Shared Lives Plus and Homeshare Annual Conference
Shared Lives plus Staff, Schemes, Carers, Homeshare and Key Stakeholders all gathered in Milton Keynes on 2nd and 3rd October to talk well… Sharing Lives!
Whatever model you work within and whichever people you support to live a better life, it’s good to talk, listen and learn. From us the ‘experts’ to those on the frontline, our stories and experiences validate what we do and there is no shortage of passion from our members.
It was great for me as a new face too to meet some of our Homeshare members and welcome schemes new and old. Two Generations Homeshare and Home Share Living based in London along with York and Carmarthenshire are all new start-ups this year and so positive to see new areas having dedicated Homeshare schemes. Along with Share and Care, Supportmatch, Novus and PossAbilities there was a really supportive atmosphere throughout our workshops, lunch and dinner the previous evening.
The Tenants Fees Bill update from Alex Fox – CEO of Shared Lives Plus was the hot topic in the morning, leaving a bit of time to talk about how we use the website and communicate with the network. Debs and Alice will update and consult with all members on what was the start of some really interesting discussions.
Tara from Social Finance lead the afternoon session where we discussed how we implement a network wide consistent approach to measuring outcomes and our social impact – as individual schemes and as a sector. We need to shout about how Homeshare is changing people’s lives!
It was all over too quickly – we could have talked for hours on all things Homeshare. We at Homeshare UK really see the value in creating opportunities for members to connect and network and will be looking at other ways we can facilitate this over the coming months.
Please keep your eyes peeled for updates from the Google group email and where possible get involved in the conversation so we can truly tailor your network for you!
Debs and Alice