On 1st July, five supported living homes for people with learning disabilities in Brighton and Hove were transferred from the local authority to Grace Eyre, following us winning a competitive tender process at the start of the year.
We’ve been supporting people with learning disabilities since 1898 and have extensive experience with running high quality supported living services based on individuals’ needs, preferences and goals.
Grace Eyre’s utmost priority was to ensure that the services continued running smoothly for the people who live in the homes during the current transfer period. Paul Barker, General Manager for Grace Eyre, confirms this: “during transfer, there hasn’t been a change for the service users, which is great. We wanted consistency for them.” This has been reiterated by the staff who have transferred to Grace Eyre, who also say that the people they support have not seen a difference. When asked how the experience has been for staff, they have said that they have found Grace Eyre to be refreshing, noting the light atmosphere and friendly people. Eva Eriksson, our Chief Executive, says: “It’s been a pleasure meeting the teams, and it’s clear to me that they do wonderful work.”
The evening before the transfer, new staff and people with learning disabilities who live in the new services were given a warm welcome to Grace Eyre with a party at our Head Office in Hove, featuring live performances from Grace Eyre Rocks – a band composed of people with learning disabilities – and a DJ, who is also one of Grace Eyre’s service users.