Care Together

Care Together seed funding grant offer 2024/25

We have received the bids for 24-25 seed funding and are now in the process of evaluating them. We aim to make a decision by the end of June 2024.

The Care Together Vision

Keeping local people at the heart of everything we do, the council works with communities and partners to design and develop local services that enable our changing population to fulfil their wish to remain independent at home for as long as possible.

As a result:

finding the right support in the local community is easy
people remain active and age well, staying socially connected
volunteers offer a hand eg with shopping and gardening
there are more and better homecare and day opportunities, offering choice and flexibility for all
council-funded homecare is more personalised and rewarding for everyone involved
local people benefit from Care Together with better quality of life and a fairer, greener community

To achieve the above vision, we have dedicated place-based commissioners in each locality. The commissioners are building connections with local people and partners to co-design future services.

Our team is supporting the creation and growth of voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs). These will support older people to remain living independently for longer, in collaboration with Communities Service, Health professionals and other partners.

We are reshaping how we commission council-funded homecare to increase local supply. We are also introducing different types of providers into the home care market. For example, Care Micro Enterprises - to increase capacity and choice for all.

Care Micro-Enterprises

Care Micro-Enterprises are local people who are supported to set up their own small businesses. They provide their neighbours with personalised care and support amongst other services that support independence at home.

We offer training and guidance on running such a business. Benefits include:

longer-lasting relationships between the care worker and their clients (lower turnover)
opportunities to make a livelihood
making a difference to people's lives in communities where employment opportunities are often limited

Find out more about Care Micro-Enterprises.

Care Together news and events

Care Together update

We are excited to share that all seed-funding proposals have been approved. Proposals were co-produced with partners in the different localities of Cambridgeshire. This was following identification of localised gaps and demand. Agreements are now in place for work with local partners to commence. These projects will enable local groups and organisations to support increasing numbers of older adults. They will be supported to do the things they want to do in the place they call home, with the people they want to do them with. This is part of our vision for the Care Together programme.

Cambridge City

Working with Cambridge City Council, an activity coordinator is being recruited. They will organise and promote activities for the physical and mental wellbeing of older adults. This includes those living in sheltered housing as well as others living in the local community. This will bring people together to combat social isolation and promote health and happiness.

South Cambridgeshire

Several initiatives will be supported by funding for mobile warden schemes, the expansion of the Willingham Memory Box Dementia & Carers Café to Over Day Centre and the Bar Hill Knit & Natter and Reminiscence group for Memory Loss.

Huntingdonshire

We are partnering with several local organisations to deliver Health and Fitness opportunities for older adults. This is via a mobile gymnasium, a Dementia Choir & Reconnect Social Group, support for Volunteer Driver/Community Transport schemes in Sawtry, Stilton & Connington, and ‘Love to Move’ chair-based exercise programme in Huntingdon and St Neots. We are also providing support to expansion of a Mobile Warden Scheme across Huntingdon to meet rising demand.

East Cambridgeshire

There is overwhelming demand for the winter warm hubs to be maintained year-round. Or for establishment of new “Community Living Rooms” where there is no current provision. We have partnered once again with ACRE to support local grass roots organisations to run these spaces. This will allow people of all ages to come together. Mostly for social interaction, free hot and cold drinks and sometimes information and advice, when necessary.

Fenland

Across the district there are activities and opportunities for older people to engage. Including the Lunch Club and “Swap Not Shop” in Wisbech, a mobile gymnasium for veterans and older adults, a good neighbour scheme in partnership with Newton-on-the-isle Parish Council and “Forever Fit” strength and balance exercise opportunities for older adults in partnership with Active Fenland. We are also addressing some of the issues around community transport in Fenland by ensuring older people in rural villages can be transported for free to activities taking place nearby.

Cambridgeshire County Council launches new form of self-directed support in East Cambridgeshire, bringing more choice and control to those with care and support needs assessed by practitioners.

An Individual Service Fund (ISF) is an arrangement where the Council transfers the personal budget for a person’s care and support arrangements to an organisation chosen by the individual from a list of trusted providers carefully screened by the Council. These ISF providers will work closely with individuals to put services in place that work towards achieving the outcomes agreed in the care and support plan.

An Individual Service Fund is part of the Council’s offer to allow for more personal choice and control by people over how their support is designed and delivered. If you or somebody you know is already in receipt of Local Authority funded care and support (such as a commissioned care package), they should contact their social worker. For more information about self-directed support, see our webpage on Individual Service Funds (ISFs).

Partners and providers wishing to become Individual Service Fund Providers can contact Deborah Cakmak (Deborah.Cakmak@cambridgeshire.gov.uk) for more details.

New Care Together Website

We are excited to launch this brand-new countywide website for Care Together! In the coming months, watch this space for the latest developments and news from the Care Together team on how we are working with communities across Cambridgeshire to support older adults to live happily at home for longer.

So far this year, our team of Care Together commissioners have been speaking to older adults at warm hubs, cost-of-living events, Senior’s Fairs, Drop-in Sessions at Libraries, Lunch clubs, “Knit and natter” meetings and many other venues and events, as well as meeting with health partners and others. Out of these conversations, which have focused on what people love most about their communities as well as things they would like to see more of to support older adults, several co-produced projects have been identified in each locality (Cambridge, South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire, Fenland and Huntingdon).

The next step will be for grant-funding to be approved for these projects to go ahead and we hope to bring news of more opportunities for collaborative working with partners, including development of care micro-enterprises and a Capital Investment Grant to increase accessibility of public venues, like village halls, in the coming months.