Milestone reached – now over 200 carer households

13.10.11

Shared Lives South West has been celebrating another milestone, having now exceeded 200 Shared Lives carer households.

Jane Bell, chief executive commented:

“we have been steadily increasing the capacity of the service over the years, and this is a great milestone achievement for the organisation.  When the organisation was set up in 2004 we had 65 households, so this is remarkable growth.  In fact, it is even more impressive as since the beginning of 2005 we have in fact recruited 185 new Shared Lives carer households , whilst some carers have retired or left the scheme during that time.”

The increase in  numbers of Shared Lives carers means that more people can now choose Shared Lives South West as a support option and as real alternative to residential care or supported living.  The numbers of people using the service has also steadily risen with over 320 people living with or regularly staying with Shared Lives carers,  but this is still a relatively small number in terms of those people with learning disabilities. mental health difficulties or older people across Devon, Cornwall, Torbay and Plymouth.

The organisation is actively recruiting carers across the region, and promoting its services to people looking for support either for regualr breaks or longer term.  Jane Bell adds “many people do not know that Shared Lives exists, so it is important to keep getting the message across that there is a fantastic family based service for people in the South West, that is high quality, cost effective and completely personalised.”

For further information contact Jane Bell, chief executive on 01626 360170 or jbell@sharedlivessw.org.uk