To open a childrens home/ respite

[NEbotherpet]

Hi all,

Hope I've posted in the correct section looking to get some advice please.

My best friend and I have worked in SEN for 15+ years, we specialise in autism and have qualifications in pmld, autism, counselling, we are medication trained. We currently both work in a secondary SEN school, and some secondment with the local council with our work focused on the older students up to 25.

My friend has recently inherited a house after her MIL passed away. We have seen first hand the lack of respite/care homes available in the local area, and would like to turn this into a home/ supported living, respite residential.
Has anybody done something similar?

Have tried to approach the local council but they aren't very forthcoming with any information, only asking if we will be setting up as a charity. This is just in the idea stage but obviously the property is sat empty, there are vulnerable young people desperate for help and we are eager to get the ball rolling.

Thanks for reading hope I get some useful advice on where to start 😊

No advise for how to set up initially, but having worked in respite & resi for years I can’t not say how amazing an idea this is!

Hopefully someone can help.

Wow! Wow wow wow. No advice but wanted to say what a brilliant idea

Thank you both.
After years working in this field I'm sure you'll agree how difficult yet rewarding it is. We would just love to help the young people of our community and doing it thanks to my friends MIL will be a great testament to her memory.

I really hope we can make it work, I managed to find a few links from CQC so will try and get my head around that information

This is a brilliant idea and clearly you both have the knowledge and experience for the care side of things. I think there are a few things you underestimate though. How deep are your pockets to get up and running and run the place? There will be a lot of regulations you need to adhere to in terms of safety and how many staff you will need depending on how many children you will have at any one time. You will need things like the electrics, fire alarm system and gas checking and signing off. Is there disabled access? There is the cost of insurance and you will have to do a change of use on the property which will be done by the council planning department. I would start with this as you may not even be allowed.
How will you bring in money in to fund it going forward? You will need an experienced fundraiser and planner really as you won't have time to do both the caring and the earning. I suspect the council asked if you were setting up as a charity because it is then largely out of their hands and they won't have to provide any funding.
If you have a local chamber of commerce they may be able to help you.
There is probably more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head. Wishing you lots of luck, hopefully you can do it.

@delilahbucket

This is a brilliant idea and clearly you both have the knowledge and experience for the care side of things. I think there are a few things you underestimate though. How deep are your pockets to get up and running and run the place? There will be a lot of regulations you need to adhere to in terms of safety and how many staff you will need depending on how many children you will have at any one time. You will need things like the electrics, fire alarm system and gas checking and signing off. Is there disabled access? There is the cost of insurance and you will have to do a change of use on the property which will be done by the council planning department. I would start with this as you may not even be allowed. How will you bring in money in to fund it going forward? You will need an experienced fundraiser and planner really as you won't have time to do both the caring and the earning. I suspect the council asked if you were setting up as a charity because it is then largely out of their hands and they won't have to provide any funding. If you have a local chamber of commerce they may be able to help you. There is probably more but that is all I can think of off the top of my head. Wishing you lots of luck, hopefully you can do it.

Thank you, appreciate the advice!

Has your council got a team that supports the third sector? They should be able to give you advice and support. If you set up as a CIO or other governance structure you would be able to apply for some start up grants. Potentially awards for all or some local ones. Start of small. Think it will take about a year to get 7p and running properly. See if there is another similar project in the UK and get there advice, go and visit, ask about what type of organisation they are, how they set up, what policies they have etc

There is certainly demand to meet your supply.

Do a proper business plan to see if it is a viable business. Research all the local (within 50 ish miles) competitors, research costs, legalities, staffing etc.

Most of your cost will be staff. Have you ever employed people before? You need to read up on employment law.

There are also lots of regulations to adhere to. You will need written policies for everything.

If all the planning you need to do takes less than 6 months it probably isn't thorough enough.

Go for it and good luck!