It’s Homeshare Week: 6-12 October 2024
Homeshare Week is a time to celebrate the brilliant benefits that a Homeshare relationship can bring.
As the pressures of caregiving increase, Homeshare Week 2024 shines a spotlight on an innovative solution for families across the UK.
We are also taking the opportunity to celebrate the recent launch of our own Grace Eyre Homeshare Sussex scheme and to let people know how they can get involved.
What is Homeshare?
Homeshare is a safe, mutually beneficial arrangement. It brings together people who have a spare room and may need companionship or help to live independently with people in need of affordable accommodation who are happy to lend a helping hand.
Who is Homeshare for?
Unlike most other Grace Eyre services, Homeshare Sussex is not only for people with a learning disability and/or autistic people. For example, it could suit an older person living in their own home with a room to spare. The older person is then carefully matched with a younger person.
Find out more about Homeshare Sussex
Launching Grace Eyre Homeshare Sussex
We were proud and excited to launch Grace Eyre Homeshare Sussex in June this year in neighbourhoods around Worthing and Brighton & Hove.
Our new service is part of Homeshare UK, the national network of independent local schemes.
David Matthews, Grace Eyre’s Head of Service for Homeshare and Shared Lives, said:
“We have been thrilled at how quickly we have received enquiries from older people and their families. As we have already had a lot of interest from potential sharers looking for rooms, there is no doubt we will find our first matches quickly.”
Our Homeshare Sussex team has been busy supporting the homeowners to understand the service, think about the sort of voluntary help they would like and creating profiles to show to interested people.
We fully inspect all homes to ensure they are safe for people to live in. Police checks are made on anyone who is expected to stay at the home regularly so that we know potential sharers will be provided with a good quality, friendly and – most importantly – safe room and home.
We expect to be able to offer our first rooms very soon.
Working with Homeshare UK
In June 2024, we further strengthened our links with Homeshare UK when David Matthews, Grace Eyre’s Head of Service for Homeshare and Shared Lives, was elected as Chair of the Homeshare UK Your Voice network meetings and as a member of the Board of Trustees for Shared Lives Plus, the national charity that supports Homeshare.
The Homeshare UK Your Voice network brings together the independent local schemes from across the country to discuss successes and opportunities for development and supports members to have their voice heard at the very heart of the charity that supports them.
Ewan King, Chief Executive Officer of Shared Live Plus, said:
“Grace Eyre is one of our long-standing members and a provider of wonderful Shared Lives support across Brighton and parts of London and the South East. We are delighted that David Matthews, who manages the Grace Eyre Shared Lives service, has been elected as the new Chair of the Homeshare UK Network and will also join Board of Trustees of Shared Lives. We look forward to working with David to help bring about the development and growth of Homeshare and Shared Lives across the UK.”