Help & Support

Free, friendly and practical help for residents of Wraysbury and Horton

Sometimes you know you need some help, but you don’t know who to ask.

Wraysbury & Horton Resilience (WHR) provides free, confidential help and support to residents of all ages in Wraysbury and Horton.

Our support is much broader than health, benefits or help for vulnerable residents.

You can come to us with almost any question or problem.

We may know the answer ourselves. We may be able to help you work through the problem. Or we may know another organisation that is better placed to help.

You don’t need to know where to start — that’s what we’re here for.

If we cannot answer your query ourselves, we will always endeavour to identify and signpost you to the most appropriate source of help.

Quicklinks – What do you need help with?

💬 Can WHR help me

Find out about our free support and the wide range of things you can ask us about.

🧭 I don’t know where to start

You don’t need to know which service you need. Tell us what’s happening and we’ll help you find the way forward.

🤝 Helping someone else

Worried about a relative, friend or neighbour? Find out how we may be able to help.

📍 How do I get help?

Come to a drop-in, contact WHR or find other ways of getting support.

Can WHR Help Me?

Probably — and if we can’t, we’ll try to find someone who can.

WHR’s Help & Support service is available to residents of any age.

You don’t need to:

be elderly
have a disability
be registered as vulnerable
receive benefits
have a health problem
be in financial difficulty
be experiencing an emergency.

And your question does not have to fit neatly into a particular category.

If something is worrying you, confusing you or making everyday life more difficult, come and talk to us.

What Can We Help With?

The range is deliberately broad.

Here are some examples — but this is not an exhaustive list.

💷 Money, Benefits and Household Costs

We can help you:

understand what financial help may be available
identify benefits or allowances you may be entitled to
find appropriate benefits calculators
understand letters or forms
find help with household or energy costs
identify appropriate specialist debt or financial-support services
find out where to get further advice.

We are not financial advisers, but we can help you find the right place to start.

🏠 Housing and Your Home

We may be able to help with questions about:

housing difficulties
homelessness or risk of homelessness
council or housing-association services
repairs and adaptations
keeping your home warm
energy problems
flooding
power cuts
utility Priority Services Registers
finding practical support at home.

❤️ Health, Care and Wellbeing

We can help you find information and appropriate services relating to:

accessing NHS services
social care
carers and caring responsibilities
mobility
falls prevention
Lifelines – we can help arrange the installation of Telecare services
loneliness and social isolation
support after illness or hospital treatment
local health and wellbeing services
help for older or frail residents.

We cannot diagnose medical conditions or replace your doctor, pharmacist or other healthcare professional, but we can help you find reliable information and the appropriate source of professional help.

👨‍👩‍👧 Families, Children and Younger Residents

WHR Help & Support is not just for older residents.

Families and younger residents are equally welcome.

We may be able to help identify information or services relating to:

family support
having a new baby
childcare
education
activities for children and young people
caring responsibilities
housing
financial support
local services
practical problems affecting family life.

There is no minimum or maximum age for asking us for help.

💻 Technology and Getting Things Done

Increasingly, essential services expect people to do things online.

We may be able to help with:

completing online forms
using websites
accessing online services
smartphones, tablets and computers
email
downloading or uploading documents
printing information
understanding online accounts
finding reliable information online.

If technology is preventing you from accessing something important, ask us.

📄 Forms, Letters and Official Information

Official correspondence can sometimes be difficult to understand.

We may be able to:

help you understand what a letter is asking you to do
help find the correct form
help you complete straightforward forms
identify deadlines or next steps
help you find the organisation you need to contact
help locate reliable official guidance.

Bring the letter or paperwork with you if that would help.

🛡️ Scams and Staying Safe

If you’ve received a suspicious:

telephone call
text message
email
letter
doorstep approach
online message

we can help you think through whether it may be genuine and what to do next.

If you think you may already have been scammed, don’t be embarrassed about asking for help.

WHR Scam Checker

👥 Loneliness and Social Isolation

Sometimes the problem isn’t something that can be solved with a form or telephone number.

If you’re feeling isolated, lonely or simply disconnected from other people locally, come and talk to us.

We may be able to help you find:

local activities
community groups
social opportunities
befriending or other support.

WHR Social Isolation

🚨 Preparing for Emergencies

We can also help residents become better prepared for local emergencies.

This includes:

flooding
extreme heat
severe cold
power cuts
utility Priority Services Registers
Environment Agency Flood Warnings
household preparedness
the WHR Vulnerable Residents Register.

Our Resilience Guidance pages provide detailed information:

Flooding

Extreme Summer Weather

Extreme Winter Weather

Power Cuts

Vulnerable Residents Register

“My Problem Isn’t On That List”

That’s fine.

