Care Support Dale Skerritt on the new venture.

Parvesh said: “We wanted to offer holistic later life support for those people that would need any of our services.

“This venture offers a full range of support to clients in their later years and we feel it is of real benefit to the people of Preston.”

Parvesh and Dale, who have known each other for a number of years, both recently set up their own businesses to offer a more personal and sensitive service to their clients.

Parvesh started Relaxed Retirement from his Fulwood home in February 2020, just before the first coronavirus lockdown.

“Prior to starting my business I worked for a couple of larger firms where I felt clients were seen more as statistics and income streams. I felt that there was a better way to work in this industry, especially given the fact that we were dealing with ‘senior citizens’.

“It was based on this that I decided to set up on my own and offer a more holistic retirement service offering services that we are all going to need at some point, such as funeral plans, wills and possibly Lasting Power Of Attorneys.”

Dale created Legacy Care Support in March 2018 after working in a variety of roles in recruitment, estate planning and the care sector.

The company – which provides day-to-day support to clients via home help and companionship services – was borne out of Dale’s experiences as a community care worker in the Preston and Chorley areas.

He said: “I will always remember my first experience in a client’s home as a community care worker. The gentleman I met didn’t have a television and was just sat in his chair staring at his window.

“I sat and spoke with him, he was a lovely man but there were three things he said that stuck with me. He said he didn’t want to go into a care home, he wished he saw someone more regularly, and he really wanted to be able to leave his home and see ‘outside’.”

Unfortunately, just two week later, Dale learned his client was going into a care home.

“This inspired me to create Legacy and offer our clients the facility to go out into the community,” he said. “Our clients can do the activities they want, such as going to restaurants, museums and cinemas, as we provide the companionship and transport.

“This along with our home help service allows us to have daily contact in various capacities whilst building relationships with the clients. The goal is to combat the feeling of loneliness and isolation so many of our elderly population experience.”

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