Shared Lives Week: Shining a light on Barnsley's brilliant Shared Lives carers

We’re joining Shared Lives schemes across the country to celebrate Shared Lives Week, shining a light on our brilliant carers in Barnsley and the support they offer in our communities.

Organised by Shared Lives Plus, this annual celebration is a great opportunity to shout about this unique, family-based support and why becoming a Shared Lives carer may be for you.

For those who don’t know, Shared Lives carers open up their homes and family lives to someone who needs a little extra support to live well. In Barnsley, this support is highly flexible, ranging from short stays to long-term placements, built around the person’s needs and aspirations.

Taking place from Monday 23 to Friday 27 June, this year’s Shared Lives Week is focused on tackling the myth that people supported through Shared Lives are strangers.

We’re committed to carefully matching up the people we support and our carers, helping them build life-long, lasting relationships. We look beyond care needs, enabling the people we support to really learn about our carers, including shared hobbies, favourite places and pets.

Ahead of Shared Lives Week, we’ve been working with our carers to capture what a day in their lives looks like, offering a unique glimpse into this community-based support.

For Sonia and Paul, what they love about being part of our Shared Lives scheme is “seeing the achievements of the people we support and how far they have come as part of our family.”

For Gill and Aziz, they’re proud of supporting people to achieve things they never thought would be possible and helping them experience the joys of travelling abroad.

You can read more about their experiences, including the sort of activities they get up to and the moment they’ll always remember, by visiting our webpage.

If you’re passionate about helping others and you have previous caring experience, either from working in the area or looking after a loved one, we would love to hear from you.

Becoming a Shared Lives carer offers a wide range of benefits, including the flexibility and control providing support from your own home can offer. We’re here to support you throughout the process, from training that builds on your existing skills to helping you make your first match.

To learn more about becoming a Shared Lives carer, visit our website or call 01226 775023.

Councillor Jo Newing, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place Health and Adult Social Care, said: “We’re committed to making sure our communities get the right support to live life in good health, helping them to achieve more in the places they call home. Our Shared Lives scheme is a great example of that brilliant community spirit that makes Barnsley so special, as passionate people open up their homes to care for someone who needs a little extra support.

“We’re excited to join organisations across the country this week in shining a light on our brilliant Shared Lives carers. Carers like Sonia, Paul, Gill and Aziz truly change what’s possible for the people they support by giving them a safe, welcoming home to grow and learn new skills. I would like to thank all our Shared Lives carers for everything they do in our communities.”

Ewan King, Chief Executive of Shared Lives Plus, said: “The idea that you just welcome a stranger into your home couldn’t be further from the truth.

“In Shared Lives, people meet gradually, take time to get to know one another, and only move forward when everyone feels ready. That’s what makes these relationships so powerful – they’re built on trust, choice and real connection.”

There’s lots of great work happening across South Yorkshire to continue growing Shared Lives support as part of the Accelerating Reform Fund.

Working with our neighbouring councils and Shared Lives Plus, we’re exploring how we can help more people to benefit from this support and continue living well as part of their communities. We will continue to share more updates from this project as the scheme grows.

To learn more about the support we offer, please visit our dedicated webpage or follow Barnsley Shared Lives’ Facebook page. Throughout the week, the team will be sharing videos from the people we support, talking about their experiences and what they love about Shared Lives.