When the rest of the country is switching off, lighting barbecues, or heading to the coast for a long weekend, live-in carers are often still very much on. Bank holidays, while a welcome break for many, can look very different when you’re working in someone’s home — especially when that home is also your workplace. That’s the reality of bank holidays and live-in care: while others celebrate, our work continues.
A Day Like Any Other — And Yet Not
For our clients, the need for care doesn’t stop just because the calendar says it’s a bank holiday. Medication still needs to be given, meals still need to be prepared, continence needs remain, and routines continue. And so, for many of us, it’s a regular workday — only lonelier. GPs are closed. Pharmacies operate reduced hours. Family visits might not happen. There’s a strange stillness to the day that can feel isolating. This is one of the less-talked-about truths of bank holidays and live-in care: continuity matters more than celebration.
There’s no festive atmosphere when you’re setting an alarm for a 6 am pad change. There’s no holiday buzz when you’re watching others enjoy the sunshine through the window, knowing you can’t leave your client alone for even twenty minutes.
Holding the Spirit of the Day — Quietly
That’s not to say bank holidays always pass unnoticed. If your client is aware of the date, they might want to mark the occasion — watching a televised event, requesting a special meal, or reminiscing about May Day traditions or Jubilee parades past. These small moments of connection can be sweet. You find yourself joining them in celebration, in your own way — even if it’s just sitting together with a scone and a cup of tea while the crowds cheer on the telly.
In these moments, you’re not just providing care — you also see that your presence truly matters.
The Quiet Trade-Off
The hardest part isn’t always the work itself — it’s the knowledge that you’re missing out elsewhere. Family barbecues. Bank holiday sales. Lazy mornings in bed. These are the quiet trade-offs that come with this job. And while we accept them — and even choose them — they don’t go unnoticed. Especially when friends message saying, “Enjoy your day off!” and you don’t have the heart to say: There is no day off.
Still Here
There’s a kind of pride in showing up on a day when others don’t have to. There’s also exhaustion, sometimes. But most of all, there’s the invisible work that live-in carers do — on Mondays, on Sundays, and on bank holidays too.
So if no one’s said it yet: thank you.
To every carer who worked through the Jubilee, Easter, Christmas, and all the ordinary Mondays turned national events — we see you. And we know: Bank holidays don’t mean rest for us.
But they do remind us of the quiet resilience it takes to do this job, every day of the year.
