Leicester Companions — Companionship for Older Adults in Leicester
Leicester · Oadby · Wigston · Loughborough

A friendly visit, Leicester companionship care For the parent who shouldn't be alone all day.

Warm, vetted companions for older adults across Leicester. Conversation, outings, weekly company — not care, just friendship.

Book a free home visit or call 0116 000 0000
Enhanced DBS-checked
Care Certificate trained
Fully insured
From £24/hour
What we are — and what we are not

We're not a care home.
We're the Wednesday visit.

Most of our clients live independently and don't need help washing or dressing. What they need is good company, structure to their week, someone to take them to the garden centre or the mandir, and someone who tells you afterwards how it went. That's what we do, and only what we do.

01

The same companion, every week

We match once and we stick. Continuity is the point — trust takes time, and rotating staff defeat the entire purpose of a companion.

02

Cultural and language matching

Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Bengali and Somali. We recruit specifically for it. Most agencies in Leicester treat this as a tick-box; we lead with it.

03

Notes and photos after every visit

For the daughter in London, the son in Birmingham, the family in Toronto. You'll know how Mum was, what they did, and what she ate — usually within the hour.

Three ways to begin

How much company is the right amount?

Most families start small — one or two visits a week — and grow from there. A free home consultation will help us recommend the right shape. There are no minimum contracts and no exit fees.

Connect

For mild loneliness and mobile clients who'd like a regular friendly face.

£26 / hour · 2–4 hrs / week
  • One-hour minimum visit
  • Conversation, walks, hobbies, outings
  • Standard companion matching
  • Monthly summary to family
Learn more
Most chosen

Companion

For weekly structure and a parent who needs more presence and gentler routine.

£24 / hour · 6–10 hrs / week
  • Two-hour minimum visit
  • Cultural & language matching
  • Weekly photo summary to family
  • Accompanied appointments included
  • Light meal preparation & shopping
Learn more

Concierge

For high-need clients, frequent outings, or families who live abroad.

£22 / hour · 12–25 hrs / week
  • Three-hour minimum visit
  • Bespoke pairing + named backup
  • After-every-visit notes via app
  • Priority bookings & weekend slots
  • Family liaison call every fortnight
Learn more
For Leicester families everywhere

Companions who speak her language.

Leicester is a city of forty languages and seventy faiths. The companion in Mum's living room should reflect that — not stand outside it. We recruit specifically for cultural matching, and pair each client carefully on first language, faith, food and shared frame of reference.

From Leicester families

What people say.

The names are real, the words are theirs. We collect feedback monthly and act on it weekly.

“Mum and Pri have been together fourteen months now. She talks about her like family, and the photos every Wednesday have changed how I feel about being away.”

Anita — daughter of client Stoneygate, LE2

“I was on a six-week waiting list with the council. Leicester Companions had someone with us in nine days. The companion is brilliant — calm, patient, never rushes.”

Margaret — client, age 78 Oadby, LE2

“Dad refused help for two years. He let her in because she could speak Punjabi and knew his cricket. He looks forward to Tuesdays now.”

Harpreet — son of client Belgrave, LE4
Common questions

The things families ask first.

If your question isn't here, call us on 0116 000 0000 or send a message. We answer within one working day.

How much does companionship cost in Leicester?

Our standard weekday daytime rate is £24 per hour with a one-hour minimum visit. Evenings (after 7pm) and Saturdays are £28 per hour, and Sundays and bank holidays are £32. The Concierge tier (12+ hours per week) is blended at £22 per hour.

There are no signup fees, no exit fees, and no charge for the initial home visit.

Are you regulated by the Care Quality Commission?

Companionship-only services aren't subject to CQC regulation, because we don't carry out personal care (washing, dressing, medication administration). The CQC regulates personal-care providers, not friendship.

That said, we voluntarily operate to CQC-equivalent standards: enhanced DBS checks on every companion, the full Care Certificate, two professional references, full insurance, and ICO data protection registration.

What is the difference between companionship and home care?

Companionship is the social and emotional support layer: weekly visits, conversation, outings, hobbies, light housekeeping, shopping, and accompanied appointments. Home care involves personal care — bathing, dressing, toileting, medication.

We do companionship only. If your parent's needs progress to require personal care, we'll introduce you to a CQC-regulated partner provider we trust.

Do your companions speak languages other than English?

Yes — this is one of the things we're known for in Leicester. We recruit companions who speak Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Polish, Romanian, and Somali, and we match each client carefully on first language, faith, and shared cultural background.

How quickly can someone start?

Most clients have their first visit within seven days of booking a free home consultation. For hospital discharge cases we can usually start within 48 hours.

Begin with a free home visit.

One of our coordinators will come to the house, listen, and recommend the right level of company — or honestly tell you if we're not what you need.

Book a free home visit

Three ways to begin. Same companion, every time.

Most families start with two visits a week and grow from there. There are no minimum contracts and no cancellation fees. Pricing below is what you actually pay — no add-ons, no surprises.

Connect

Mild loneliness, mobile clients, mostly independent. The Wednesday afternoon that becomes the highlight of the week.

