Sharing Magazine Vol 39

Page 6

Sharing

Magazine for the shared living network

Page 14

Kuldip Dhadda wins Outstanding Shared Lives carer of 2022 award: A personal look into what makes Kuldip the carer she is

Cost of living guidance: What support is available and what Shared Lives Plus is doing to help

Shared Lives champion winners, Lee Dowling and his carer Chris Citrine, got surprise awards from Lynne Harrison. See page 4 for more.

Lynne Harrison Head of Membership Shared Lives Plus

Firstly hello!

Welcome to the 2022 winter edition of Sharing magazine. We’ve had an amazing year at Shared Lives Plus which has seen the organisation evolve in many ways. Sharing gives us an opportunity to reflect on this year and the changes we have seen throughout it.

It’s been a challenging year, following on the back of two years of lockdown and the pandemic, we have also seen cost of living increases as well as pressure on respite and pay for carers. In this issue we’ll address these issues again and also look to the future to see how we can overcome these difficulties collectively. Alongside advice we’ll also be sharing positive stories from throughout Shared Lives and discussing some of the plans we have to further support you.

This includes the renewal of our Invaluable pay campaign (see page 8), which aims to give you and your local scheme the guidance you both need to secure pay uplifts, working with local authorities who are facing even more severe pressures than the previous ten years, as I’m sure you’re aware. We also give an update about Your Voice forums we have set up to help give members an opportunity to meet members of our senior management team and hear more about the work we do for you.

There’s considerable coverage of our UK conference which took place in October. It was a great opportunity to come together and discuss new ideas about how we can grow Shared Lives and Homeshare, and hear from Shared Lives carers and the people they support from across the UK.

You can catch up with their speeches on our Youtube channel. Search ‘Shared Lives Plus’ on Youtube. We also celebrated the work

of all Shared Lives carers and announced the winners of this year's Shared Lives Plus awards. The fantastic work of our winners and highly commended members deserved to be recognised. They are representative of the great work being done within Shared Lives throughout the UK.

In September we welcomed the arrival of our new CEO Ewan King. In our last edition he briefly introduced himself. This time around we have a Q&A with Ewan which will let you get to know him a bit more personally and hear what he’s been up to in his first few months.

Our membership team have produced some helpful articles which provide guidance on the current cost-of-living crisis which can hopefully help answer some of your questions. We’ll also be checking in with our carer champions Helen and Steve to see what they’ve been up to recently.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Sharing Magazine. It’s always good to hear from you, so please do let us know what you think.

Annual conference

In October we welcomed over 250 people from across the UK to our annual online conference.

The event lasted two days, and was packed with useful content for our members, with workshops on a wide range of subjects. And of course, we also had our annual awards – a great chance to celebrate the fantastic work of our members. Here’s what some of the attendees had to say.

“Thank you all for an amazing two days from all at Shared Lives Dumfries and Galloway.”

– Helen Robertson

“First conference I have attended and it’s been a great couple of days! Thank you.”

– Nicole Docherty

“Great two days again and positive celebration of this wonderful model of support. Well done everyone.”

– Diane Mcleary

“Well done again to all the team for the seamless arrangements!”

– Steph Downey, Service Director, Gateshead Council

The Talks

This year conference provided an excellent chance for our members to network with one another, hear from our keynote speakers and attend the fantastic 2022 Shared Living awards ceremony.

Keynote speakers

It was a great opportunity to introduce our new CEO, Ewan King. He opened the conference with Kathryn Smith, CEO Social Care Institute for Excellence who reflected on her experiences of being a carer in a home for older people and the relationships that stayed with her, long after she left. Kathryn recognised the extreme pressures the sector is facing and also highlighted how Shared Lives fits into the government's reform of health and social care: "We hear again and again from people who draw on services about the importance of personcentred care; the sort of care and support we would want for our own loved ones. This outcome must be key to any plans for care reform."

Keynote speakers from Shared Lives households, Helen and Paul from Lockerbie, Scotland, Lynne, Ian, Chris and Dennis from the Midlands, Mohinder from London and Richard and Josh from West Sussex, as well as a Homeshare match - Bryan and Melba, and Patricia a volunteer mentor with Family by Family, all gave inspiring, passionate and honest speeches about their experiences. You can watch them on our YouTube channel by searching Shared Lives Plus conference 2022.

