Our services

During it’s long history the Trust has developed strong expertise in supporting individuals with learning disabilities, profound needs and challenging behaviours.

Our services are comprised of a range of different types of accommodation (respite, registered care or supported living). As is often the case in learning disability services we operate each service with a high staff to individual support ratio. Most of our services support four or less individuals, usually in well-established shared households. Our largest service, Sherburn House, can support up to 12 people. The way we work means that we develop strong and lasting relationships with the individuals we support and their families. We encourage Active Support principles in all our services to ensure each individual engages in activities that are beneficial and important to them.

We also have two accessible holiday homes in Filey. These properties are available to hire all year round and each property can accommodate up to 7 people. Contact us for more details about our accessible holiday homes.

We listen to the voices of everyone within The Wilf Ward Family Trust and we do this with the help of Jigsaw which is a group of Individuals that we support. Jigsaw meets every 6 to 8 weeks and engages with all the people we support in their areas. They look at Recruitment, Polices, Easy Reads, what matters to them, how to engage with local communities, Event Planning, to name but a few.

Sadly, the impact of Covid-19 has led to the permanent closure of our café Mr Wilf’s. This is a temporary set-back as we intend to open a Community Hub in Pickering by late 2022. This state-of-the-art facility will comprise a large community café, sensory rooms, hydrotherapy pool and rebound therapy room. Please see our dedicated page to learn more about our plans and how you can get involved.

Living with us

Most of the support provided by the Trust is delivered 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We operate with a high ratio of staff to individuals receiving support. Most of our services support four or less individuals. This ensures that we can provide personalised support and to assist everyone to engage in activities that meet their personal needs and preferences.

Supported Living

Our supported living services are usually very active and busy places. They have been described as homely and familiar. The individuals we support are encouraged to explore new activities, develop new friendships and to learn independent living skills. Following the covid-19 pandemic they have also become places full of creativity and fun, as we have not let social isolation and lockdowns stop us from keeping in touch with relatives and friends. All of our services have tablet computers that facilitate contact with relatives and friends, and access to wider community events such as bingo and virtual discos.

The delivery of care and support within our Supported Living services is overseen by a Registered Manager who is responsible for ensuring we deliver outstanding support. In addition to this, there is a local management team that has responsibility for the day to day running of every service. Our staff teams are highly experienced, well trained and have usually worked for the Trust for many years.

If you would like to learn more about our how we deliver outstanding supported living services, or arrange for a visit, please do get in touch.

Residential Care

Our aim is to provide high quality, specialist support to those with profound learning and physical disabilities. Our decades of experience in supporting individuals with profound needs mean that we are able to care for individuals with highly complex and life-limiting conditions. That does not stop us from striving to engage and involve them in every aspect of their lives. We have developed our own set of Profound and Multiple-Disability Standards which focus on how we can communicate with and involve individuals in meaningful and measurable ways.

We continually follow good practice and work with recognised experts to deliver the highest quality care and support. Our properties are fully accessible and are equipped with the latest equipment and technology. We remain committed to developing strategies focused on health and well-being, end of life support and meaningful engagement.

If you would like to speak with us to learn more about our services, or arrange for a visit, we would love to hear from you.

Areas we work

The Wilf Ward Family Trust supports individuals across the Yorkshire and Humber regions. From the East Coast including Whitby, Bridlington and Beverley, to the west side of Leeds, and from Northallerton, to Selby and Wakefield, and most places in-between, we are able to provide an outstanding service to the people of Yorkshire.

We are a flexible organisation and will always consider new working areas along the boundaries of our current services. This way we are able to offer support to any new service from a local team. If we don’t have a service close to you, we are always open to working with you to explore if we can help. Please do get in touch if we can be of help to you.

Bempton Holidays

Situated on the stunning North Yorkshire Coast near Filey, Bempton Holidays provides bespoke holidays for individuals and families with special requirements. These adapted buildings have been specially designed to ensure maximum accessibility and comfort to all of our guests.

To find out more about Bempton Holidays, or to make a booking, please click here

Jigsaw – #Get Involved

The Jigsaw group are living through some challenging times, especially Covid 19 and have continued to go from strength to strength.

The group are the eyes and ears of the Individuals we support and have been instrumental in allowing the organisation to effectively listen to the people who make the Trust the success it is today

We have made a number of Easy Read documents to enable the Individuals we actively Support across The Trust to participate and engage with.

This is our latest Easy Read on Ageing Well – Hope that you like it