£26/ hour
  • 2–4 hours per week
  • One-hour minimum visit
  • Conversation, walks, hobbies
  • Light housekeeping & tea
  • Standard companion matching
  • Monthly summary to family
Book a free visit
Most chosen

Companion

Weekly structure, gentle routine, more presence. The tier most adult children settle on after a free home visit.

£24/ hour
  • 6–10 hours per week
  • Two-hour minimum visit
  • Cultural & language matching
  • Accompanied appointments included
  • Light meal preparation & shopping
  • Weekly photo summary to family
  • Same companion guaranteed
Book a free visit

Concierge

High need, frequent outings, families abroad. For when company needs to be the spine of the whole week.

£22/ hour
  • 12–25 hours per week
  • Three-hour minimum visit
  • Bespoke pairing + named backup
  • After-every-visit notes via app
  • Priority bookings & weekend slots
  • Family liaison call every fortnight
  • Direct WhatsApp to coordinator
Book a free visit

Evenings (after 7pm) and Saturdays: +£4/hr. Sundays and bank holidays: +£8/hr.
Direct Payments / Personal Budgets accepted at £20/hour.

The honest list

What every visit can — and can't — involve.

We're a companionship service, not a home care service. We don't do personal care, by design. The boundary protects clients, companions and families.

What our companions do

  • Conversation, reading aloud, board games
  • Hobbies, crosswords, gardening company
  • Walks, garden centre, café visits, cinema
  • Lifts in the companion's insured car
  • Accompanied GP, hospital, dental and optician visits
  • Faith and cultural support — mandir, church, mosque, gurdwara
  • Light housekeeping, laundry, tea and meal preparation
  • Shopping and prescription collection
  • Pet companionship — light dog walks, feeding
  • Digital help — video calls with family, fraud awareness
  • Medication reminders (prompting only)

What our companions do not do

  • Bathing, showering, washing the body
  • Dressing or undressing the client
  • Toileting or continence care
  • Administering medication (handing pills, applying creams or drops)
  • Any clinical task — dressings, injections, blood glucose, PEG, stoma
  • Hoisting or two-person transfers
  • Overnight live-in care

If your parent's needs grow beyond ours, we'll introduce you to a CQC-regulated partner we know and trust. We'd rather refer well than overreach.

Hospital discharge support

Home from the LRI, the General, or Glenfield. Not alone on day one.

The first two weeks after a hospital stay are when most families wish they'd had something arranged. Falls happen. Confidence dips. Meals get skipped. Loneliness compounds.

We work with discharge teams across the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust to mobilise companion visits within 48 hours of leaving hospital. Two-hour visits, twice a day if needed, for the first week. Companion in the house for the first cup of tea.

Discharge rate: £26/hour, no setup fee, four-week minimum. Direct Payments and continuing healthcare budgets accepted.

Speak to us about a discharge
Cultural & language matching

The companion in Mum's living room should reflect Leicester — not stand outside it.

We actively recruit companions who speak the languages and share the food, faith and frame of reference of the families we serve. This isn't a tick-box service line for us — it's the reason many families choose us.

Gujarati ગુજરાતી Hindi हिन्दी Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Urdu اردو Bengali বাংলা Polish Polski Romanian Română Somali Soomaali English Gujarati ગુજરાતી Hindi हिन्दी Punjabi ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Urdu اردو Bengali বাংলা Polish Polski Romanian Română Somali Soomaali English
Where we work

Companions across Leicester & Leicestershire.

Our team operates from a base in central Leicester and covers the city plus immediate suburbs and selected towns. If you're not sure whether we cover your postcode, just call.

Leicester City

LE1, LE2, LE3, LE4, LE5, LE7. Belgrave, Stoneygate, Knighton, Clarendon Park, West End, Highfields.

Oadby & Wigston

LE2, LE18, LE19. Oadby, Wigston Magna, South Wigston, Kibworth.

North Leicestershire

LE4, LE7. Birstall, Syston, Thurmaston, Rothley, Anstey.

Loughborough & West

LE11, LE12, LE3. Loughborough, Glenfield, Groby, Ratby.

Not sure which tier is right? Don't guess.

Book a free home visit. We'll come to you, listen carefully, and recommend the level of company that actually fits.

Book a free home visit

A small Leicester team, a long-held belief: that company is medicine.

We started Leicester Companions because we couldn't find what our own families needed: a warm, dependable, locally-rooted service that wasn't a care home, wasn't a charity waitlist, and wasn't a national franchise.

Our story

It started with a Tuesday phone call.

One of our founders, Priya, used to drive from London to Leicester every Saturday to see her mother. Five years of weekly trips, and the same Tuesday phone call: "I haven't spoken to anyone since you left."

She tried the local council route. Six-week waitlist. She tried Age UK — brilliant people, also waitlisted. She tried a national franchise. They sent a different carer every week, all of them lovely, none of them able to talk to her mum in Gujarati. The visits were 30 minutes long. Her mother stopped opening the door.

We built Leicester Companions for the gap in the middle — for people who don't need personal care, who don't need a clinical service, who just need a warm, dependable, weekly visit from someone who understands them. Same person, every time. Long enough to actually have a conversation.

