"I can't get down to the weeds any more, and no gardener will come out for a small job. Now it's Ellie from the next road, £10, done by lunch."
J
Jean, 74 · needs a hand
🌱 Piloting first in Acle · Brundall · Blofield · Lingwood + surrounding villages
Need a hand with a little job?
Need a hand with a little job?
There's a young person up the road.
Patch matches small jobs like weeding, mowing and fetching with local young people who want to earn. You agree the price, they do the graft, and the money stays in the village.
🏡
I need a hand
Post a small job in two minutes. Meet the helper before they start. Pay them directly when it's done.
Post a job →💪
I want to earn
Aged 18 or older, near Acle, Brundall or Blofield? Pick up paid jobs on your doorstep and build a reputation that opens doors.
Become a helper →🔧
I'm a local professional
Insured or qualified? Earn your Pro badge, pick up the bigger jobs on your patch, and post paid labourer gigs when you need hands.
Become a Patch Pro →Free for neighbours and helpers. Patch never takes a penny of the job money. Run as a community interest company, funded by Bradleigh Barnes, founder of Innovare Recruitment, as a community project.
Rather give time than earn? Volunteer jobs count too →
How it works
Like a card in the Post Office window, with a search button.
Patch is a noticeboard, not an agency. We introduce you; you sort the rest between yourselves, like neighbours always have.
1
Pop it on the board
Say what needs doing and roughly how long it will take. Patch suggests a fair price and you tweak it. "Weed the front drive, about 45 minutes, £10."
2
Pick your helper
Local young people put their hand up. See their profile: photo, village, reviews from your neighbours, and who vouches for them.
3
Job done, paid direct
They do the job, and you pay them directly in cash or by bank transfer. The full amount, straight to them. Then you both leave a review.
The clever bit
Not sure who you need? Just say the job.
You don't have to work out whether it's a helper job, a Pro job or one for a charity. Describe it, answer a couple of simple questions, and Patch puts it in front of the right people. Try it:
Weed the front drive
→ The helper boardLight, on the ground, under an hour. A perfect first job. Patch suggests a fair price (about £10 for 45 minutes) and it's live on the board for local helpers.
The job board
Open jobs on your patch
Helper services · book a regular round
🧽 The little jobs helpers sign up to do
Helpers tick the services they offer, and you can book them as a regular round: every bin day, every fortnight, every holiday. Ten houses on a Tuesday bin round is proper weekly money.
Tap a service to search the board for it.
Pro trades · badge & ticket required
🛠 The trades on your patch
Every Patch Pro shows public liability insurance. Regulated trades show the ticket too (Gas Safe for gas, qualified electricians) before the category appears on their profile.
PlumberElectricianGas engineerCarpet & vinyl fitterPainter & decoratorFencingGutters & rooflinePressure washingTree workWindow cleaningHandyman
Patch Pros
Too big for a helper? That's one for the Pros. Example profiles
Ladders, painting, carpet fitting, fencing, plumbing, electrics. Helper jobs stay light and on the ground, and everything bigger goes to local tradespeople who have shown us their public liability insurance. Browse them by trade, or post the job and let Patch route it. Same noticeboard, same rules: you deal with them directly.
SD
Steve's Decorating
Acle · Painter & decorator, 20 yrs
Interior & exterior painting, fascias, sheds and fences. Free look-and-quote for anything on the Patch board.
✓ 14 Patch jobs · ✓ Would book again ×12 · ✓ Takes helper labourers
KF
Kerry Fits Carpets
Lingwood · Carpet & vinyl fitter
Supply-and-fit or fit-only, stairs a speciality. Small rooms and single-step jobs welcome. No job too little.
✓ 9 Patch jobs · ✓ Would book again ×8
GH
G. Howes Property Care
Blofield · Gutters, roofs & ladder work
Gutter clearing, moss, high windows and anything at height, so the helpers don't have to be.
✓ 11 Patch jobs · ✓ Would book again ×10 · ✓ Takes helper labourers
💪 Pros: need a second pair of hands?
Patch Pros can post paid labourer gigs straight to the helper board: "Saturday, £50, help on a fencing job." It's how weeding a driveway turns into a labouring day, and a labouring day into a trade.
For helpers aged 18 or older
Earn on your doorstep. Build a name for yourself.
Not in work or studying right now? There are people five minutes from your front door who will pay for an hour of graft, and every job you do builds a profile that is worth more than a CV.
