Organisational Strategy 2023–26

A place of Kindness

Organisational Strategy 2023-26

Nurturing growth and connection

What we do

Who we are

Looking to the horizon

Our strategic objectives

Our commitments

What we do

Quarriers works with and for people who need support.

We help people to live independently in their local communities, to contribute as citizens, to nurture the relationships that matter to them, and to create the conditions that will help them flourish. We are driven by strong values rooted in a belief that by giving people support and opportunity, we encourage them to thrive. We offer people practical support so that they can live full and purposeful lives.

At Quarriers, we seek to amplify the voices of people we support in our campaign for social justice and social inclusion. We are committed to bringing about positive changes in people’s lives through direct support and by challenging stigma, poverty and inequality.

The people we support

• We support people with learning disabilities and autism to live independently at home.

• We work with people who are recovering from drug and alcohol dependency to find stability and structure in their lives.

• We work with people from disadvantaged neighbourhoods who struggle with their mental health and wellbeing.

• We offer short breaks for disabled people, and emotional and practical support for family carers.

• We provide foster care, kinship care and adult placement services, which provide family environments for children and adults respectively.

• We offer residential care for adults and children.

• We work with young people who are struggling with their mental health and wellbeing by encouraging their participation in school and their wider community.

• We provide housing support to young people who are care leavers or at risk of becoming homeless.

• In partnership with the NHS, we operate the Scottish Epilepsy Centre, which supports the diagnosis of complex epilepsy.

Being homeless is horrible because there’s no stability. You’re moving from place to place. Even if you do get housed by the local authority, it’s not easy — there’s paying bills, making sure you’ve got enough food, making your money last. Nobody really teaches you all that and there were a lot of times when I didn’t know how to do it. That’s where Quarriers helped. It’s not just making sure you’re in a place, it’s making sure you can survive.

Since being supported by Quarriers, my confidence is probably the main thing that’s changed. For example, I usually don’t like new things or new people, but last week I went out for a walk with one of the new staff members and then we did a supported food shop, and I was feeling that it was just nice to meet somebody new. Even six months ago, I would not have done that, I would have said ‘no’ straight away at the thought of it, but I’m getting over that step by step. It’s good to know people actually care.

Young person supported by Quarriers

Staff and volunteers

The dedication, imagination and values exhibited by Quarriers’ staff and volunteers make meaningful and practical differences to the lives of people we support –every single day.

Over the last few years, we have improved terms and conditions, and implemented baseline pay in excess of the Scottish Living Wage.

We deliver some of the most comprehensive and engaging learning available in the sector, aiming to ensure that members of staff are competent and feel genuinely valued.

We are dedicated to providing qualifications and advanced management and leadership programmes to nurture development and help people achieve a standard of practice they can be proud of.

We have devised new, imaginative and award-winning recruitment campaigns, bringing new talent into our organisation.

For those who want to further their ambitions, we have expanded our opportunities and internal pathways to ensure Quarriers not only provides a job but also a career.

I just love it so much here. There’s something about our work that is quite captivating. I went from being a Relief Worker to getting a full-time position as Project Worker, then two years ago the Team Leader post came up and I got it.

I think there is a misconception about what social care is from an outsider’s point of view. It would be nice if everyone got to experience a job like this. It really makes you think about what we do in our role.

We may be the only people these kids have, and their life is us. So we are fighting for them to make sure they are kept safe and well day to day. But we also get to experience the bigger things with them, and you get to see the joy that they have from that. And those are experiences that a lot of them have never had the opportunity to have before.

As selfish as it may sound, it’s a nice feeling to go home at the end of the day knowing that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life.

Our impact

Contribution: We asked our staff what they are most proud of –and they said that it was making a difference to the lives of people we support.

Quality: The Care Inspectorate recognises the quality of our support – 95% of our services are rated as good or excellent.

Diversity: The public and our wider stakeholders say that we are well known for our diversity of service provision, which gives us unique insight and experience.

Heritage: Quarriers is over 150 years old. But we want to be known for what we do now, not what we did in the past.

People: Investors in People has given Quarriers Platinum accreditation, making us one of the best employers in our sector.

Added value: We bring in more than £3 million in additional fundraising and grant income to complement the work we do with local authorities.

How we raise our money How

How we spend our money (£m)

Organisational Strategy 2023-26

• Housing support

• Youth homelessness

• Housing support

• Head injuries

• Short breaks

11. Moray

• Carer support

• Drug and alcohol recovery

• The Bow Café

• Epilepsy outreach

• Housing support

• Short breaks

• Housing support

• Short breaks for carers

• Housing support

• Youth homelessness

12. Aberdeenshire

• Carer support

• Epilepsy outreach

• Carer support

• Housing support

• Education inclusion

• Youth homelessness

• Young people’s mental health

• Foster and kinship care

• Family support

• Short breaks for carers

• Epilepsy assessment and treatment

• Housing support

• Residential care

• Short breaks for carers

• Housing support

• Housing support

17. Dumfries and Galloway

• Supported youth housing

• Short breaks for carers

• Family support

• Carer support

• Fostering/shared lives

13. Aberdeen City

• Carer support

• Epilepsy outreach

14. Falkirk

• Children’s rights

• Youth mentoring

15. Fife

• Housing support

• Epilepsy outreach

16. Scottish Borders

• Young people’s mental health

1. East Ayrshire

2. East Dunbartonshire

3. East Renfrewshire

4. Glasgow

5. Inverclyde

6. North Ayrshire

7. North Lanarkshire

8. Renfrewshire

9. West Dunbartonshire

10. South Ayrshire

Who we are

Quarriers is a self-confident and ambitious charity. We believe that we have a role in making Scotland a better place. We have a vision about the type of society we want to bring into being, and a mission that will help us achieve that.

