20 years ago, Cares’ initial focus had been on providing excellent quality homes for people moving on from Calderstones, an institutional setting in Lancashire, for people with a range of learning disabilities and autistic people, some of whom also had physical disabilities. We worked very closely with Lancashire County Council commissioners to find high quality homes to help move people out of institutional settings and into the community.
Since then, Care’s growth has been steady, with a strong focus on sustainability and quality. Over the previous two decades Care has slowly expanded. From 2013, on the back of registration with the Regulator of Social Housing (then the Tenant Services Authority), growth accelerated slightly following increased investment in our infrastructure and assets.
We now are working with a wider range of partners and now operating in 30 different local authority areas across the North of England, with the capacity to provide housing to over 400 people. We own a sizable portfolio of properties, have relationships with numerous private landlords, and continue to develop innovative ways of increasing the supply of much needed homes in the sector. Our focus is always centred on offering individuals requiring support a personalised choice of high quality and sustainable supported homes while promoting independence.
Significant milestones
April 2004 – Care welcomed its first tenants into our first home in Rawtenstall, Rossendale. We worked closely with Lancashire County Council to provide homes to people moving out of institutional care.
We now work in 30 Local Authority Areas across the North of England.
October 2006 – Care acquired its first property. The property, still owned and managed by Care, is in Leyland, Lancashire, and is a home to 2 tenants.
We now own properties capable of housing 63 tenants in total. We believe owning our own properties is the most sustainable and effective way to grow the Association.
March 2011 – Care employed its first full-time staff member (Matthew Eddisford – now CEO). Prior to this, Care was run by its Board of Directors on a voluntary basis.
We now have a team of 13 staff members (soon to be 14!)
September 2011 – Care achieved Registered Provider (RP) status with the Regulator of Social Housing (or Tenant Services Authority as it was called then). This registration identified Care as a responsible and viable provider of social housing.
We are a now a well-established, reputable, and compliant RP.
July 2014 – Care surpassed the ‘100’ mark, meaning that from this point we were able to deliver high quality supported tenancies to in excess of 100 customers simultaneously.
We can now offer homes to over 400 people.
2019 – Care became a founder member of the Learning Disabilities and Autism Housing Network (LDAHN). The Network has an increasing voice in the sector, undertaking lobbying and research which support the promotion of quality housing for people with a learning disability and autism.
Read more about the great work of the LDAHN and our calls for action in the sector – https://docreader.reciteme.com/doc/view/id/64b8c5794d79f
Going forward, we aim to build on our success to date by providing opportunities for people with learning disabilities and autistic people to have more housing choice, greater quality, and improved services and support to enable them to live as independently as possible in local communities.