The panel discussion reflected on their speeches and how community-based support can change and grow across the UK. We were joined by Josh MacAlister, chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Services, Alex Smith, CEO The Cares Family, Steph Downey, Service Director for Adult Social Care, Gateshead Council, Tom Milnes, Shared Lives Ambassador and Emma Parrish-Andrews, Homeshare Ambassador.

“We need the system to adopt a mindset which says our job is not to provide a relationship as a service but run a service and help it flourish.”

– Josh MacAlister, chair of the Independent Review of Children’s Services

We were delighted to present awards to these exceptional individuals and teams for their achievements over the past year: Watch their surprise award films on YouTube - search Shared Lives Plus Awards 2022 and read their stories on our website.

Human rights award for free expression

Awarded to a person who lives with or visits a Shared Lives carer, for standing up for who they are and what’s right for them.

Winner Highly commended

Joshua Wilkins (West Sussex) Christina Baker (Islington)

Outstanding Shared Lives carer of the year

Awarded to a Shared Lives carer who has gone that extra mile to create better outcomes for the people they support.

Winner Highly commended

Clint Attard (South East Wales Shared Lives)

(Surrey Choices)

Read Kuldip's story on page 6

James Harris (Avalon GroupBotton village)

Kuldip Dhadda

Shared Lives carer Lifetime achievement awards

Awarded to carers who have dedicated their life to growing Shared Lives in their local community and building strong and positive relationships with those they support.

Shared Lives Champions

Awarded to those who go above and beyond to promote Shared Lives both locally and nationally.

Award for scheme innovation

Awarded to a Shared Lives scheme or Homeshare programme that has taken an innovative approach to developing and expanding its service.

Homeshare UK Champion

Awarded to someone who has promoted Homeshare locally, regionally or nationally, to raise awareness of it as an sociable, affordable housing option for older and young people.

Gill Barratt (Homeshare Living householder)

South East Wales Shared Lives Scheme Winner

Winner

Linda and Jeff Manley (Bradford Shared Lives) Winner

Lee Dowling (left) and Chris Citrine (right) (PSS Shared Lives Merseyside) Winner

Kuldip Dhadda was awarded our Outstanding Carer of the year award. How is it she became a Shared Lives carer, and why was she nominated for the award?

Kuldip moved to the UK back in 1980 aged 19, where she stayed with her in laws. Years later she moved to Godalming in Surrey in 1994, where for a period she worked in the airport. Eventually she found herself involved in fostering. These experiences seemed to confirm her desire to work helping others, and in 2014 she became a Shared Lives carer. Kuldip is best known for giving anyone a chance.

“Normally I’m not that interested in what the scheme have to say (about the person) because people change. You know sometimes you’ve got this label you’ve got that label, he’s done this when he was ten, twelve, fourteen, fifteen. But then he was with different people. So I just don’t take much notice of that.” Kuldip says.

“The difficulties many people have is a two-way thing.”

Kuldip takes great interest in the lives of the people she supports, something she believes is key in gaining their respect. She also involves them in her life. Kuldip lives with her grandchildren, and one of the men she cared for, built a very close relationship with them.

“When he was around in the evening he’d say ‘Kuldip you stay in the car’, I’m going to go and get the kids, not only get the kids from the school, he’d speak to the teachers and teaching assistants to see how they’re doing. And he wanted to do that himself, you know he was that much entrusted.”

This attitude has cultivated some lifelong friendships with the people she has supported. This same man she supported is now married and has his own children. On his children’s first day of school he sent Kuldip a picture of them in their uniform. Kuldip was delighted to see the life he was now leading.

Donna Willson, Surrey Choices scheme manager says Kuldip typically supports people with a range of challenges in their lives:

"If we could take Kuldip’s DNA and clone her, we would. She disregards people’s backgrounds, and whilst this attitude may have brought her some tough arrangements, it has also led to her changing the lives of many people."

Congratulations Kuldip! Your generosity compassion and respect are outstanding - and a reflection of so many Shared Lives carers across the UK.