- ✓ Keep 100% of what you earn. Patch takes nothing, ever
- ✓ Jobs within walking distance. No travel, no rota, no boss
- ✓ Reviews and vouches that turn one-off jobs into regular work
- ✓ Your profile is your shop window: your photo, a few lines about you, and the jobs you want to do
- ✓ Volunteer hours logged for your CV, college and DofE
- ✓ Casual earnings up to £1,000 a year are usually covered by HMRC's trading allowance
Example profile
C
Callum, 18
Brundall · Helper since March
★★★★★ 4.9 from 19 neighbours"Happy doing gardens, washing cars and a bit of lifting. Saving for my driving lessons. I turn up on time and I graft."
Gardens Lifting & moving Errands Labouring (18+)
31JOBS DONE
£287EARNED
22VOLUNTEER HRS
🤝 Vouched for by 3 neighbours, incl. a youth worker at Acle Academy
"Weeded the whole drive in an hour — lovely lad, three doors down. Booked him again for the hedge."
— Margaret H., Brundall
The village totaliser
What a year of Patch in Acle & Brundall could look like Pilot targets
163jobs done
£1,740earned by local young people
94volunteer hours given
27helpers on the patch
Example figures: our first-year pilot targets, not live data. Once Patch is live, every village page shows its real, dated totaliser. Every pound stays in the community, and every job is a young person getting a start.
How it will feel
Three sides of the same street Illustrative
"I've done 31 jobs since March. Two turned into regular weekly work. It gets me out, and it's money in my pocket the same day."
C
Callum, 18 · helper"We point every young person we work with at Patch. It's often their first earned money, and their first reference."
S
Sam · youth workerWhy Patch exists
"A society grows great when the old plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in."
— Greek proverb
Covid and the scroll made strangers of neighbours, while one in eight of a whole generation of young people sits outside work, education and training. Patch is the stitch between the two. Every little job is a tree planted.
Straight talk
How we keep it safe, and what Patch is not
Trust round here doesn't come from small print. It comes from knowing who you're dealing with. But here's ours, in plain English.
👋 You meet before they start
Every helper has a real name, photo, village and reviews from your actual neighbours. Vouches come from named adults (a teacher, youth worker, parish councillor or previous poster) and mean "I know this person and they're sound". Meet at the door, agree the price, then crack on.
🪧 We're a noticeboard, not an agency
Patch introduces people; the job, the price and the payment are agreed directly between you. And we don't hide behind small print. The real protection is how the board works: light tasks only, risky jobs routed to insured Pros by the posting form itself, and a human moderating every patch.
🧓 Extra care for vulnerable neighbours
Companionship visits and jobs inside the homes of people who may be at risk aren't open-listed. They run through partners like Age UK Norfolk and local good-neighbour schemes, with proper DBS checks and supervision.
🚩 A human on the board
Every account is approved by a real person, every job and profile has a report button, and anyone who behaves badly loses their place on the patch. Simple as that.
🪜 Helpers keep both feet on the ground
Helper jobs are light and low-risk by rule: no ladders, no power tools, no electrics or plumbing, no heavy lifting. Post something bigger and we'll point it to an insured Patch Pro instead, automatically.
📋 Reviews that build a record
No harsh star ratings. After each job you tap what was true: turned up on time, did what was agreed, would book again. For a young helper, that record becomes a reference employers actually believe.
Beyond the jobs
Every patch is a little community of its own
The jobs board is the heart of Patch. Around it, each village gets a few extras: a place to talk, a shop window, and a way to get the small stuff fixed.
Village forums · live in this demo
💬 Your village noticeboard
A simple, friendly forum for each patch. Real names, local moderators, no algorithm. Just neighbours, and a what's-on list for the week.
Litter pick Sunday, who's in?Brundall · event
Anyone recommend a chimney sweep?Brundall
Coffee morning at the Rec — all welcomeAcle · event
For sale · live in this demo
🪑 The village car boot, always open
Sell the mower, pass on the kids' bike, give the sofa away. To someone round the corner, not a stranger with a van. No fees, cash at the door.
Petrol mower, servicedAcle · £40
Kids' bike, 20" wheelsBrundall · £25
Two-seater sofaBlofield · Free
Patch reports · live in this demo
📸 Spotted something that needs sorting?
Snap a photo, add the what3words square, and it's registered. Council problems go to Norfolk County Council with the picture and the exact three-metre spot attached. Jobs the community can safely do itself become volunteer fix days on the board.
🕳 Pothole, Station Road, Acle Registered for NCC ✓
🗑 Fly-tipping, Lingwood lay-by Registered for NCC ✓
🌿 Overgrown bed by war memorial Community fix Sat
Your patch. Your people.
Whether it's a driveway that needs weeding or a young person who needs a start, it begins with one little job.