It takes a very special kind of person to open up their heart and their home to a vulnerable adult. We are always looking to recruit these kinds of people, who can become shared lives carers and receive generous monthly financial allowances.

Being a Shared Lives carer is rewarding and you can offer as much or little time as you can. You don’t need any previous experience and we’ll provide all the training and support to give the confidence, knowledge and skills to become an outstanding carer.

Shared Lives has been a huge success nationally and the people living in Shared Lives arrangements say that they feel more settled, valued and make friends more easily than with traditional types of care.

We want to make the service available to more people and you could help us by becoming a Shared Lives carer.

What is Shared Lives?

The Shared Lives concept is similar to foster care for adults, where carers share their home and family life with an adult who needs help or support to live well.

People you support could come from any background and everyone needs a different level of care. Some people just require advice and guidance whilst others might want more direct support with daily tasks such as cooking, laundry and managing money or budgets.

Who can be a Shared Lives carer?

Our Shared Lives carers come from all walks of life and they do a superb job. They are friendly, have lots of enthusiasm for the people they look after and find it very rewarding.

If you have plenty of patience, flexibility, dedication, commitment and a spare room for the person you support to live in, you could join our team and become a Shared Lives carer.

What does the work involve?

This will depend upon the person you are supporting. You might need to assist with:

• Accompanying people to appointments
• Providing transport to leisure activities or work placements
• Holidays and outings
• Encouraging them to get involved with their local community and increase social contact
• Helping to manage finances and safekeeping of medication

Where are carers based?

Shared Lives carers work from their own homes to provide day care, short term respite or long term live-in arrangements for adults who have social care needs.

What support will I get as a Shared Lives carer?

If you are suitable, you’ll be given all the training and support you need by our Shared Lives team.

You will also get a financial allowance ranging from £15,600-£23,800 a year (£330-£450 a week), based on the needs of the person you are caring for.

There are special tax rules for Shared Lives carers and an amount of what they receive is exempt from income tax. 

What is the recruitment process?

All of our carers go through a thorough an approval process which involves an application form, home visits, and an interview with one of our team. Our approval panel will make the final decision. We go through this process at a pace that suits  you. Typically, the approval process usually takes about three months, though with a high level of commitment from you, could be done even quicker.

Please don’t let this put you off – our friendly team are here to support you every step of the way.

Find out more about the approval process.

Who decides who I will be caring for?

All of our Shared Lives carers and the people they support are matched carefully to make sure that they feel comfortable with each other before agreeing to spend time together. Our team works really hard to identify shared interests, pets, hobbies and places that will help build a bond and rapport.

How do I become a Shared Lives carer?

Take the next step today and enquire about becoming a Shared Lives carer with PossAbilities by using our online enquiry form. 

Or, if you want to find out more about any aspect of  Shared Lives please give our friendly team a call on 01706 626747 or email sharedlives@possabilities.org.uk and we will be happy to help.