The Shared Lives Service works with adults who need support due to disability, age, illness or someone who is socially isolated.
We offer people the opportunity to live in a family environment and support them to develop meaningful friendships that enable them to live life to the full in their local communities. It can help them achieve goals such as going to college, develop travel skills, visit places outside Wigan and go on holiday.
Adults who need support are carefully matched with Shared Lives carers, who are local people with shared interests, or simply someone that they get on well with.
Carers are recruited from local communities, good people who want to make a difference and put something back into their local area, as part of The Deal.
Who can use Shared Lives?
The service is for people aged 18 or over who have been referred to us by a social worker or a social care officer. You can use the service if:
- You want to live independently from your own family but want to still want live in a family environment
- You are socially isolated and want someone to help you build friendships and networks within your local and wider community
- You live with family but would like the occasional respite or your family are going away on holiday
- If the person you live with or carer becomes unwell and need emergency support / respite
- You feel you need support to remain independent living in your own home.
How to get involved
If you are interested in learning more about Shared Lives, whether it's using the service or becoming a carers:
If you have any questions or comments you can contact the Shared Lives team.
There are already 12,000 Shared Lives carers in the UK, recruited, trained and approved by over 150 local services, which are supported by Shared Lives Plus and regulated by the government’s Care Quality Commission (CQC). To get in touch with the CQC, email enquiries@cqc.org.uk.
CQC Inspection Report
Wigan's Shared Lives Service was rated 'Good' in the latest Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection on 25th May 2018.