“If we could take Kuldip’s DNA and clone her, we would”

Watch Kuldip’s award video on our YouTube channel – search: Outstanding carer 2022

Grants for carer groups

For some time now, we have had to learn to socialise online. Zoom quizzes with friends, family get togethers on your laptop. This was a lifeline for many of us who craved a bit of contact and wanted to check in with our loved ones.

Here at Shared lives Plus we had to quickly become more IT literate. For many of us computer-phobes, this was a steep learning curve, but we got there. After consideration we moved our carer support groups and cuppas for carers into the virtual realm!

But here we are, able to meet up again, and some of us, our carer champ Steve in particular, really want to get out of our makeshift home offices and see some real people. I know our team are feeling the need to spread our wings again.

So this is our appeal for help…

Let’s get back together!

Are there any carer groups out there, who would like some advice about organising a face to face meet up?

We are here to help!

At our conference the membership team ran a short workshop on setting up carer groups and applying for grants. This isn’t the only guidance we can provide. We are chomping at the bit to help you start up a group, or re-invigorate any groups who are feeling a bit fed up from meeting online.

We’ve had lots of successful events hosted by carers in the past, such as: live music events for our supported people, discos, trips to the seaside, and tea parties galore. So, if you’ve got a particular interest or set of skills why not go for it?

With your grant you could host a family fun afternoon with food and drinks or why not start a Shared Lives carer book club, and hire a room in a lovely café to meet?

You can contact our membership team and invite one of the carer support team, we can help make connections with local organisations, or facilitate some training which could help your group develop in areas where you may feel less confident.

As always, we are here for you to share your highs and lows. Our aim is helping you feel happier and healthier.

Please contact: Rebecca.day@sharedlivesplus.org.uk for further info.

& survey

Invaluable pay campaign

We know that the past couple of years have been particularly hard for you, and we want to ask how you have been impacted and how you are now being impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.

We are building a profile of Shared Lives carers across the UK and finding out about your caring role, your health and wellbeing, money and how often you are able to take a break, so we have a UK-wide picture of what life is like for Shared Lives carers at the moment.

This is the start of our Invaluable campaign, where we will highlight your concerns through a UK wide campaign as well as continuing to raise these concerns with the Governments in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and local authorities.

Firstly, we'd like your feedback on the support we provide as your membership organisation, and secondly about the support you receive from the Shared Lives scheme in your area who support you with your Shared Lives arrangement.

We want to improve the support you get from all levels, but we can only do this with your input. We will also compare your responses to those provided in our Shared Livers carer survey in 2021.

Invaluable pay survey

This short survey should only take a few minutes. You can complete the survey online by searching "Invaluable carers survey" on the Shared Lives Plus website or post it back for free to:

Shared Lives Plus, Freepost, Room G04, The Cotton Exchange, Liverpool, L3 9JR

If you return your survey before Monday 12 December, you will be entered into a prize draw for a hamper so if you would like to be entered, make sure that you add your name or your email address.

Name:

Email address:

Name of scheme:

Age (Year of Birth):

Ethnicity:

How long have you been a Shared Lives carer?:

What type of care do you provide (Shared Lives day support, Shared Lives short breaks, Shared Lives long term arrangements):

(The fields are optional but we will need this to enter you into the prize draw!)

Cost of living and your Shared Lives arrangement

Have you been significantly impacted by the cost-of-living crisis

Yes No Unsure

What impact has this had on you?

Do you have any other income coming into the household?

Yes No

Have you taken on extra paid work outside of Shared lives to make ends meet?

Yes No

Have you considered stopping being a Shared Lives carer because of the cost-of-living crisis?

Yes No Unsure

Why?

Have you considered stopping being a Shared Lives carer for any other reason?

Yes No Unsure

Why?

Have you had any additional payment or increase in payment from your local authority in the past 12 months?

Yes No Unsure

How much and what was this for (eg your care support or food and utilities, instead of respite or a one off payment)?:

How often do you get a break from being a Shared Lives carer?

Four weeks as per the UK guidance

Less than four weeks None

Do you receive paid short breaks/respite?

Yes No Unsure

Do you feel valued as a Shared Lives carer

(1= not at all, 5 = very): 1 2 3 4 5

Health and wellbeing

Would you say your mental health is better or worse than this time last year

Better Worse

Could you tell us why?

