Supported living housing
Adult Learning Disability
Supported living housing 
Our small group homes offer supported living/housing tenancies for adults with learning disabilities. We can accommodate up to 41 adults across 9 homes.
Each home has its own special character and a family feel, and each provides a highly personalised service.
39 people supported to live as independently as possible in group homes with a real family feel.
Our homes
We currently provide supported living across Yorkshire in:
- East Leeds
- North Leeds
- Bingley
- Brighouse
- Skipton
- Todmorden
- Shipley
- Keighley
- Dewsbury
Within the home
Tenants have their own key and bedroom (which they can choose to furnish and decorate to their taste), and shared facilities.
They are supported in devising weekly menus, doing the shopping, and preparing their own meals.
Each tenant has a key support worker, who works with them and their family and/or advocate to draw up their own support plan.
Activities
All of our tenants are encouraged and supported to be as independent as possible in accessing services in the local community – such as further education, employment, social and leisure activities, attending medical appointments and maintaining their tenancy.
Family & friends
Family and friends are free to visit, in line with the tenants’ wishes and the visitors’ agreement.
Residential home
Adult Learning Disability
Residential home
Our residential home is ideal for adults with learning disabilities who would benefit from living in a residential environment.
We provide a homely, welcoming and friendly environment for our residents, supporting their independence, fulfilment, rights, choice, and dignity – helping them take their rightful place within the community.
10 people supported to live with choice and dignity in our residential home.
Our home
Our home has its own special, friendly character and provides a highly personalised service. Currently, we provide support for adults in Yorkshire, in our residential home in:
Address: House of Light, 13 Allerton Park, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS7 4ND.
Telephone: 0113 2681 480
Within the home
Each resident has their own bedroom, furnished and decorated to their own taste. They can choose weekly menus, where able, and they enjoy a wide variety of well-prepared foods within a healthy, nutritious and balanced diet (including special diets). Wherever possible, residents are encouraged to help prepare and cook their meals.
Activities
Our residents are supported in accessing a range of social, educational, leisure and health services. Day-care placements are negotiable, depending on requirements.
Family & friends
We encourage family members, friends and advocates to offer continuity and support, and they are free to visit at any reasonable time (but making arrangements in advance helps to ensure residents are at home and that a room can be made available).
Outreach services
Adult Learning Disability
Outreach services
We provide outreach services to adults with learning disabilities who live at home. This includes emotional, social and practical support for the individual as well as their families and carers. We provide individuals with the support and advice they need to live full and independent lives in their own homes.
We respect their individuality and their right to choose, and we create care and support plans that reflect each person’s wishes and circumstances.
I can’t say how much I appreciate the service – both in going the extra mile for my daughter and advising me on the way forward and to help my daughter on the first step of living independently.
– A grateful parent
Outreach services
Our service can include:
- Spending time with the individual and/or families and carers for emotional support
- Practical support at home, such as preparing meals, dusting, vacuuming, cleaning, washing and ironing
- Budgeting and advice about benefits
- Helping with getting out into the community, such as grocery shopping, accompanying or transporting people to their chosen activity or appointment, and accessing local amenities
- Helping people to make and meet friends
- Helping individuals to plan travel and use transport.
A Celebration of Our Year 2022
Catholic Care Team
We are pleased to present our annual review for 2022.
This has been an exceptionally busy and challenging year for the Charity. We began the year still dealing with many Covid related issues. Just as these began to retreat, we were faced with the war in Ukraine and the cost of living crisis. Staff, volunteers and supporters have all risen to these many challenges.
Community update
Catholic Care Team
St Winefride’s Church Hall was 'buzzing' today thanks to a joint effort from our Community Market Team, Lunch Group Team and Healthcare Professionals from the local surgery.
Service users were able to chat to the professionals on various topics such as diabetes, blood pressure etc. Our Nutrition Advisor, Ingrid Fernandes and Family Support Worker Keelie Morton were also on hand for advice. Thank you to the staff and volunteers who made today possible.
Support our Christmas Appeal
Catholic Care Team
Right now, hundreds of families across our Diocese are desperately trying to just get by, hit hard by the cost of living crisis.
They don’t want to even consider what Christmas will look like, as they just try to get through another month, counting down the days with less money in their pockets.
Christmas Pantries
This year we are hosting Christmas Pantries in our communities, where people can access food, toiletries, toys, advice and support from our social workers and community teams.
Please be a part of our ongoing support that is continuing to change lives by donating to our Christmas appeal.
Items of tinned or packet food, toiletries and new toys will be gratefully collected in your parish and distributed to where it is needed most.
Items will be collected by Friday 11th November by arrangement with your parish priest or parish representative.
If you prefer to donate money, you can either:
- Make a direct transfer to Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds) Central Fund, sort code 05-00-20, account 11472611
- Go to our Just Giving page
- Send a cheque made payable to Catholic Care to 11 North Grange Road, Headingley, Leeds, LS6 2BR
- Alternatively, to make a donation over the phone using your card, please call us on 0113 388 5400
World Day of Migrants and Refugees
Catholic Care Team
The Church has celebrated the World Day of Migrants and Refugees since 1914 and this year it is 25th September.
It is an occasion to express concern for vulnerable people on the move; to pray for them as they face many challenges and to increase awareness about the opportunities that migration offers.
