Communications


and fascinated by the birds and bird feeder they’d put outside her window. In short, she was the Gran I’d always known, doing the things she’d always loved, even if she no longer knew me. I’ve wholeheartedly recommended that home ever since. In a perfect world, families choose to


speak about you because of how good their experience was and how much it matters to them to share it with others in a similar situation.


The conversation in front of us Baroness Casey’s Big Conversation is asking the public what care should be. For a sector


If we want to seriously shift the public sentiment on care, then


we need to build a strong narrative in all our public-facing activity


that has struggled to explain itself this consultation is inspired. No prior knowledge needed. No complicated explanation of how things work today. Just a focus on what comes next. The opportunity we all have in the months and years to come is to make sure we are


Learning disability super league


The Community Integrated Care Learning Disability Super League (LDSL) is a collaboration between social care charity Community Integrated Care, rugby league’s Super League, and its governing body, the Rugby Football League (RFL). It supports people who have learning disabilities and autistic people to play a specially adapted, non-contact version of rugby league, with regular training and events. The Learning Disability Super League launched in 2019, building on Community Integrated Care’s wider rugby league work that began in 2016. From simple beginnings, it has grown rapidly and now features 19 clubs and over 400 players. The programme runs as a community league offering weekly regular training, matches, participation in festivals and showcase games at some of the Super League’s major events. Despite being a collaboration between


Community Integrated Care and the Super League, the programme is open to anyone who has a learning disability or is autistic, not just those supported by Community Integrated Care. It is also open to all ages and genders. The game is a specially adapted,


non-contact version of rugby league played to tag rules. Teams are seven-a- side, with a minimum of five players who have a learning disability and up to two able-bodied facilitators – often current or former professionals. All points must be scored by the players who have a learning disability. The partnership is well celebrated, gaining awards such as the Best Model


of Integrated Care award, Best Sports Community Scheme, and Care Innovation of the Year. Really though, the main achievement


is that it empowers people who have learning disabilities and autistic people to have a dedicated community to participate in, fulfil their own personal ambitions, and have far more independence. Independent research by Manchester


Metropolitan University values the partnership at £12.43 of social value for every £1 invested, and its ‘On the same team’ education programme has reached more than 30,000 young people – evidence that the initiative is having a broad impact across the region and helping to shift public attitudes, not just change the lives of those who play. However, the most prominent and


arguably most influential element of the programme is that LDSL has been played during half-time at ‘Magic Weekend’ since 2019 – this year, in front of a sellout 53,000 crowd – and appears at the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals. These games are also now covered by Sky Sports. This is transformative for changing public attitudes to social care and the achievements of people with learning disability and autistic people. It meets the public where they are (supporting their favourite Super League team), and it showcases empowerment, pierces stigma and false assumptions, and puts this programme at the heart of the communities its participants live in. Everyone is treated with respect and celebrated for what they can do.


telling a story about the impact of our work. Ask your families, colleagues, neighbours:


what do you want life to look like when you grow old, or if someone you love has a disability? Remind them of the importance of keeping choice and control. Of staying part of the community. Of having the support that makes a full life possible – and then show them (don’t tell) how your work is making that possible for people. Long-term political reform will ultimately


be secured in the Treasury. But the political and public consent for change, and the inevitable trade-off that will come with it, will be secured when the public better understands and appreciate the value of social care services. This work takes place far from Westminster – it happens in the stands of rugby league games, through armchairs placed in front of TVs, bird feeders hung up outside, and in all the little moments that matter.n


Nathan Hollow


Nathan Hollow is a board director at PLMR Group and deputy managing director of PLMR Healthcomms, specialising in strategic communications, reputation management and public affairs across health and social care. With fifteen years of experience advising leading care providers, representative bodies and healthcare organisations, he is recognised for his expertise in media relations and policy engagement. Nathan is also a trustee of The Care Workers’ Charity.


30 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com October 2026


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