Would you say your physical health is better or worse than this time last year

Better Worse

Could you tell us why?

During the last year have you missed or postponed any health appointments due to the demands of your caring role

Yes No

Support from your local Shared Lives scheme

How satisfied are you with the support your scheme provides

not at all,

= very):

What does your scheme do to support you as a Shared Lives carer?

What could your scheme do better to support you as a Shared Lives carer?

Support from Shared Lives Plus – your membership organisation

How satisfied are you with the support that we, Shared Lives Plus provide

not at all, 5 = very): 1 2 3 4 5

Are you aware of your Shared Lives Plus member benefits? Which ones have you used and how useful did you find them?

How

Carer champion support

Carer support helpline

Access to Blue Light card for discounts

Mediation support

Access to carer grants

Independent carer groups

Cost of living resources on website

Public Liability Insurance

Legal expenses helpline related to Shared Lives caring

Legal advice helpline for general advice

Tax and Benefits helpline

Online carer forum

Sharing magazine

Shared Lives Plus fortnightly bulletin

Access to Shared Lives specific mortgage advice

Access to Shared Lives specific household insurance

Information about the Shared Lives carer charter

What could Shared Lives Plus do better to support you as a Shared Lives carer?

We do appreciate you taking the time to do this, we want to make sure your voices are heard in this campaign, and we will keep you informed on our findings, how we are using it in our campaigns, and we will also share examples of good practice and things that are working well.

Thank you!

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a lovely summer either here or abroad. We certainly were spoilt with gorgeous weather here in the UK. I personally did not go away this year as I had a very sick dog whom sadly, I had to let go.

The people I support and Tony my husband did go away and had four glorious weeks away in sunny Calabria in Southern Italy which they really did enjoy. Dare I mention Christmas. The truth is it will soon be here upon us, and we will all be chasing around in hope that we can pick up a bargain or two!

All Shared Lives Plus members can apply for the Blue Light card, the discount service for those working in social care. We can issue you the correct ID and instructions for you to apply. There are some special discounts going on and lots of savings to be made. Last year the money I saved on my washing machine from using the Blue Light Card paid for my Shared Lives Plus membership.

I wish you all well and hope you all stay safe. I shall pass you on to my partner in crime and Shared Lives Plus carer Champion, Steve Collis.

Thanks Helen, hello fellow carers! It has been a whirlwind of events since I last wrote to you all. I don't think Helen and myself have ever been busier. We are both hard at work setting up new independent carer groups. Over the last three months we have helped five groups get started. We helped set up a group in South Wales, thanks to the "Ategi Dragons" for making us feel so welcome.

Supporting each other at this moment in time is so important. I know that no matter what, we as carers have to keep on giving amazing standards of support to the people we share our lives with, so peer support is important to let off steam and gain a different perspective to your own caring experience.

If any of you would like to talk to us about setting up a group in your area please contact the Membership team on: 0151 227 3499 or email: steve@sharedlivesplus. org.uk or helen@sharedlivesplus.org.uk. We’d be so happy to help you connect with fellow carers in your area and to work together with your scheme to make things better for people you support and yourselves.

Helen and I wish you all a peaceful Christmas once it finally comes, Steve

Helen Piscioneri, Shared Lives champion

Steve Collis, Shared Lives champion

Cost of living support guidance

What support is available?

Discount on your energy bills

In response to the significant rise in energy prices, the government announced in February that they would be issuing a £200 discount on energy bills for all bill-payers, repayable over the following months. Now, the government has increased the discount to £400 and removed the need to repay it.

The discount will be automatically deducted from bill payers’ usual payment method – either credited to the account of those paying through direct debit, or to the cards of those paying through a pre-pay method. Shared Lives carers and Householders, if they are bill payers in their household, will automatically qualify for this discount and you do not need to take any action.

Could you be eligible for an energy grant?

Billions of pounds go unclaimed each year, and there are several grants open to people with caring needs. When you apply for a grant, you’ll have to provide detailed information about your financial situation in your application.

For more information visit: www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/grants

Winter Fuel Payments

Winter Fuel Payments were introduced by the government in order to help ensure that people born before 26/9/1956 could afford to keep warm over the winter. To apply either visit: www.gov.uk/winter-fuelpayment/how-to-claim 11 or it is possible in some circumstances for Shared Lives carers to contact their utility company direct and they may ask for evidence that the carer or the person they support are eligible.

