National social care charity Community Integrated Care celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Community Integrated Care is one of the UK’s largest social care and health care charities, supporting over 2500 people with learning disabilities, mental health concerns, autism and age-related needs, living across England and Scotland. It employs over 5000 staff and in 2012 had a turnover of £93 million.
The charity was founded on 15th March 1988 by Dr David Robertson, a Halton-based GP, to support people with learning disabilities to move from institutional hospitals, where they lived with limited choice, into supported living in the community, so they could enjoy fuller, more independent lives. It was one of the true pioneers of the ‘care in the community’ agenda, championing the rights and dignity of people with care needs, working to overcome social exclusion and giving them their rightful stake in society.
Staff and people supported at Inglenook in Widnes, one Community Integrated Care’s first ever services, celebrate the charity’s 25th anniversary. From left: John Plant, Karen Riley (Support Worker at Inglenook), Norah Thompson, June Dunn (Team Leader of Inglenook) and Frank Topping.
Community Integrated Care has since grown to become a national provider of care and support services, assisting people with a wide range of needs in the community and in its own specialist services. Throughout its 25 year history, the charity has consistently worked to advance standards in the care sector, most recently launching ‘EachStep’, a ground-breaking £5 million dementia care service in Manchester, which can uniquely support people from diagnosis until the end of their lives.
The organisation celebrated this landmark date by announcing that it will be holding a 25th Anniversary National Conference and Awards event, to be held at Lancashire Cricket Club on November 28th, for its colleagues, the people they support and its professional partners. The charity has also rewarded colleagues with an extra half day of leave and supported its services to host their own local celebrations.
Neil Matthewman, Chief Executive of Community Integrated Care, says, “For a quarter of a century, Community Integrated Care has supported the most vulnerable people in society, helping them to fulfil their potential and enjoy better lives in the community. We can take great pride in being an organisation that has changed thousands of lives and of playing our part in creating a more inclusive society.”
He continues, “We continue to hold these pioneering values at heart, providing the many people who we support today with services that offer greater independence, choice and dignity. I believe that our charity is in a strong position to continue to thrive for the next quarter century and beyond, and look forward to an exciting future for Community Integrated Care.”