Strategic spotlight – North East London: Carer recruitment growth

The project, delivered in collaboration with Care City, had two main goals: 

• Develop a Strategic Options paper for the growth and diversification of Shared Lives across North East London
• Develop a North East London wide strategy for the recruitment of Shared Lives carers, developing shared messaging and aligned recruitment activities across the sub-region

• Each scheme had local barriers, such as ageing demographic of carers and different commissioning priorities
• North East London areas expressed the challenges faced around housing availability, including a lack of bedroom capacity and less suitable homes and properties for Shared Lives; posing a barrier to Shared Lives carer recruitment
• This was reflected in demographic data with all locations showing different audiences than ‘traditional’ Shared Lives carers

As part of our consultancy offer and to help achieve the key outcomes highlighted, Shared Lives Plus provided a wide range of support including: 

• A Shared Lives carer recruitment strategy focused on tailored solutions, informed by local data and insights and driven by demographic knowledge of the population and local strategic aims 
• Understanding the local data encouraged innovation with approaching new audiences, developing tailored messaging and targeted approaches to recruitment therefore attracting a wider demographic of carers 
• A set of common areas were agreed upon to attract new carers allowing each scheme to then tailor the support to their needs, resulting in personalised recruitment plans to address the local barriers 
• To further address the housing challenges facing North East London, Shared Lives Plus developed a research paper, exploring a range of innovative housing solutions that have been employed by Shared Lives schemes and local authorities elsewhere, to address housing related recruitment barriers faced by schemes and the wider social care sector
• This has informed a refreshed approach to Shared Lives carer recruitment, with the paper encouraging close working between social care and housing directorates to collaboratively tackle this challenge

To develop a set of strategic options for senior leaders to explore and support the development and diversification of Shared Lives across North East London, Shared Lives Plus: 

• Assessed the current state of Shared Lives across North East London using service level data, to understand the current approach and focus of Shared Lives development
• Explored the local challenges and opportunities for growth through conversations with a range of local stakeholders including Shared Lives schemes, commissioners and Shared Lives carers
• Developed a set of focused options for growth, using regional and national demand datasets, to inform future growth direction, drawing on best-practice research to inform growth activities 

It was discovered at the beginning of the project that there was little engagement with key teams such as corporate comms, and minimal cross scheme working, both of which enhance the success of recruitment.

Shared Lives Plus worked with internal teams to establish a relationship and to support the growth of the scheme:  

• Successfully engaged with corporate comms teams within councils to establish relationships with schemes and to support recruitment efforts throughout the project and ongoing 
• Included comms colleagues in the check-in meetings to maximise support throughout, allowing the process to be more dynamic and proactive to issues and barriers that arose
• Collaborated with Newham and Havering comms leads to deliver two press releases, showcasing carers in both locations
• Developed cross team working, establishing a working group with comms and recruitment staff in Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Bettertogether. Meeting monthly to share ideas and learning. This is set to continue until the end of 2026

As of April 2026, the project has achieved several positive results, although some areas are still being evaluated: 

• Three schemes recruited additional staff members to focus on recruitment which increased scheme capacity and expanded Shared Lives carer recruitment activities to increase capacity and facilitate recruitment
• Developed a set of recommendation areas for growth and development of Shared Lives across North East London, presented to the sub-regional DASS group

Bespoke plans co-developed with each borough ensured campaigns were specific to each local area, leading to a significant increase in Shared Lives carer enquiries, with a high number of applicants moving through the assessment process, including those approved and ready to be matched.

• Bettertogether achieved 42 enquiries, with four approved and ready to be matched. In-person community engagements (such as job fairs, pop-ups at libraries, and a local ageing well festival) had the most impact for the scheme
• Tower Hamlets achieved 83 enquiries, with 18 progressing to next stage of recruitment process; a conversion rate of 1 in 5 which is high for Shared Lives carer recruitment. The most successful recruitment channel was a listing on the council jobs page, as well as an article in the resident’s newsletter which received 50 enquiries in 24 hours
• Waltham Forest achieved 21 enquiries, of which seven have completed the application stage and three have pre assessment visits booked. Similarly, the most successful recruitment channel was a listing on the council jobs page

Find out more about Shared Lives in North East London: 

• Tower Hamlets Shared Lives, 0207 771 5521, shared.lives@towerhamlets.gov.uk, website 

• Bettertogether – Newham, Havering and Thurrock Shared Lives Schemes, 02085199536, info@bettertogether.org.uk, website 

• Hackney Shared Lives, 020 8356 8070, shared.livesteam@hackney.gov.uk, website 

• Waltham Forest Shared Lives, 07870917682, shared.lives@walthamforest.gov.uk, website 

• Grace Eyre Shared Lives, 07867978984, dmatthews@grace-eyre.org, website

If you are interested in our consultancy support to help establish, grow, or diversify Shared Lives in your area, please contact our strategic advice team on consultancy@sharedlivesplus.org.uk or you can read more about our support offers here.