To find out more information & check your eligibility for all Winter Fuel Payment Support, including Warm Home Discount & Cold Weather Payment please visit: www.gov.uk/winter-fuel-payment/how-to-claim 11

Help from energy suppliers

Priority services register

All energy providers have a list called a “Priority Services Register” which can provide extra protections and adaptions for those caring for others.

You or a member of your household could be classed as “vulnerable” if you:

Are disabled or have a long-term health condition

Are recovering from an injury

Have mental health problems

Don’t speak or read English well

Have children under 5 or are pregnant

Have reached your State Pension age

The list of potential extra services is quite long and varies by energy supplier, but may include advance notice of power cuts, meter reading and priority support during emergencies.

If you think that you or your household might benefit from the Priority Services Register, start by contacting your supplier

If you are struggling with your bills

If at any time you find it difficult to keep up with energy bills, your supplier has a duty to help. You can ask your energy supplier for:

A review of your payments or debt repayments

Payment breaks or reductions

More time to pay your bills

Access to hardship funds

Priority Service registration.

Get in touch with them early to make a plan together.

Is it worth changing energy supplier?

The easiest way to save money on energy historically has been to switch energy regularly to ensure you’re on a good deal.

To check if this is the best course of action for you, there are many energy supplier comparison sites such as USwitch who can help you decide.

Search Keywords: Cost of living

Search for this on our website and you will find up to date information on what support is currently available to Shared Lives carers.

You can read about our Invaluable pay campaign on page 8

What is Shared Lives Plus doing to help carers with the cost of living?

Our work with schemes

Shared Lives Plus recommends that Shared Lives carers be paid in three parts. These payments should be:

A board and lodgings payment

– This payment should be paid from a person’s benefits.

A housing payment

– This usually comes from the supported persons Universal Credit or Housing Benefit.

A care and support payment

– This is normally funded by adult social care.

We have been working with Shared Lives schemes to explore how they can increase board and lodgings and/or care and support payments.

1. Where possible, Shared Lives Plus has recommended that Shared Lives schemes secure an increased weekly contribution towards food and utilities from the supported person.

In some cases, it may be possible for Shared Lives schemes to request an increase to the board and lodgings payment from the local authority or whoever is responsible for the supported person’s contribution.

This may not be possible where:

schemes are contractually obliged to a pre-determined rate over a set a period.

A person already receives lower amounts of benefits, for example where the person is under 25 years old.

A scheme operates a flat rate payment

i.e., Where the Local Authority deducts the board and lodgings payment and housing benefit from the overall payment to ensure all carers receive the same payment.

2. We are also supporting Shared Lives schemes to achieve uplifts to care and support payments where this has not yet been achieved.

We have already heard from several schemes who have achieved uplifts to the care and support payments this year. We also know that many schemes are still working to obtain uplifts on behalf of Shared Lives carers.

We have recommended that Shared Lives schemes ensure that they are on the “other care providers” list within the local authority/HSC. This means that Shared Lives carers pay will be reviewed whenever there is a general review of care provider pay.

Shared Lives Plus has also outlined how Shared Lives schemes can lobby for uplifts by gathering evidence on how the cost of living is impacting carers energy bills and other living expenses.

Campaigns and influencing

We are getting ready to relaunch our #Invaluable campaign, which seeks to ensure Shared Lives carers are paid fairly for their essential work.

We have raised the issue of the cost-ofliving grant with the Department of Work and Pensions, and we will raise this again in our next meeting. We have highlighted to the DWP that the cost-of-living grant does not account for Shared Lives, and that it makes it difficult for Shared Lives carers to access any of this support payment towards the overall cost of living in the Shared Lives household.

We are also allies of the Disability Poverty Campaign Group (DPCG), a new coalition led by Disability Rights UK and Inclusion London. The purpose of the group is to respond to increasing poverty in the Disabled community around food, fuel, and benefits as the cost-of-living increases.

How can Shared Lives carers approach the government about the cost of living?

Shared Lives carers can also play a role in highlighting the impact of the rising cost-ofliving for people with disabilities, and those that work in the care sector.