That's the whole brief. We don't do anything else.

What we do differently

Friendship-first, not care-first.

Most companies operating in this space started life as home care agencies and added companionship as a sideline. We did the opposite. We built a companionship-first service from day one, and we made a deliberate choice not to offer personal care — because the moment you do, every visit becomes a checklist of tasks, and the conversation becomes a side effect.

That's why we're unregulated by the CQC. Companionship is not a regulated activity in England, because it isn't medical. We could pay £15,000 to register and bolt on washing and dressing tomorrow — we've chosen not to. Our boundary is the boundary. If a client's needs grow beyond ours, we'll introduce them to a CQC-registered partner we know and trust.

What we keep is the warmth, the consistency, and the time to actually be present in someone's living room. Which, in the end, is the thing that makes the difference.

What we believe

Our values, in plain English.

These aren't framed in our office. They're the things we ask ourselves when we have a difficult call to make.

The same person, every time

Continuity is the whole point. We don't rotate companions to fit a rota. If yours is unwell, you'll know who's coming instead, and they'll have been briefed properly.

Match for character, not just availability

We'd rather wait two weeks to find the right pairing than send the first available companion. Mismatched companionship is worse than none.

Speak her language

Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Bengali, Somali. Leicester is a city of forty languages and our service should reflect that.

Tell families what actually happened

Notes after every visit. Photos when the client agrees. Honest write-ups, not marketing copy. The Wednesday update is sometimes the best part of an adult child's week.

Hold the line on personal care

We don't bath, dress, toilet or medicate. We'll never let a client — however kindly — persuade a companion across that line. It protects everyone.

Pay companions properly

Our companions earn above the regulated-sector rate, with paid travel time, holiday and pension. The quality of the visit is the quality of the person doing it.

Our team

Small, local, and on the end of the phone.

You'll speak to the same handful of people every time you ring. There's no call centre, no overseas back office, no lost-in-the-system.

P

Priya Patel

Co-founder & Director

Former operations lead at a regulated home care provider in the East Midlands. Built the original Leicester team. Speaks Gujarati and Hindi. The one who insists on the Wednesday update.

J

James Wright

Care Coordinator

Twelve years in adult social care, including hospital discharge work at Leicester Royal Infirmary. Looks after our scheduling, supervision and safeguarding processes.

A

Aisha Mahmood

Recruitment & Training

Recruits, vets and trains every companion. Speaks Urdu and Punjabi. Will never put forward a candidate she wouldn't place with her own grandmother.

Want to meet us before you commit?

That's exactly what the free home visit is for. We come to you, listen carefully, and only suggest something if it's actually right.

Book a free home visit

The Journal. On loneliness, later life, and looking after parents from afar.

Honest writing for the people we work with most: adult children worrying from a distance, and older adults figuring out the next chapter for themselves.

Reading is one thing. A free home visit is another.

If anything you've read here sounds like your situation, we'd be glad to come and talk it through in person.

Book a free home visit

Let's have a chat. No pressure, no obligation, no cost.

Most enquiries take fifteen minutes on the phone. From there, we'll arrange a free home visit at a time that suits the family. We respond within one working day — usually the same day.

Call us directly

0116 000 0000

Mon–Fri 8am–8pm · Sat–Sun 9am–6pm. You'll always speak to a real person on our team — not a call centre.

Email

hello@leicestercompanions.co.uk

For careers, partnership, or media enquiries, please mark your subject line accordingly.

Visit us

1 Granby Street
Leicester
LE1 6EJ

By appointment only. Most clients prefer us to come to them — the free home visit is what we recommend.

If it's urgent

For hospital discharge cases or anything time-sensitive, please call rather than email. We can usually have a companion in place within 48 hours when needed.

Book a free home visit

Five fields, two minutes. Or call 0116 000 0000 if you'd rather speak.

We'll never share your details. We respond within one working day.

Trust & standards

What you can expect from us, in writing.

Companionship-only services aren't subject to CQC regulation. We voluntarily operate to CQC-equivalent standards anyway — here's what that means in practice.

✓

Vetted companions

Enhanced DBS check, two professional references, full Care Certificate, Safeguarding Adults Level 2, and a four-week supervised induction before any unsupervised visit.

✓

Properly insured

Public liability £5m. Employers' liability £10m. Professional indemnity £1m. Business-class motor insurance for any companion who drives clients.

✓

Honest boundaries

We don't do personal care. We'll never pretend we can. If your needs grow, we'll introduce you to a CQC-registered partner provider we know and trust.

Careers

Could you be one of our companions?

We're always looking for warm, reliable, locally-rooted people to join our team. The work suits people who'd rather build a long relationship with one or two clients than sprint between fifteen-minute personal-care visits.

We pay above the regulated-sector rate, with paid travel time, holiday and pension. Most companions work between 16 and 28 hours a week and pick the days that suit them.

We particularly want to hear from candidates who speak Gujarati, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Polish, Romanian, Bengali or Somali, and from recently retired people aged 55+ who have time and warmth to give.

Send us a CV and a few lines about yourself
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