The City of Wolverhampton Council has awarded Camphill Village Trust a new contract to continue delivering Shared Lives across the city for the next 2 to 4 years.
Shared Lives supports adults and young people aged 16 and over who need care and support by matching them with trained carers who welcome them into their homes. The service is open to care leavers and young people moving into adult services, older adults, and people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health needs, or physical or sensory impairments.
How Shared Lives Works
The service provides long-term living arrangements, short breaks, day support and other flexible care options. Kate Morgan, Head of Service and Registered Manager for Shared Lives at Camphill Village Trust, explained how the scheme operates.
"Shared Lives is similar to foster care but we work with adults, supporting them to live as part of a family, either on a long term basis, where somebody is matched and moves in with a Shared Lives carer, or for short breaks, which gives them the opportunity of enjoying respite with a family," Morgan said.
"With Shared Lives, the individual is matched with their Shared Lives carer, which means that the carer and the person get to know each other really well. They get to know their skills, their interests, their hobbies, their likes, and their dislikes, just like normal families, and people really thrive having that one to one personalised support."
Real-World Impact
Shared Lives carer Faye Downes, who has supported people through fostering and Shared Lives for more than 2 decades, welcomed the recommissioning. Faye and her husband Mick first fostered Shane Jarvis when he was 10 years old and continue to support him as an adult through Shared Lives.
"Moving into Shared Lives was a natural step for us. Shane had already become part of our family and has fitted in from day one," Faye said. "We've loved having him with us and watching him grow into the young man he is today. Seeing the progress he has made over the years makes us incredibly proud."
Shane Jarvis, who has a learning disability, reflected on the positive impact the service has had on his life. "Since living with Faye and Mick, my life has been really good. Shared Lives helps people who might find it difficult to manage on their own. Having that support means I can take part in activities, look at future job opportunities and do more things independently."
Morgan added: "We have been recommissioned to provide Shared Lives and we are really happy to be working in partnership with the City of Wolverhampton Council to continue to build up the service, and to make it even bigger and better."