Highbury · Islington
Home Care in Highbury, N5
Care at home around Highbury Fields, Highbury Barn and Highbury New Park, on the Highbury Quadrant estate, and in the streets between Highbury & Islington and Arsenal stations.
Yes, we arrange home care in Highbury, both visiting care and live-in care. Our carers travel from south-east London on the Overground Windrush line, which runs from Shadwell up to Highbury & Islington in one go, so visits here are workable, though they depend on carer availability at the times you need. Jackie, our registered manager, starts with a free home assessment and a written care plan.
The houses that still have a spare room
Highbury's housing is a mix you can see from Highbury Fields: grand Victorian houses around the Fields and up Highbury Hill, mansion blocks, and post-war council estates such as the Highbury Quadrant and the blocks off Highbury New Park. Arsenal's old Highbury ground is now flats, and a slow walk on the Fields with a carer is a good outing for someone who no longer goes out alone.
The useful point for families is that some of Highbury's big Victorian houses are still lived in as whole houses. A whole house usually has a spare bedroom, and a spare bedroom is what live-in care needs. For a couple, one live-in carer can look after both partners at home. In the converted houses, flats sit above steep shared stairs and are rarely big enough for a second person to live in, so a pattern of visits is the more likely answer.
Two day centres on Highbury New Park
Highbury is unusual in having two day centres for older people within a few minutes of each other on the same road:
- New Park Day Centre, 19 Highbury New Park (N5 2EN), is run by Islington Council for older people with moderate to high care needs. A place needs a referral from social services after an assessment, the charge is means-tested, and transport may be provided depending on eligibility. Details are on its housingcare.org listing.
- Care UK's Highbury New Park day centre, at number 127 (N5 2DS), is a private dementia day service open seven days a week, for people whose primary diagnosis is dementia. It appears on Age UK Islington's dementia-friendly activities list.
Home care fits around day-centre days. On centre days a carer can help with washing, dressing, breakfast and being ready for the transport, then settle the person back in at the end of the afternoon. On the other days, longer visits or dementia care at home fill the gap.
What happens to visits on Arsenal match days?
The Emirates Stadium sits on Highbury's western edge, and on match and event days the council adds extra parking controls in nine of its zones: on weekdays usually 6.30pm to 8.30pm, on Saturdays 1.30pm to 4.30pm in most affected zones, and on Sundays and bank holidays noon to 4.30pm. Some bays near the ground are suspended, and the Highbury traffic filters at Aubert Park and Highbury Place/Calabria Road are lifted for the day.
None of this stops a carer who comes by train or bus. Highbury & Islington has the Victoria line, the Overground and Great Northern trains; Arsenal is on the Piccadilly line and Drayton Park on Great Northern; Highbury Corner is served by the 4, 19, 21, 30, 43 and 393, with the 19 continuing up Highbury Grove to Highbury Barn. What changes on match days is crowds around the stations, and we plan visit times with the fixture list in mind.
How do I ask Islington Council to assess my mother in Highbury?
Use the council's online form for a needs assessment or ring 020 7527 2299 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm). That assessment is also the route to a New Park Day Centre place. If you are the family member doing most of the caring, ask for a carer's assessment for yourself as well; it is free and does not depend on your mother receiving services. We quote privately after our own assessment and publish no prices. More on funding is on our Islington home care page.
Respite for Highbury families
If you are about to go away, a live-in carer can stay for a week or two in a house with a spare room, or we can increase visits. The Islington Carers Hub, run by Age UK Islington, also helps carers arrange breaks. See respite care.
What we can arrange in N5
- Live-in care
- Dementia care
- Personal care
- Companionship
- Medication support
- Home help
- Sit-in service
- Respite care
- Complex care
- Palliative care
- Hospital discharge
- Nail care
What we can help with in Highbury
- Personal care, washing and dressing
- Medication prompting and support
- Meals, laundry and home help
- Companionship and getting out
- Dementia care at home
- Support after a hospital stay
- Short breaks for family carers
- Live-in care when needs grow
Elsewhere in Islington
Home care pages for other parts of Islington:
Our services
How we can help in Islington
From a few visits a week to a carer who lives in, choose the support that fits.
Visiting care in Islington
Regular visits for personal care, medication, meals and company.
Read more →Live-in care in Islington
A carer who lives in, for one person or a couple.
Read more →Respite care in Islington
Cover so a family carer can rest, recover or go away.
Read more →Supported living in Islington
Our homes in Whitton, Kingston and Uxbridge.
Read more →Highbury FAQs
Highbury families ask
Questions families ask us about Highbury. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
Ask a questionMum goes to New Park Day Centre twice a week. Can you cover the other days?
Yes. We can build the care plan around her centre days: a morning visit to get her ready on those days, and longer visits or companionship on the days she is at home.
Our parents still own the whole house near Highbury Fields. Is live-in care an option?
Very likely. The carer needs their own bedroom, and a whole Victorian house nearly always has one. One live-in carer can support both of your parents, with full personal care for one and lighter help for the other if that is what they need.
Will a match at the Emirates mean a missed visit?
It should not. Our carers do not rely on parking. On match days we allow for the crowds around Highbury & Islington and Arsenal stations when we set times, and if a fixture clashes badly with a visit we will talk to you about moving it.
Dad has dementia but has not been diagnosed. Can he go to the Care UK centre?
That centre is for people whose primary diagnosis is dementia, so a diagnosis comes first. Start with his GP, who can refer him to the Islington Memory Service. We can provide dementia-aware care at home in the meantime.
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Looking for care in Highbury?
Tell us what is happening and we will tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.