One way to do this is to join The Action Network letter writing campaign calling for an emergency uprating of benefits in line with inflation, and a review of “extra care” benefits designed to cover the additional costs of living with disability. If you would like to add your voice to the campaign, you can send a virtual letter via The Action Network website.

Your Voice carer forum

In July, we held our third Your Voice carer member forum. They are an opportunity for Shared Lives carers to meet with our senior managers, and for our small team to update members on their current work. The main things that we discussed were the ongoing cost of living crisis, and the range of Shared Lives carer pay across the country.

Firstly, Shared Lives carers at the Your Voice forum expressed that they were worried about paying bills this winter. Some carers are understandably anxious about paying heating bills for supported people who remain at home all day throughout the winter.

The cost of living grants that people being supported have received or will receive are complicated. Based on legal advice, we recommend that Shared Lives schemes initiate a conversation with the person they support about either the £650 or £150 grants. We have also created two easy read documents to help Shared Lives schemes give supported people all the information that they need to make a fully informed decision about their grant money. This is to safeguard the Shared Lives carer against allegations of coercion and financial abuse.

We also now have a new relationship with the Department of Work and Pensions and so we have also raised the issue of the cost-of-living grant, given the fact it does not account for Shared Lives carers, and we will raise this again in our next meeting with them.

As well as the cost of living, we discussed how different benefits received by supported people often means that carers receive different levels of payment.

There was general agreement that it is not the carer’s responsibility to ensure fair levels of pay, and it is not all solely Shared Lives schemes’ responsibility. Rather, it is down to local authority and commissioners to ensure fair pay. This has been a long-standing priority for members and the Shared Lives Plus team, therefore we are re-launching the “Invaluable” pay campaign, based on the information you provide in the survey (centre pages) so please do take a few minutes to complete it, so that we can make the campaign based on evidence and focus on the real issues you face.

Finally, Shared Lives Plus outlined the process for electing a Shared Lives carer to serve as both Your Voice chair, and a trustee on the board of governors. At the time of writing, there have not been enough expressions of interest to go ahead with the election. If you are interested in the role, please search on our website 'Your Voice chair' or email info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk for a chat and come along to our next Your Voice on Thursday 26 January 2023.

Thank you to all carers who get in touch with us – we are committed to working on the issues you care about and Your Voice forums are a great way to share what’s happening.

Spreading the word

Spreading the word about Shared Lives in Slovenia

Ambassadors, Abby and Heather, and Scotland Development Officer, Nicola, were invited by Scottish Charity ‘In Control Scotland’ to talk to a group from Slovenia. The delegates were all connected to an institution for 270 people with learning disabilities that is closing. They wanted to discover different ways to support people who currently live there.

Abby, Heather and Nicola tell us what happened here: Nicola starts: “We thought this would be a great opportunity to make a difference to people’s lives as they move on from the institution".

Abby summed it up: “it would give them an idea about how people live before moving to Shared Lives and how much of an amazing impact it has on people.” Heather also felt it was important to be involved “because Shared Lives has brought me a family and a community where I feel safe.”

The delegates were interested to hear about Shared Lives along with Heather and Abby’s story of how it has worked for them. Heather felt she wanted to share her story, and said “I have personally seen the difference. In an institution it feels like you are being watched 24 hours. In an ordinary home you get support, independence, but most importantly a loving home.”

The group asked questions about how Shared Lives carers are recruited and how Ambassadors are employed, as well as learning what a labradoodle was! Having everything we said translated into Slovenian was a new experience for all of us. However, inspiring people with the stories of happy lives that are attainable with Shared Lives made the nerves worth it! We hope we gave the group a glimpse of how Shared Lives can help people reach their potential, and in the words of Heather show “that a personal touch in care can really change someone's life.”

This was the first outing for this ‘Scotland Dream Team’, but we hope to have many opportunities to share our stories in the future. Abby has future aspirations for sharing the power of Shared Lives: “I think it would be amazing if people from other places also came over and heard our stories, it will help them so much in their future and in their jobs.”

Ewan King CEO, Shared Lives Plus

Getting to know Ewan King CEO

In the last edition of Sharing Magazine Ewan introduced himself, and in this edition you have the chance to get to know what he’s been up to in his first two months and more about him on a personal level.

