A home care company has supplied their team with personal alarms as the nights draw in.

Good Oaks Home Care in East Dorset are giving personal alarms to all their team who would like one in a bid to help carers feel safer as they work through the winter. Both male and female Good Oaks carers will be able to pick up a free alarm if they would like one from the team’s office at the Basepoint Centre near Bournemouth Airport.

All alarms come with a torch and a pull cord, should the person feel threatened they can pull the cord and the alarm emits a very loud noise, meant to startle the attacker and alert people to the situation. It also gives the person time to get away.

Sam and Adam, directors of Good Oaks East Dorset said that with the nights drawing in for winter and recent reports in the national media around safety, they wanted to do what they could to help make their team feel safe.

They said: “No one should feel worried as they go to and from work, but sometimes, especially when it’s dark and you’re working in a rural area, it can be a real concern and we wanted to do whatever we could to try and help our team feel extra safe.”

They added that their team had been ‘really positive’ about the idea. The East Dorset area covers quite a large rural area, including a lot of areas where the streetlights go off for part of the night, or where there is no street lighting at all.

Good Oaks Home Care provides live-in and visiting care across the UK. For more information visit: goodoakshomecare.co.uk/eastdorset