Care provider profile
Growing with purpose: two decades of learning at Church Farm Care
Lucy Atkinson, owner of Church Farm Care, reflects on a twenty-year journey of success and growth underpinned by strong resident-centred values
At Church Farm Care, our twentieth anniversary has prompted us to consider our journey from a single home to a group of five, with a sixth on the horizon. As an independent provider, we have been able to grow on our own terms, guided by values rather than external pressure. When we started out, our ambition was
to create places where people could live with comfort, dignity, love, and companionship. Over the years, language within the sector has shifted, regulatory environments have changed, and expectations of providers are higher, yet the core principle that every person should live a life that feels meaningful has remained the same. Our priority throughout our growth has always been to allow our values to underpin each of our homes – requiring a great deal of discipline, awareness, and education among our staff. Reflecting on what has enabled that
growth, how our team has remained so loyal,
and what we have learned while navigating the continuous changes within the sector, I wanted to share our learnings from the last two decades of scaling our care group.
Creating a model that could grow Growth in social care should always be defined by existing culture and values. We understood early that any model for growth had to be created around the lived experience of residents and the continuity of relationships. A home can only thrive when its team feels confident in its purpose; so, before we could expand, we needed clarity in what we were offering, why it mattered, and how we intended to preserve it. We began by investing time in shaping
an approach centred on household living, strong community involvement, and a culture that respected the individuality of residents. This was not a marketing exercise, but a commitment to consistency. Each
14
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com February 2026
home that joined the group needed to reflect the same belief that life in care should feel warm and personal rather than institutional. We found that the pace of development
mattered as much as the physical growth itself. Our decisions were steady and considered and, when exploring opportunities to add another home, the question was never whether it would make us larger – it was whether it would deepen our ability to offer meaningful living. This model helped shape the identity of the group and avoided the fragmentation that sometimes occurs when organisations grow quickly without a solid foundation.
Understanding what quality means Quality in social care is sometimes described through frameworks, ratings, or strategic language. Those indicators are important, yet they do not fully reflect the day-to-day
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43
