Dare to Care evaluation report

Dare to Care is a pilot pathway with the aim of developing an integrated volunteer project in health and social care. At all stages, the goals of the project were to strengthen and support the workforce in care homes, which currently face challenges in recruitment and retention, and to provide more support to people in receipt of care. 

The pilot was initiated by Lancashire & South Cumbria Health & Social Care Partnership (now Lancashire & South Cumbria Health Integrated Care Board) and co-produced with partners including Healthwatch Blackpool, Healthwatch Lancashire (HWL), Blackpool Adult Learning, Blackpool Carers, Blackpool Health and Social Care Academy, Lancashire County Council, Lancashire Carers, Regenda and Nyby. The initial stage of the pathway was launched in June 2021 in Blackpool and Fleetwood, with a second phase commencing in March 2022 which showed the project expand into Central Lancashire and Pennine Lancashire whilst including a digital element. All components of the project ended in March 2023.

 Five care homes and three volunteers were recruited onto phase 1 of the project in Blackpool and Fleetwood during June 2021 and March 2022. There were significant recruitment difficulties during this period due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, there were key learnings from this which informed a more successful second phase of the project. T

he second phase of the project included an expansion into Central Lancashire and Pennine Lancashire, as well as continuing with Blackpool and Fleetwood. Twelve volunteers completed their mandatory training and a placement in a care home. Three of these decided to remain as a volunteer once their placement ended. 

Despite some clear challenges with recruitment during the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been positive experiences in both phases of the Dare to Care project in all areas due to volunteers learning new skills. Care home managers also had positive feedback about volunteers being able to socialise with residents, freeing up more of their time for caring responsibilities. Recommendations have been formulated to aid anyone looking to address the ongoing care crisis in their local area through improving collaboration between local government, NHS teams, care homes, charities, volunteers and the private sector.