Colne Valley Equitable Care Society Ltd, trading as Co-operative Care Colne Valley, is a multi-stakeholder co-operative established to provide high-quality home care for older and disabled people in and around the Colne Valley, and in doing so to provide fair and proper terms and conditions of employment for care workers, a profession that is commonly underpaid.

Physical, mental health and wellbeing will be given utmost priority to both recipients and deliverers of care services.  A key aspect will be to tackle social isolation. We aim to build active links with individuals and other community organisations that can support recipients of the service.

Our model is built on the principle that ‘small is beautiful’, with the aim of being an organisation that is both sustainable and which remains in the control of the community that it serves and accountable to that community.  It is designed to serve the local community in an environmentally sustainable manner. 

It is entirely possible to deliver a high quality, person-centred care service delivered by trained, valued and fairly paid care staff ethically and sustainably, for the benefit of the whole community.

Co-operative Care Colne Valley is different from other care providers. We are:

• Locally focussed – we understand that ‘small is beautiful’ and will focus on the needs of the people of our Colne Valley community
• Not-for profit – surplus will be used to enable initial investors to exit should the y wish to do so, to pay a modest return to investors, and reinvested in service enhancement, improved pay and conditions for employees, training and genuine opportunities for professional development
• Community owned and led – by the members of our society.
• Democratically controlled – members have a voice in how the organisation is run.
• Ethical – we are committed to environmentally sustainable working and delivering equal care, dignity and respect for all our members.
• Ambitious to grow – we will work closely with sister care cooperatives to develop a better system of care.

Our Vision

Co-operative Care Colne Valley’s vision is to make the Colne Valley a place where high-quality social care and community service are accessible to all and where being a carer is a respected career.

• We believe that people who need care and support in Colne Valley deserve the best quality care and support to enable them to lead fulfilling and independent lives.
• We believe that there is a fundamental discrepancy between providing effective and humane social health care and a profit-driven corporate structure.
• We are devoted to providing the highest-quality relationship-led care for people in their own homes and in the community.
• We will provide a community based small scale, caring co-operative which puts people before profit to deliver to those who have reached a stage in their lives where they require assistance from others and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Our Approach

We believe that people who need care deserve the best quality care and support that enables them to lead fulfilling and independent lives.

We will work to ensure that:

• The people we care for are treated as valued individuals and provided with the best quality care possible
• The people we care for and their families are involved in making decisions about their care
• As a cooperative organisation, our members have a real stake and a real say in how the service is run
• The people we care for remain active members of the community
• Our staff team are highly trained, motivated and that their conditions of employment are significantly better than those generally offered in this sector
• As well as rewarding, valuing and supporting staff members with favourable working terms and conditions, our co-operative structure and small team model offers opportunities for career progression, and to contribute to decision making.