Adults Providers
Who we are
We are voluntary organisations providing support to adults with learning disabilities in Wales. The support we provide comes in a variety of forms:
- Supported living (single or shared tenancies)
- Sessional support
- Adult placements
- Residential care
- Short stays and breaks
- Help to access work, leisure and learning
- Advice and information
- Anything you might want help with
What we stand for
We are signed up to Learning Disability Wales’ vision: a Wales in which all people with learning disabilities are able to live an ordinary life in the community. We exist as providers in order to help this happen. We enable people to maximise their potential as individuals through the provision of respectful support. See also Learning Disability Wales' Charter.
How we are organised
We have come together to create the All Wales Community Living Network. We elect two people to sit on Learning Disability Wales’ management committee, as trustees. We hold Network meetings four times a year, using video-conferencing facilities at Bangor, Llandrindod and Cardiff. This cuts down on travel costs and encourages participation from agencies all over Wales. For more information about the Network, click here.
Things we are proud of
Probably the greatest thing we have achieved as a sector (in partnership with housing providers and commissioners) is the closure of the old large ‘mental handicap’ hospitals in Wales. Hundreds of people have been freed from these inappropriate settings. They have been resettled into genuinely ordinary homes in the community, supported by values-based voluntary agencies.
Current concerns
Funds are tight. The move to Supporting People funding a few years ago is starting to look like a wrong-turn, as the funds are cut and cut. Local authorities are becoming desperate for ‘cost efficiencies’ and some are taking the quickest route through cost-driven tendering. If Wales isn’t careful, the quality of care which it has nurtured since the early 1980s will be replaced by cheap and unsatisfactory solutions. The answer can’t just be ‘more money, please’. We have to find new ways of working, collaborating, being innovative, making creative use of community resources, maximising people’s independence and choice.
Trustees
Cartrefi Cymru provides a range of services in north, mid and south Wales and is keen to work with anyone on the development of friendships and support networks. Ategi supports people in south east Wales and is one of Wales’ foremost adult placement support providers.
