The Trust has eight supported living houses in the Southbourne, Christchurch and Kings Park areas that are home to  providing support to 49 residents, with access to staff support 24 hours per day. The houses vary in size from five to seven bedrooms, many with ensuite shower facilities. All the houses have shared communal spaces so people can come together and socialise and cook and eat together if they choose. Sharing a home does not mean they have to share their lives and all of our tenants enjoy their lives independently as well as with their housemates.

The purpose of supported living is to enable our tenants to live as independently as possible. All of our homes are situated on a residential street within local communities, with good access to public transport links and close to local amenities such as shops, GP surgeries and leisure facilities.

We work closely with local authority learning disability teams to ensure that we match any new tenants very carefully with the people already living in the home to ensure that the home is the most suitable for them and that the peace and tranquillity that current tenants enjoy is not disrupted by introducing someone who has very different needs and expectations.

Regulated by the Care Quality Commission our staff teams work exceptionally hard to ensure that our tenants are well supported and well cared for and are able to live their best and most independent life.

We use the Reach Standards to ensure that our tenants are able to have control in their own lives and make choices and decisions that matter to them:

1. I choose who I live with
2. I choose where I live
3. I have my own home
4. I choose how I am supported
5. I choose who supports me
6. I get good support
7. I choose my friends and relationships
8. I choose how to be healthy and safe
9. I choose how to take part in my community
10. I have the same rights and responsibilities as other citizens
11. I get help to make changes in my life

Everyone has an individualised support and wellbeing plan designed to meet their specific needs and reflect their choices for how they spend their time. Many of our tenants are actively engaged with our day services, but they also have attend other groups and activities in the community, which ensures they are getting out and about and having many different experiences.

Each person benefits from dedicated 1:1 support hours which gives them personal and uninterrupted support from a support worker to enable them to do things that are important to them. This can include help with cooking, shopping and maintaining their personal space, going on a trip to the cinema or into town to do some shopping. Some people enjoy going out for lunch or for a coffee, whilst others enjoy quieter activities such as a walk along the beach or in the park.

This type of individual support is an essential part of ensuring that each person gets the help they need to experience a good quality of life and participate in activities that many would find more challenging to do on their own.

The reward for our staff team is seeing the people they support every day taking such a huge pride in their homes, enjoying sharing their lives with their friends, and living their lives to the full as independently as they can. Seeing people’s confidence and skills grow on a daily basis as they realise that there is a whole world to be explored and they can enjoy the excitement and positive experiences this brings, is heart-warming and inspiring to us all!