Inspire is proud to announce our intention to merge with social care provider Community Integrated Care today (Thursday 8 th June 2023).
Community Integrated Care supports 2500 people with care needs and employs over 5000 colleagues nationwide, over 280 and 1000 in Scotland respectively. They deliver award-winning support to people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health conditions and complex care needs, supporting them to lead full lives in their local communities.
The partnership is a strategic fit for both organisations, with Inspire set to benefit from Community Integrated Care’s size, scale and experience in areas such as technology, systems and ground- breaking partnerships and initiatives.
The merger also supports Community Integrated Care’s Best Lives Possible strategy, which sets out an ambitious plan to expand its reach even further, supporting more people in new geographical areas. As well as this, the charity sees an opportunity to learn from our areas of expertise - high- quality services, innovative approach to community engagement and positive reputation in Scotland.
There are significant synergies between our two charities including shared heritage, values and vision for the future of social care. Both organisations mark their 35 th birthdays this year, having been founded in 1988 with a mission to ensure people with support needs lead lives of choice, independence and opportunity, as active citizens in their communities.
Throughout the coming months, both charities will be working closely to ensure a smooth transition for colleagues and people supported, with the intention for the merger to be complete in August 2023.
Linda Gray, Chief Executive Officer at Inspire said: “Over the last few years, it’s been my honour to lead our charity in making great strides towards our ambition of being a care provider and employer of choice in Scotland. I’ve been proud to be involved in some huge successes: building quality Care Inspectorate grades, creating a positive reputation with our partners, and most importantly, fostering fantastic relationships with the people we support and their loved ones. We know that we can continue to achieve more of these great things by partnering with Community Integrated Care.” She continued, “Underpinning everything is our aim to ensure sustainability for our people, particularly given the environment all care providers are currently facing. Through this merger we will bring the best of Inspire and Community Integrated Care together - our goals, values and passion - so that we can continue to flourish with the benefits that come with being part of a large organisation.”
Jim Kane, Chief Executive Officer at Community Integrated Care said: “The teams at Community Integrated Care and Inspire have been in discussions for a number of years about the exciting possibility of bringing our two organisations together. We’re delighted that the moment has finally arrived where we can take this confident step forward. The move presents many positives: the opportunity to learn new ways of working through best practice sharing, the ability to align resources to work more effectively, as well as supporting us to collectively build initiatives that will improve the lives of our people.”
He continued, “Of course, we know that the challenging landscape in social care makes collaboration within our sector key. The union between our two organisations will not only support us to scale up and expand our work and mission across Scotland, but through a united voice, we hope that we can also have greater influence across the sector and demonstrate the true value of consolidation.”
You can find out more about Community Integrated Care here.
