We have also worked alongside organisations and teams to create an environment that supports and encourages creativity, challenges perceptions, and puts people and communities at the heart of decision making to ensure solutions for our care and support ‘think outside the box’, push boundaries and focus on what really matters.
To do this we have continued to invest in our business, developing and adapting our products and services to the changing requirements of the people and organisations we work with, including:
We have also invested in our innovation capability, aligning our resources to create space for innovation so we remain agile and creative, and have the capacity to continue to seek out and explore new opportunities that will improve people`s lives.
“Our work demonstrates that there are solutions that can support transformation of the health and care sector if there is will and determination to embrace change.”
As I look forward to the year ahead, I look forward with hope. Everywhere I look there are people and communities doing great things. Our work demonstrates that there are solutions that can support transformation of the health and care sector if there is will and determination to embrace change. We will continue to work with people, communities, partners, health and care organisations, national and regional policy makers to help make that happen.
“Giving people choice and control over the support they may need and access to the right information enables people to stay as well as possible, maintain independence and caring roles for longer.”
Care and Support Statutory Guidance, 2024.
An independent evaluation of our Community Micro-enterprise Development Programme in Rhondda Cynon Taf showed that it helped people live independently, engage in their local communities, and experience care, which is dignified, relational and responsive to their needs.
The report also highlighted:
This year there were big developments to our Small Good Stuff directory of local care and support services to make it better for the people who use it.
Service reviews
People can now leave reviews of any service they use, which helps others make more informed choices. Here are examples of service reviews.
Availability calendars
Community micro-enterprise leads can add the days and times that their services are available. This helps people and families to arrange care and support quickly and efficiently.
Refined and simple search
People can now use various search filters to find the right care and support for them.
“As a Social Prescriber, I find the whole concept of Community Catalysts and the wide range of options available on the directory, as a good one. The range of support the enterprises deliver is of a gold standard, because the offer is so broad. I have found the Small Good Stuff directory easy to use, helping me identify support more easily. I have also found the support from the Community Catalysts team… as invaluable.”
Social Prescriber
“Choosing from a list is important – the person will tell me this too. She’s not great with a computer but I could print out the adverts and then she could read through them and contact the micro-enterprises.”
Social Worker
Over the past year, we have worked successfully with national bodies including the HMRC, Low Income Tax Reform Group, the Care Quality Commission (CQC), Employment Agency Services and Independent Living Group, to ensure that self-employment in the care sector remains possible. This is important as not everyone who draws on care and support wants to employ their own personal assistants. Having the option to contract with a community micro-enterprise who may work on a self-employed basis, supports more people to use a direct payment to self-direct their support.
We have contributed case studies to a Think Local Act Personal resource that will help practitioners understand and feel more confident about offering direct payments. This supports more people to have choice and control over their care and support.
We’ve run two successful projects funded by UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF): one in Mablethorpe and the other in Bedfordshire.
Both projects have made significant progress in enhancing employment opportunities and promoting sustainability in the local areas. For example, in Bedford, four people who were previously unemployed have successfully set up their own community micro-enterprises, and five enterprises are currently recruiting staff, further boosting local employment. The projects are fulfilling the objectives of the UKSPF by creating jobs, driving economic growth, and fostering long-term sustainability within the community.
Local community micro-enterprises in both areas have created opportunities for people to work locally, earn an income, and make a meaningful difference through a career in care. This has enabled commissioners, health and social care teams, and those seeking care and support to benefit from access to a wider range of high-quality, locally available services.
Due to the local impact in both areas we are extending our work over the next 12 months.
“Local approaches to prevention should be built on the resources of the local community.”
The Care Act 2014
This year, we designed and delivered a creative learning tool, Thinking Outside the Box. This immersive workshop challenges traditional care approaches by inviting participants to explore a fictional community’s strengths – people, networks, and local resources. It helps them rethink care as a tool for empowering people and families without relying solely on formal solutions. The workshops spark debate-filled conversations and fresh perspectives in supporting healthier, more connected lives and communities.
We supported Darlington Council’s Adult Social Care team to rethink their approach to asset-based working. Thinking Outside the Box was instrumental to the success of the process. Watch the video to learn more.
“I would definitely recommend working with Community Catalysts. I think they’re an excellent organisation. There’s a really friendly, person-centred approach that they have – very supportive, very thorough in the work that they do.”
Martin Webster, Workforce Development Manager at Darlington Borough Council.
Over the year we worked closely with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and other government departments, hosting a series of online roundtables, exchanges and strategic discussions.
This has generated significant interest in Local Area Coordination as an effective approach to prevention, as well as amplifying people’s voices and supporting people to lead a good life. We’re excited that Local Area Coordination has started in Croydon this year.