Vision

A Scotland in which people can access support, find kindness and thrive.

Mission

To nurture supportive relationships, provide high-quality care, and promote inclusive communities.

Why our values matter

At Quarriers, we live and breathe our values. They are the principles that underpin our practice, guide our decisions and inform our campaigns.

We want our values to be absorbed and exhibited by everyone who works with us. The first training we offer new staff is on our core values. Team members will discuss with their line managers how they exhibit these values in their practice. Our senior team seeks to live by our values in our decision-making and in our partnerships with others.

Skills can be learned and experience gained – but our values are elemental. We might share some of these values with others who provide health and social care, but that only serves to reinforce how foundational they are.

Organisational Strategy 2023-26

Compassion - We will demonstrate kindness in everything we do.

Empowerment - We will ensure that people can access their rights, and exercise choice and control over the support they receive and the goals they pursue.

Inclusion - Together, we will support people to be included in community life by creating opportunities to volunteer, develop friendships, build skills and confidence, and pursue employment, learning and leisure.

Dignity - We will promote wellbeing and respect the unique worth of every person: people we support, their families, our colleagues and volunteers. We will celebrate diversity and recognise the contribution of people of all backgrounds.

Partnership - We will work with other organisations to improve the lives of people we support, and commit to innovation in the development of our services.

Accountability - We will work openly and honestly, develop trusting relationships, and ensure that we fulfil our duty of care. We will exhibit professional bravery in advocating for the people we support.

Excellence - We will continuously develop our staff and volunteers with the skills to deliver the highest level of person-centred support, curiosity and professionalism.

Outcome-focused - We will listen to and work with the people we support to achieve what they want and need, and support them to tell their stories about their lives.

Looking to the horizon

The economy. Constrained government spending and high levels of inflation have affected our finances, and we expect these trends to continue across the next three years. We will need to face up to this challenge by focusing on our financial sustainability.

The labour market will continue to be tight, with high levels of competition for staff. We need to continue to focus on retaining and attracting talent, to offer flexible work, and support staff wellbeing.

Service demand. We could see a greater share of social care funding focused on the growing older population, which would squeeze government spending in core areas like learning disability, autism and epilepsy. We also predict an increase in unmet need for carer support, mental health services, family support and youth homelessness services.

National policy: The delivery of The Promise and the reform of adult social care is likely to dominate the social policy debate over the next three years. We need to hold Government and Parliament to account for the effective delivery of reform in a way which strengthens people’s rights, respects local communities and increases participation.

Across the next decade, we will have to confront a range of strategic challenges rooted in global warming, technological change and economic uncertainty. To that end, we will pursue the following longer-term objectives:

• A sustainable organisation

We will place sustainability at the heart of our work. That means being a responsible employer, committed to fair work and adding value to local communities. It means taking our commitment to being a net-zero carbon emitter by improving our care environments and helping people we support to access greener energy and better housing. It means ensuring that our long-term financial health is based on diverse and reliable income generation.

• A digitally-connected organisation

We will equip our staff and volunteers with the skills and insight to thrive in a digital world. We will invest in digital systems that support the running of the organisation and the care of the people we support. We will promote the inclusion of people we support within the digital economy.

• A politically-connected organisation

Faced with political and economic uncertainty, we will make sure that we are well-positioned to influence decision makers and political leaders so that they understand the needs and interests of the people we support.

• A flexible organisation

With changes in national policy and ongoing constraints on public finance, we will work with people we support and commissioners to design services that are flexible and responsive, and deliver high-quality outcomes.

Strategic Objectives 2023-26

Our strategic objectives over the next three years are categorised across four themes. In support of these objectives, it is important that we set out clear, achievable and relevant performance indicators that can be measured.

• Opportunity, citizenship and rights

How the people we support can be provided with opportunity, have their contribution fostered, and be supported to understand their rights as citizens.

• Sustainability

The changes we need to introduce as an organisation in order to deliver our wider commitments: how we become a more sustainable organisation, how we will become more autonomous, and how we can improve the support we offer our staff and volunteers.

• Our organisational heart

What makes us tick – the relationships we have, the communities we serve, and the partnerships we’ve developed. It also explains how we’ll drive forward our organisational development.

• Service development

What we will do as an organisation to expand the support arrangements we offer in order to meet growing levels of unmet need.

