Investing in a new residential children’s home is much more than bricks and mortar, it’s an investment into a child’s life. We caught up with Kedleston’s Head of Care, Gillian Miele, to find out more.
 
“As an organisation we believe absolutely in providing the best possible environments for children to thrive. And for us that means creating residential children’s homes in good, diverse communities where children can access the rich variety of opportunities they rightly deserve.
 
“That’s always our aim but sadly sometimes individuals in communities push back. We have been criticised sometimes for wanting to create homes in ‘affluent’ areas. We even had one person say that ‘children like that don’t deserve to live in an area like this’. Unbelievable but true - and that’s incredibly sad for the children.
 
“We want children to live in good areas, it’s incredibly important. As well as every child deserving the best life possible, living in good areas gives them something to aspire to.
 
“It’s also important for them to have the chance to try new things and increase their cultural capital. Often, they simply don’t know what’s ‘out there’ and we try to give them a snapshot, to experience things and find their identity – not necessarily their “destined” identity.
 
“We believe so strongly that children deserve every opportunity available, no matter their circumstances, that we don’t allow negativity to stop us opening children’s residential homes in affluent areas, areas where other providers may be reluctant to do so because of property prices or higher employment costs. We open homes where the local authorities tell us they are needed. And that means as an organisation, we’re growing holistically, not with a focus on growth for growth’s sake.
 
“When we find a property, we want to transform into a home, we do it right, making sure it’s a home any of us would be happy and comfortable living in. And that can take time – we don’t just ‘pop’ our homes up quickly. We work with a full staff team right from the start, investing in induction, training and team building.
 
“We’re really proud of the homes we have; they are nurturing, caring family homes. They benefit from having group support, but they are very much individuals.
 
“Woodgrove was our first home and it has been positively part of its very close local community for 13 years and since then, we have opened homes across England.
 
“We believe that an investment in a lovely home in a good area is an investment in a child’s future. These are children who have the same rights to positive experiences and opportunities and positive places to live that all children rightly deserve and expect.”

Our nurturing homes.