Creative Support

Creative Support: a national not-for-profit care and support provider

Creative Support is a not-for-profit organisation that describes itself as one of the largest national providers of prevention and care services in England. It works across more than 70 local authorities in the North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humberside, the Midlands, London and the South East. Its stated purpose is to promote the independence, inclusion and wellbeing of people with care and support needs, working alongside the people it supports, their families and partner agencies.

The organisation reports that over the last 12 months it supported 7,000 people with care and support needs, while a further 1,400 tenants benefited from the provision of housing with support. It employs more than 5,000 staff.

Services and people supported

Creative Support provides person-centred services for people with a learning disability, autism and mental health needs, and also supports people with a physical disability and older people with care and support needs, including people living with dementia. Its range of provision covers supported living, residential care, community support, respite services and domiciliary care.

It is also a major provider of supported housing, with accommodation schemes that in many cases have been adapted to individual needs. Other areas of activity described by the organisation include:

• Supported living services for people with a learning disability, designed to enable fulfilling lives.
• Services for people with very complex needs developed under the Transforming Care policy agenda.
• Creative day opportunities that support personal development, social inclusion and pathways into work.
• Individually tailored support for people with autistic spectrum conditions and physical disabilities.
• Supported housing and outreach services for people with mental health needs, focused on recovery, rehabilitation and moving on to greater independence.
• Extra care and community support services that help older people retain their independence.

Approach to support

The organisation states a commitment to a person-centred philosophy of service delivery. Among the principles it sets out are promoting rights, opportunity, choice and wellbeing; offering respect and unconditional positive regard; providing personalised, compassionate care that protects self-esteem, dignity and safety; and using an assets and strengths-based approach built on the abilities, resources, preferences and aspirations of service users.

It also describes active support intended to build individual skills and independence, accountability for safe, evidence-based care with positive outcomes, and service user empowerment, involvement and co-production in the design, delivery and evaluation of services. Further aims include facilitating meaningful activities and social relationships, building social networks and informal family and peer support, and creating pathways towards education, training, volunteering and paid employment.

History and governance

The organisation was founded in 1990 as Manchester Housing Consortium, with the aim of developing housing and support services for people with mental health needs in Manchester, particularly to help people move from long-stay institutions into their own homes. It registered as an Industrial and Provident Society with charitable status in 1991 and adopted the name Creative Support in 1994 to reflect its ambition to become a national provider of charitable services.

In January 2012 it registered as a provider of social housing with the TSA, now Homes England. It became a Community Benefit Society with charitable status under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. In 2013 it merged with the charity known as the Space Centre, based in Preston. Creative Support Limited is a Registered Society under that Act (Register Number 27440R) and an exempt charity.

Workforce, training and accreditation

Creative Support states that it holds the Investors in People Gold Award as an organisation, while its Learning & Development and HR teams hold the Platinum accreditation. It has also achieved the Investing in Volunteers quality standard and describes itself as a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident employer.

Its Creative Academy provides training and accredited diplomas intended to help staff develop their skills and confidence. The organisation states that it maintains the Skills for Care endorsement, described as the quality badge for health and social care training.

Related initiatives and resources

The site lists several linked resources and projects, including Creative Academy, Creative Space Centre, Creative Together, Birmingham Mental Health Hubs, The Liverpool Light and Durham Mental Wellbeing Alliance. It also publishes CQC ratings, annual reports, press releases and information on gender pay gap and ethnicity pay gap reporting, alongside sections for volunteers, placements and tenants.