Theme 1: Opportunity, citizenship and rights

• Inclusion: We will ensure that the people we support have the skills and opportunities to participate in the digital economy; to build family, volunteering and social connections; and understand their rights and opportunities as citizens. We will increase the involvement of people in the design of their own support.

• Transitions: We will support people to work through major life transitions, from childhood to adulthood, from adulthood into older age, and from care to independence. We will fulfil our role in keeping The Promise.

• Lived experience: We will promote the value of lived experience in the governance of our organisation, our employment practices and the support of people who have experienced trauma.

• Diversity: We will deepen our commitment to being an organisation that values the diversity of our staff, our volunteers and the people we support.

Theme 2: Sustainability

• Our voice and autonomy

We will amplify the voices of people we support in our campaign for social justice, social inclusion and opportunity for all. We will continue to call for an increase in the wages of the social care workforce and make a positive contribution to the reform of the social care system.

• Our people

We will position ourselves as an employer of choice by developing the Quarriers Academy to nurture staff and volunteers through a highly personalised learning environment, career development and wellbeing resource. We will continue to pay above the Scottish Living Wage, commit to Fair Work and deliver on our Staff Pledge. We will equip our staff and volunteers with the platforms, skills and insight to thrive in a digital world.

• Working sustainably

We will respond to the climate emergency by transforming our buildings and estate, find new ways of working within the organisation that reduce our carbon footprint, incentivise greener commuting and agile working, and ensure our external suppliers abide by rigorous environmental standards. This will be part of our Climate and Sustainability Plan.

• Our resources

We will achieve financial sustainability and enhance our autonomy by building new income streams from fundraising and social enterprise by further reducing our pension deficit and by redesigning loss-making services.

Theme 3: Our organisational heart

• Relationships and connections

Emerging from the pandemic, we want to redefine our professional relationships, strengthen practice development and advocate for the right support at the right time for the right person.

• Community

Our services will be woven into the fabric of communities, where the people we support can contribute as citizens, and where we tap into local amenities and contribute to local economies.

• Partnership

Holistic care and support requires partnership. We will work openly and constructively with commissioners, other providers, grant funders and our commercial partners to co-design and make improvements in the way we deliver support.

• Continuous improvement

In support of this plan, we will develop and publish a Quarriers Development Plan, which will have detailed actions to support continuous improvement and organisational development.

Theme 4: Service development

• Children and families

We will expand our service footprint and geographical reach in the provision of mental health and wellbeing services to school-aged children, exploring opportunities to partner with education authorities and the primary care system. To combat the effects of poverty, we will expand community-based resource centres that support disadvantaged families and young people.

• Epilepsy

We will consolidate the Scottish Epilepsy Centre as an international centre of expertise by maintaining clinical excellence, investing in research and development, and utilising cutting-edge technology.

• Quarrier’s Village

In response to the unmet needs of carers and the people they support, we will develop a proposal for a best-in-class short breaks facility as part of a Quarrier’s Village masterplan. We will also lead a conversation about the future of residential care for adults with learning disabilities, exploring opportunities to move away from traditional service models towards independent living arrangements.

• Independence and inclusion

To promote independence and inclusion, we will commit more deeply to Self-Directed Support by increasing the number of people we support with a Direct Payment. We will develop our capacity to co-produce support arrangements with people we support and redesign services with our commissioning partners.

Organisational Strategy 2023-26

Our commitments

Target annual reductions of 5% in our carbon footprint, as part of a longerterm goal to be a netzero emitter by 2050 (from April 2023)

Launch a campaign in support of the inclusion of people with learning disabilities in the digital economy (September 2023)

Increase by 5% annually our fundraised income and nonrestricted grant funding (from April 2024)

Develop a feasibility plan for a new short breaks service (December 2024)

Launch a campaign for the equitable provision of support to people for whom epilepsy is reducing their life opportunities (March 2025)

2023

Continue to pay above the Scottish Living Wage (from October 2023)

Refresh our estate strategy (by March 2024)

2026

Publish a detailed Climate and Sustainability Plan (October 2024)

Agree a masterplan for the development of Quarrier’s Village (December 2025)

Deliver a digital platform to host personalised training, development and wellbeing support within the Quarriers Academy (June 2023)

Begin to transition from residential care to independent living services for adults with learning disabilities (from July 2023)

Raise over £400,000 to refresh the clinical technology used at the Scottish Epilepsy Centre (December 2023)

Increase the number of people we support who have Direct Payments by 5% (from July 2024)

Retain our Investors In People Platinum accreditation (June 2025)

About this strategy

This is Leah. Her drawing is an authentic representation of what Quarriers means to her. Her message wasn’t scripted or prompted. But it did inspire the theme of our strategy — kindness.

This strategy was informed by staff, stakeholders and people we support through more than 30 staff engagement sessions, discussion with commissioners, and detailed conversations with people we support about our work and plans. Participation and involvement sit at the heart of our organisation.

Organisational Strategy 2023-26

Quarriers services are independently regulated by:

Care Inspectorate Healthcare Improvement Scotland

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR)

Organisational Strategy 2023-26