This year with the difficulties the world faces there are more people on the move than ever. As the title for his annual message, the Holy Father has chosen “Building the Future with Migrants and Refugees”. You can download the Pope’s message here.
Catholic Care has been working with groups and parishes for the last few years to help welcome and support refugee families under the Community Sponsorship scheme. Currently there are four Syrian families living in the diocese who have arrived under the scheme and another group has just formed to start the process. It can be a challenging process, but is also hugely rewarding.
Under the scheme, a community group, which might be based in a parish, but not necessarily, works together with the guidance of Sue Parsons, the Community Sponsorship Coordinator to pull together a resettlement plan, which includes finding accommodation for a family, raising funds, researching school places and health care, and the other needs a family may have when they come to a new country and perhaps don’t speak the language. Once the application is approved by the Home Office, then a family is chosen with the assistance of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and soon after they arrive.
As you can imagine, settling here is a life changing experience for the family, but it also makes a difference for members of the group. As the Pope maintains in his message, the behaviour of refugees enriches the communities that receive them. He goes on to say:
“Openness to one another creates spaces of fruitful exchange between different visions and traditions, and opens minds to new horizons. It also leads to a discovery of the richness present in other religions and forms of spirituality unfamiliar to us, and this helps us to deepen our own convictions.”
Catholic Care have also been involved in the Homes for Ukraine scheme, helping refugees from Ukraine find homes and support here in the UK. Although Catholic Care haven’t been able to help directly, they have been able to introduce volunteers to those organisations who can help, with the result that some members of the diocese have or are about to welcome Ukrainians into their homes.
To find out more about Community Sponsorship, then please contact Sue Parsons – sue.parsons@catholic-care.org.uk or 07702 255113
A Celebration of Our Year 2021
Catholic Care Team
We are delighted to present our review of 2021.
Another very challenging year dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the year starting in lockdown and ending with the Omicron variant.
Helping Ukrainian Refugees
Catholic Care Team
Catholic Care has a lot of experience through being the Lead Sponsor of a number of Community Sponsorship groups.
We have decided that to optimise our resource and experience we will partner with an organisation called Citizens UK and around 15 others. This strategic partnership will enable all of us to scale up our operation and also ensure that we have safe and sustainable processes in place enabling matching and travel to the UK to take place.
Christmas Pantries
We recognise that people want to help, which is why we are regularly meeting with our partners to ensure information is current and we update our website. It is important that we make sure that both refugees and hosts are protected. So, we would recommend that you don’t use social media to try and get a match with somebody who is seeking to come to the UK, but use reliable, safe channels – which may take longer, because they following safe procedures. Our partnerships with both Reset and Citizens UK makes sure of that.
It is a huge commitment to welcome refugees into your home, so we are also looking at the support we can offer. You need to consider that people fleeing from Ukraine have very recently experienced intense trauma. They have fled their homes, livelihoods and are likely to have left family members behind in a situation of extreme uncertainty and danger. You should be prepared for the possibility of the refugee(s) you are hosting experiencing psychological trauma which may require medical attention.
The minimum commitment you need to make is for 6 months. You will also be required to have a DBS check – as will all adult members of your household – and your premises checked. These checks will be organised by the local authorities.
Please think carefully before finally committing to hosting a family. You need to be realistic and ensure that as far as you are able you can commit to the support you are offering and you are entering into it with as much knowledge as you can.
In addition, to their housing needs, people may need help finding their way around the neighbourhood, registering for Universal Credit, setting up a bank account, all of which can be daunting in your own language, so we are also looking for people who can support the hosts, and want to help, we’re calling them “Welcome Teams”. We are also looking for people who speak Russian or Ukrainian and would be prepared to help with translation if needed. We will be offering information sessions for both hosts and these teams, so that you feel very supported. Citizens UK are also giving a weekly Zoom session for hosts and teams on a Friday from 1pm for an hour, which will be a mixture of answering questions and some information on particular topics.
Catholic Care Parish Representatives
Catholic Care Team
Parish representatives are building a bridge between each parish and Catholic Care to ensure:
They don’t want to even consider what Christmas will look like, as they just try to get through another month, counting down the days with less money in their pockets.
- Regular contact is maintained between your Parish and Catholic Care
- Your Parish is fully aware of what Catholic Care are doing in the Diocese of Leeds
- Catholic Care can support the needs of your Parish and its outreach work
- Opportunities for voluntary work are promoted
What will I do as a Catholic Care Parish Representative?
Parish Representatives help promote the charitable work of Catholic Care. Here are some ideas of how you can help promote our work in your parish:
- Keep your Parish and community informed of Catholic Care news and events
- Arrange for one of our staff or volunteers to visit your Parish or local school to speak about our work.
- Help raise awareness and support our appeals and campaigns.
- Engage with parishioners to find what services we could provide for them.
We do not normally require a DBS check for our Parish representatives, but we will ask that you obtain the consent of your Parish Priest.
How to become a Catholic Care Parish Representative?
If you would like to become a Catholic Care Parish Representative, please first obtain the consent of your Parish Priest then:
Please contact Rachel Wilkinson to express your interest in becoming a Catholic Care Parish Representative. She will then confirm details of the first Welcome Meeting to be held in May.
Catholic Care (Diocese of Leeds)
11 North Grange Road
Headingley
Leeds
LS6 2BR
Tel: 0113 3885400
Email: rachel.wilkinson@catholic-care.org.uk