Ewan has been visiting Shared Lives carers and schemes in all four countries of the UK. He is also focusing on the future of Shared Lives.

“Shared Lives, with all the promise it holds, has yet to grow to its potential. Our recent analysis of local authority areas shows that just 1-2% of their local population with a learning disability, and who draw on social care support, are accessing Shared Lives.” Says Ewan.

“In the last few months, we have been trying to find out what works in supporting Shared Lives to grow. As you would hope, there is lot of good practice about. I've heard from Shared Lives carers how tough it is at the moment, not only with the cost of living, but also as day support has not restarted everywhere meaning you're not getting breaks, and in some places respite has reduced too."

"We have got to make things better for Shared Lives carers in all these areas: through our Invaluable pay campaign which will show us where some areas haven't included Shared Lives in the annual adult social care pay reviews, as well as the impact this has on your wellbeing. We need to help local authorities get things right for you now, as well as recruit new carers.”

“If the mantra for how we develop social care is increasingly about ‘giving people a life not a service’, then now is the time grow Shared Lives.”

We were also shocked to read the Care Quality Commission’s latest report into the State of Social Care and released a statement:

“We are appalled by the huge inequalities highlighted in the report that autistic people and people with learning disabilities continue to face when accessing care and support. In particular, we are concerned by the many people who continue to spend unnecessary and lengthy periods of time in closed culture care settings.

“We call upon the government to invest in the cost-effective, high quality and person-centred Shared Lives care model.”

Quickfire questions and answers!

Q: A: What do you enjoy most about your job?

I get to meet brilliant people almost every day – carers, people who are part of Shared Lives, workers and the great team at Shared Lives Plus.

Q: A: How would your best friend describe you?

Kind, I hope funny (sometimes) but also forgetful

Q: A: What’s your dream job (other than Shared Lives Plus CEO)?

Novelist – I want to write the great British novel!

Q: A: If you could have dinner with one famous person (dead or alive) who would it be?

Joshua Wong, a young political activist in Hong Kong who led the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. He is very brave and currently in prison.

Q: A: What’s your favourite film?

Heat (the one where Al Pacino and Robert De Nero meet in a café!)

Q: A: What’s something not many people know about you?

I am obsessed with Korean drama.

Q: A: What is your favourite sport?

Has to be football. I support Hearts in Scotland, and Everton in England.

Q: A: What are three things on your bucket list?

Visit South Korea, Go on a road trip across the US, Watch Scotland in the World Cup finals – please, make it happen!

Q: A: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

Swamp with warmth. When things are tricky and conversations are difficult, be warm and engaging.

Q: A: What’s your worst habit?

Forgetting my keys.

Q: A: What’s your family like?

My wife is Chinese, so we have a lot of amazing Chinese food. I have three lovely children, Noah, Ben and Bella.

Membership enquiries:

Shared Lives Plus Office 0151 227 3499 info@sharedlivesplus .org.uk

Shared Lives Plus carer helpline:  0151 227 3499

A message will be taken and one of the carer support team will call you back

Mortgage advice:

Mortgage Brain: Katie/Marcus 0800 987 1700

Benefit advice:

Jackson Lees 0151 541 0240

UK tax return service: NB There is a charge for this service

BK Plus: Jane Barrett 0121 794 2289 BTax@bkplus.co.uk

BWM Accountants: Sue Stephens 0151 236 1494 currently £175 + VAT

Legal advice:  General telephone legal advice on any legal matter, including de-approval

Jackson Lees 0151 541 0240 where you will be put through to the relevant department

For legal expenses enquiries 0330 303 1876

To make a claim on your legal expenses cover: ARAG 0117 917 1698

Insurance:  Towergate main line 0113 236 8603

Public liability queries: Craig Pinches 07515 629473

For Household/Travel/ Motor Insurance:  Christine Howard 0113 236 8603

Christine.Howard@ towergate.co.uk

Find out more

To find out more about anything in this issue, search on sharedlivesplus.org.uk using the suggested search keywords.

Search Keywords: Sharing 38

www.sharedlivesplus.org.uk

info@sharedlivesplus.org.uk

Company number 4511426 Reg Charity number (Scotland) SC042743 Reg Charity number(England and Wales) 1095562