On 9th September 2023, the website for Homecare Workers' Group went live. We are now a whole year in! When I hit 'publish' 12 months ago, it really was a case of 'giving it a try'.
I felt strongly that there was need for a free, independent space where domiciliary care workers could find peer support, and gradually develop more of a voice. The proof has been in the pudding: 274 care workers have signed up to date.
Besides getting to know the many outstanding individuals who have become members of the group, a lot else has been going on. Here are some of our key milestones:
9th September 2023: Homecare Workers' Group website launched, with secure online group, core blog content and sign-posting to third-party support for care workers
20th September 2023: I spoke in public at Nottingham Citizens' Social Justice stroll and we got our first site member
18th October 2023: I spoke at a gathering of Nottingham Citizens member organisations. Word of this got through to a local BBC journalist (see 2 April)
16th November: we got our 10th site member
30 January 2024: in response to our feedback, the Living Wage Foundation amended their asks to MPs ahead of the general election to better represent the experiences of domiciliary care workers, calling for an explicit commitment around paid travel time
16 February 2024: hosted the first of many fortnightly online meetups for members of Homecare Workers’ Group
28 February 2024: attended a Parliamentary Briefing hosted by UNISON at which MPs pledged their support for the development of a National Care Service
29 February 2024: co-chaired an online roundtable of industry leaders as organised by the Living Wage Foundation, to discuss their call for a real Living Wage in social care. Other members of Homecare Workers’ Group attended this event and contributed to discussions
12 March 2024: Centre for Care article published about Homecare Workers’ Group
13 March 2024: participated in a meeting at the Houses of Parliament with then Shadow Minister for Employment Rights, Justin Madders MP, and leaders from the Living Wage Foundation
2 April 2024: BBC East Midlands Today televised a report about Homecare Workers’ Group, after which this was broadcast nationally on BBC Breakfast. This was the catalyst for a significant growth in group membership. Coverage of the report on TikTok has now been viewed over 50,000 times.
3 April 2024: Caring Times, a trade publication for the social care sector, published an article about Homecare Workers’ Group
8 April 2024: got our 100th site member
14 May 2024: Local Government Association article published as part of their content to mark ten years’ since the passing of the Care Act 2014
14 May 2024: liaised with ITV News for a member of Homecare Workers’ Group to be interviewed at work, as part of a piece about stretched local authority funding. Aired as the lead story on primetime national news
17 June 2024: read the words of members of Homecare Workers’ Group to a gathered crowd on Parliament Green, as part of an action led by Citizens UK
24 June 2024: hosted a free in-person meetup for group members at Nottingham Central Library
28 June 2024: attended a roundtable of leaders from the adult social care sector at Lambeth Palace Library, discussing how to embed the concept of 'relational care' into practice. Group members were consulted ahead of the event and their contributions were voiced throughout the course of the day
1 July 2024: spoke to an audience of 2,000 people about the need to secure a real Living Wage for care workers in England, including paid travel time. This was at Citizens UK’s pre-election national assembly, where the now Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner MP also spoke about her experiences as a former home care worker.
4 July 2024: became a member of Curious About Care’s Advisory Panel
10 July 2024: invited to be co-investigator on a research project by the University of Sheffield. This is yet to apply for funding. If successful, it will be an opportunity to bring the views of Homecare Workers’ Group members to the processes of formal knowledge production
11 July 2024: Accepted the Health and Social Care Champion Award at the Living Wage Champion Awards
18 July 2024: attended the launch of Skills For Care’s Workforce Development Strategy for social care, which is set to inform policy regarding the future of the social care workforce. Other members of Homecare Workers’ Group attended this event virtually
29 August 2024: posted letters to relevant politicians to coincide with Parliament’s return from summer recess. These were actively co-produced with group members and co-signed by many of us. The letters were accompanied by the personal stories of six of our members
5th September 2024: confirmation of £20,000 in grant funding from the Rayne Foundation to ensure the continuation of Homecare Workers' Group for a further 12 months. I will publish a separate blog post specifically about this funding, our plans for it and the setup of Homecare Workers' Group as a not-for-profit company in due course
Throughout the last 12 months, our confidence has been encouraged by the unanimous support of other stakeholders: those who lead key institutions in the sector, social care academics, people with lived experience of drawing on support and those working in policy. It would appear that we can all recognise the same missing link:
Establishing meaningful connections between care workers could do so much to improve the quality and availability of formal care services. It is a privilege to run Homecare Workers' Group and I cannot wait to see what the next 12 months have in store.
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