The examples above are not a list of the only things we help with.

Residents ask us about all sorts of things.

Some are simple questions.

Others involve several different problems at once.

And sometimes somebody simply says:

“I don’t really know who I need to speak to.”

That’s enough to start.

Come and tell us what is happening.

If we can help directly, we will.

If we don’t know the answer, we can research reliable information.

And if the matter requires specialist or professional help, we will endeavour to identify and signpost you to the organisation best placed to provide it.

I Don’t Know Where to Start

You don’t need to work out which council department, NHS service, charity, government agency or other organisation you need before speaking to us.

Start with the problem, not the organisation.

Tell us:

What’s happening?

What are you worried about?

What are you trying to achieve?

What have you already tried?

We can then help you work out what the next step might be.

How We Help

Depending on the question, we may:

provide reliable information
explain something in plain English
help you find or understand a form
help you use an online service
research available options
identify local services
provide contact details
explain possible next steps
help you contact an appropriate organisation
signpost you to specialist advice or professional support.

Sometimes the answer may be straightforward.

Sometimes it may take us a little time to research the question properly.

We would rather check than guess.

If we aren’t confident that information is accurate, we will try to verify it or refer you to someone better qualified to answer.

Independent, Reliable Information

Where possible, we use reliable and authoritative sources such as:

NHS services
GOV.UK
Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead
Citizens Advice
utility companies and regulators
established charities and support organisations
other appropriate professional or statutory services.

We aim to explain information in clear, everyday language and help you understand what it means for you.

Sometimes You Need Specialist Advice

WHR volunteers cannot replace qualified professionals.

There will be occasions when you need:

medical advice
legal advice
regulated financial advice
specialist debt advice
social care
emergency services
another professional service.

In those situations, our role is to help you identify the appropriate source of help rather than pretend to have expertise we don’t have. See our full Disclaimer.

That is still helping.

Finding the right person to ask can often be half the problem.

Helping Someone Else

You may be looking for information because you’re worried about:

a relative
a friend
a neighbour
somebody you care for.

You are welcome to ask us for general information or help identifying appropriate services.

Where personal or confidential information is involved, we will respect the other person’s privacy and explain what we can and cannot do.

If possible, encourage the person themselves to speak to us.

Worried About a Vulnerable Resident?

If somebody may need additional support during flooding, extreme weather, power cuts or another significant local incident, they may wish to consider joining the WHR Vulnerable Residents Register.

Registration must be made by the resident themselves, or with appropriate involvement of a close family member.

A neighbour or friend cannot independently place somebody on our confidential Vulnerable Residents Register.

WHR Vulnerable Residents Register

If Someone Is in Immediate Danger

WHR is not an emergency service.

If somebody is in immediate danger or there is a life-threatening emergency:

CALL 999

For urgent medical advice where it is not an immediate life-threatening emergency:

NHS 111 — CALL 111

How Do I Get Help?

Come and talk to us

You don’t need an appointment and you don’t need to know exactly what help you need.

Our regular Help & Support drop-in sessions are:

MONDAY — HORTON

Champney Hall
10:00am – 12:00 noon

TUESDAY — WRAYSBURY HEALTHHUB

Wraysbury Village Halls
9:30am – 12:30pm

THURSDAY — WRAYSBURY

Wraysbury Village Halls
10:00am – 1:00pm

These are friendly, informal sessions.

Bring any relevant:

letters
forms
bills
documents
smartphone or tablet

if they would help us understand the problem.

You are also welcome simply to come in and have a conversation.

Contact WHR

Telephone: 07808 654321

Email: resilience@Wraysbury.com

Other ways to Contact Us

If your question needs some research, we may take the details of the query and come back to you once we have checked the relevant information.

Our Service Is Free

There is no charge for WHR Help & Support.

We are a community volunteer organisation supporting residents of Wraysbury and Horton.

You don’t need to be registered with WHR or meet any particular eligibility criteria simply to ask us a question.

Confidentiality

We treat conversations with residents respectfully and confidentially.

We will only ask for personal information where it is relevant to helping with your query.

If another organisation is better placed to help and personal information needs to be passed to them, we will explain this and obtain your permission before doing so, except in exceptional circumstances where safeguarding or an immediate risk of serious harm requires otherwise.

Important Information About Our Service

The information and help provided by Wraysbury & Horton Resilience are offered free of charge as a general guide for community members. While we aim to provide accurate, up-to-date and helpful information, it is not a substitute for professional or specialist advice, including but not limited to legal, financial, medical or other regulated services. See our full Disclaimer.

WHR volunteers will always try to provide reliable information and, where appropriate, check it against current authoritative UK sources.

If your question requires professional or specialist advice, we will endeavour to identify and signpost you to an appropriate service or organisation.