Does anyone know of any organisations in Sheffield that would help an O.A.P tidy up his garden? He's ok pottering around weeding and planting but the blackberries are taking over and his privet has grown to an unmanageable height. Is he able to get help to tame the wilderness and remove the clippings etc?

Hope someone can offer a few leads maybe

Age Concern Sheffield offers a Handyman scheme where the eprson pays just for parts, not labour as they are all volunteers. I know they do DIY jobs, I'm not sure about gardening. But I am sure that Age Concern would know who best to contact for someone trustworthy.

http://www.ageconcernsheffield.org.uk/

Good call lil queenie, its their topic after all. I'll give them a call and post their reply for future users' reference.

ThanX:)

Sheffield Homes have a scheme (http://www.sheffieldhomes.org.uk/safe-clean-and-green-estates/keeping-your-estate-clean/garden-maintenance)as well. (You don't need to be a tenant to use it.)

There's also Agewell (http://www.agewell.co.uk/article.php?article=48), though they charge £7.50 per hour.

Thus far I have yet to find any organisation that helps for free. Age concern recommended A.C.S which also charges a small hourly rate.

I was thinking that the probation service may help, you know with Community Service workers, something like that but I suppose if Age Concern doesn't know then maybe there are no "volunteer" workers anymore.

Does anyone know of any organisations in Sheffield that would help an O.A.P tidy up his garden? He's ok pottering around weeding and planting but the blackberries are taking over and his privet has grown to an unmanageable height. Is he able to get help to tame the wilderness and remove the clippings etc?

Hope someone can offer a few leads maybe

Where abouts in sheffield is he. Is there not anyone local to him that could help like neighbours or whatever? Let me know if you are still struggleing to find someone to help.

what area is he in , i can cut back blackberries and generally, wouldn't be so good with privet if very overgrown as i'm not good on ladders but happy to do it otherwise, would need to be local to S5 area. i'd do it for free, probably wouldn't take more than a couple of hours now and every then.

my firm works in conjunction with age concern to provide this sort of service, it is part of our social / community action initiative that employees sign up for (so its free). My firm is not in Sheffield, but I'm sure that other firms do this too - I have a friend who works for Yorkshire water and I know they do this type of thing.

Where abouts in sheffield is he. Is there not anyone local to him that could help like neighbours or whatever? Let me know if you are still struggleing to find someone to help.

The neighbours are not the type that help, they're the type that would watch the garden turn into a jungle and then complain about it. The guy is only 5 foot and a spit and has been looking after his sister for the last two summers since she got hit by a bus in Firth Park so the garden has sorta taken over in his absence.

what area is he in , i can cut back blackberries and generally, wouldn't be so good with privet if very overgrown as i'm not good on ladders but happy to do it otherwise, would need to be local to S5 area. i'd do it for free, probably wouldn't take more than a couple of hours now and every then.

He does live in Sheffield 5, the bottom end near Firth Park. I am now looking after his sister on my own in order to give him the chance to get his house and garden back into shape. Honestly the blackberries are growing faster than he can cut them back and of course the issue is, how does he get rid of the cuttings and prunings .. as I said the neighbours are the complaining type and are likely to cause friction if he was to light endless bonfires. .. to be honest, a flamethrower would be the ideal weapon.. (for the blackberries):hihi:

Well if amandakm is happy to do the blackberries ill come down with my partners hedge trimmer and attempt the hedges.

He does live in Sheffield 5, the bottom end near Firth Park. I am now looking after his sister on my own in order to give him the chance to get his house and garden back into shape. Honestly the blackberries are growing faster than he can cut them back and of course the issue is, how does he get rid of the cuttings and prunings .. as I said the neighbours are the complaining type and are likely to cause friction if he was to light endless bonfires. .. to be honest, a flamethrower would be the ideal weapon.. (for the blackberries):hihi:

You can now get the green garden refuse sacks free - I've seen them in Firth Park Library. Once you've filled them, you phone up and they come and collect them.

Brambles are an absolute bugger to shift. I'm afraid I took weedkiller to the ones in my front garden, it was the only way to stop them sprouting again - and it took a couple of years to kill them completely.

I guess the cooler weather will slow down the growth for a while but honestly theres little room for anything to grow.. as for the green sacks .. well that would mean stashing blackberry thorns in a plastic bag and somehow I don't think thats going to be fruitful. The privet is in need of more than just a trim, theres also an elderberry tree actually resting on the front wall of the house and undermining the bay window. I can't see how he or other elderly people like him are expected to face such a mountainous task. Maybe small bonfires would be the answer but again the neighbours would find something to complain about.

Hi I am still willing to come round and try and help clear it.

I'm also looking for a gardener in s5 to do a tidy up for mine in April as I am renting from May onwards and im going to be too pregnant to do it!
Would need about half a days work, needs weeding, bushes cutting down, few fence panels pinning back up and edges of lawn recutting. I have most garden tools and will provide a new bag of wood chips to re-cover any sparse bedding areas.
Anyone know of anyone good and cheap?

Cheers
Lisa