“Every time we collaborate with Local Area Coordinators, we know the work will be rooted in compassion, effectiveness, and meaningful change. Their deep understanding of the community, combined with their flexibility, adaptability, and can-do attitude, aligns perfectly with our own mission.”
Buzzing Roots CIC
Through our continued support of the National Research and Practice Network for Family and Group Conferencing for adults, we have seen first-hand how this approach can strengthen personal networks, shift power back to people and families, and offer a vital alternative to service over-prescription or inadequate service discharge
To support the network, we produced a film about the amazing work in Camden to demonstrate the benefits of implementing Family and Group Conferencing for adults into practice. We also organised and facilitated an online webinar, and a face-to-face event in London with wide representation from government, public sector partners and other local authorities interested in exploring and developing this approach.
Thanks to the NIHR funded research project led by Professor Jerry Tew and team the evidence base for Family Group Conferencing for Adults is growing. This deeply human process, grounded in listening, connection, and collective problem solving resonates with our values and we are keen to do more over the coming year to promote and grow this approach and develop and support the network of people delivering it.
“We want to move from a system which can still feel like it is led by professionals to one in which care and support is coproduced with the people who draw on it and which realises the right to self-directed support.”
ADASS Roadmap, ‘A Time to Act’
It was a bold and brave year for the Equipment Matters partnership project, with huge strides towards coproduction in the community equipment sector.
Achievements include:
Rethinking the design of equipment
The group has encouraged companies to consider lived experiences in equipment design. This has inspired reflection about the intersection of functionality and aesthetics in community equipment provision.
“Take a commode, for example. To some, it’s just another piece of kit. But for me, it’s the reason I’ve been able to stay in my own home, in my own community, with the people I love. That commode has given me dignity and choice. It’s small, but it’s powerful.”
Equipment Matters Group Member
Increased awareness of getting equipment right in health and social care
An event was hosted by the Local Government Association and Partners in Care and Health team to engage local government staff about the importance of equipment in people’s lives. It also posed a coproduction challenge – inviting delegates to consider how they could better partner with people who use equipment. The design and delivery of the event was heavily influenced by members of the Equipment Matters coproduction group.
Participation in key events including NAEP (National Association of Equipment Providers) Conference and the National Children and Adults Services (NCASC) Conference.
Creating a bank of stories
The group has engaged with People’s Voice Media to support the collection of video stories. People who use equipment have shared their experience and aspirations. An emerging story bank will be used to influence the sector.
For 2025, the group dreams of a future where community equipment isn’t just ‘good enough’, but life changing.
Great Communities, a partnership project between MacIntyre and Community Catalysts encourages people with learning disabilities and/or autism to draw on their knowledge and abilities to enrich their own and others’ lives and play a positive role in their local community.
Research by The University of Chester explored the experiences of people with learning disabilities and/or autism taking part in Great Communities in Warrington. It showed that the project supported friendships, connections to new communities, improved mental health, increased creativity and had a positive impact on local environments and communities. It concluded with a fantastic exhibition of their stories at the Golden Gate Shopping Centre.
“Social care is not only about ‘services’: it is about having a life.”
Adult Social Care Committee
We believe that there should be alternatives to formal care and support – that care and support which is person-centred, flexible and creative can make all the difference. Carole’s experience of care reflects this. And it’s what we want for everyone who might need support in their lives.
This year, we teamed up with Shared Lives Plus and NTDi to launch ‘Better, Now’ – a campaign to highlight a range of proven approaches that are reshaping social care. Together we exhibited at the annual National Children and Adult Services Conference (NCASC) conference to get commissioners and practitioners to rethink their strategies around care and support. We will continue to champion Better, Now.
We are proud and privileged to have played a part in the setup of community support that changes the lives of people every day. In 2024 we celebrated Pulp Friction, a community micro-enterprise that we supported into being in 2009.
We helped Jill, and her daughter Jessie who has a learning disability, to set up a Nottinghamshire community micro-enterprise which aimed to offer young disabled adults the opportunity to develop social, independence and work skills. Pulp Friction now supports over 60 adults with learning disabilities and /or autism along with their parents and carers.
In the summer of 2024 Pulp Friction Members exhibited their ‘Growing Skills Garden’ at the Chelsea Flower Show.
They went onto win the People’s Choice Award at the Flower Show! The event was a true celebration of Pulp Friction’s achievements in the local community.
We created a story of how they went from small beginnings to blooming brilliant. It’s just one example of the difference we help people make in communities across the UK.
A big thanks to all our partners and supporters. We look forward to another successful year supporting people to live good lives.
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