About
The free peer support network run by and for homecare workers in England.
Homecare Workers' Group provides a space for England's 655,000 domiciliary care workers to come together, support one another and contribute their expertise to national conversations about social care. We are a not-for-profit Community Integrated Company (C.I.C)
Our vision
We're bringing homecare workers together to creatively address the recruitment and retention challenge facing social care, with a view to improving the quality and availability of social care in England. We are pursuing this vision by:
1. Establishing a free, independent and secure peer support network for homecare workers. This may help keep us in our roles despite its pressures
2. Bringing the voices of care workers to decision-making spaces by developing relationships with stakeholders throughout in the sector
3. Engaging in non-partisan influencing to improve employment conditions for homecare workers, especially given that the wellbeing of paid care workers has a direct connection to the wellbeing of the individuals we support
Rachel Kelso
I've been a homecare worker in Nottingham since 2018 and set up Homecare Workers' Group in 2023.
Homecare is exceptionally rewarding and makes you think on your feet constantly. The relationships we form with the individuals we support, their families and friends can be incredibly meaningful, particularly when somebody is experiencing loneliness, or has a lot going on in with their health. Unless we are on a double-up run, we generally don't see much of our colleagues, and in this way the work can feel lonely at times: we are out and about on our own at unsociable hours, using our initiative to support people as best we can.
From day one of being a homecare worker, I felt deeply affected by the extent of social isolation I saw when visiting individuals in my community. I was also surprised by the differences between the health and social care systems, given the amount of overlap. This got me reading about social care in my spare time to learn more about how it is organised.
After a few months of full time homecare work, I was physically drained, which is common. My interest expanded to looking at employment conditions for homecare workers and how we are regarded by society as a whole. Did you know that back in 2017 it was estimated that between 10-13% of homecare workers are illegally paid below the National Minimum Wage as a result of unpaid travel time?
At 26 I went to the University of Nottingham to study Sociology and Social Policy, as this allowed me more time to learn about the adult social care system outside of work. Whilst there I learned that the approach taken to addressing any social problem is influenced by the input of various stakeholder groups. Based on my research and on my own experiences, I knew that the voices of homecare workers were seriously lacking in the policy and research space, despite our daily exposure to how 'services' work 'on the ground', and the invaluable insights we could offer as a result of this.
In the summer before my final year at university, I set up Homecare Workers' Group. The idea was to facilitate a space for day-to-day peer support among homecare workers, and see if this could help us to develop more of a collective voice. I graduated in 2024 and continue to do the homecare work I love alongside running the group. It's been great to see homecare workers finally coming together as a supportive and purposeful community.