Hairy Biker Si King says mum and Dave Myers inspired him to launch care campaign

Former Hairy Bikers star Si King has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the need to plan for later life care early after being inspired by caring for his late mother, and co-star Dave Myers.

The 59-year-old told the Press Association he loved the pair “dearly” and added that he wanted to avoid other people having to go through “what my family went through with my mum” when they were arranging her care, which he said was a “crisis” that caused “panic”.

He said: “It is so distressing when we as a family, you know mum had other issues… as she got older, she was incredibly fit, fiercely independent, lived on her own, but… there was an (acceleration) and stuff changed, whereby… we were kind of lucky, because we lived within an 18-mile radius of mum.

“We were all there to help, but when her care, and she so wanted to stay in her little house, and there was certain elements of care that we couldn’t do as a family, we didn’t know where to go.”

King went on to say that he had no idea how to go about arranging care or how much it would cost, and added that onboarding meant it took three weeks to organise while his mother was in urgent need of care.

He said his experiences had led to him partnering with Bluebird Care to launch the Good Care Checklist, which will aim to show families what good care looks like.

King added: “Life brings you things like this, and Bluebird were great actually… and they just said, ‘look Si, will you help us start this conversation?’, which is exactly why I got involved in the campaign, because of mum and Dave and others that I’ve looked after too, but mum and Dave particularly.”

King’s close friend and co-star on the cooking and motorcycling show, Myers died in 2024, aged 66, after being diagnosed with cancer.

The TV star went on to say that he had already had discussions with his family about how he wishes to be cared for when he gets older.

He added: “You’ve got to start the conversation, I started mine about 10 years ago… I was 50, and I was very clear with the lads what I wanted.

“I want to stay at home as long as I possibly can, equally, I don’t want to be a burden on you guys, so it’s not about that, it’s not about you taking responsibility for me and what I want for my care as I get older.

“It’s just like to say that this is what I want, and there is money there for my care… if I develop Alzheimer’s and dementia, then they need to know I’d like to stay at home, until it is no longer possible to stay at home.”

King said he had started thinking about the cost of his care early due to the amount of money he needed to save.

The Kibblesworth-born star added: “I can’t remember what the figures are but, roughly… if you save about £180 a month, which, fundamentally in the centre of any big city, is a night out for two with drinks.

“So, if you stick that away, and you start when you’re 40, by the time you come to need it… you’ll have about £200,000, and if you’ve got between £14,000 and £20,000 in savings, the local authority will contribute to your care, I think it’s roughly that.

“But if you’ve got more than £22,500 in investments and other assets and all that sort of stuff, which is probably most of us by the time we get there, then you’re expected to pay for the full cost of your care.”

The Good Care Checklist can be accessed from Bluebird Care’s website.