Firstly Homestead is setting out to create a network of truly healing environments – homely, safe and enlivening - where holistic relational care is provided for sufferers of long-term mental illness, with a deeply rooted sense of purpose and belonging. Such a place simply does not exist anywhere in the UK at the moment, and it is our aim that thousands of people, whose lives are spent in and out of mental hospitals, could be helped to get better and stay better, and thus enabled to make the most of their lives, whilst also taking a significant burden off the NHS; with overall nett savings to the national purse, and nett increases to health and well-being across society.
About 220,000 people are being treated for schizophrenia by the NHS at any one time in the UK; over 50% suffering recurring hospitalization. These numbers are increasing but currently cost the NHS and Social Care over £15 billion per year. We believe that some of these funds can be spent more effectively - supplemented by productive enterprise, charity giving and community involvement - to increase health and reduce cost at a national level.
A Homestead would be a place close to Nature; full of Enterprise, Art, Music, and Beauty; each one providing supported accommodation for about 15 residents at any one time, with about 7 staff living in, and in every case including a community-facing business as an integral part of its set-up, where residents would be able to work part-time. Meanwhile the Homestead network, which would gradually grow across the UK, would become a beacon of design excellence, and a highly fruitful collaboration with the NHS; filling a gap in the nation’s health infrastructure, and meeting a national need.
Secondly Homestead aims to become a thriving network of productive community-based enterprises – from baking and pottery, bee-keeping and food production, farm-shops and animal rescue; to elder living, co-living and self-build; to cycle-cafes, coffee-carts and high street retail ‘hubs’ - working symbiotically with the supported housing it provides to create a positive relationship with local communities, and a profound, transformative sense of purpose and belonging for all those involved – residents, staff, visitors and members of local communities, young and old.
HOMESTEAD would be founded on Four Core Principles:
[1] To be an exemplar of Design Excellence, and Sustainability
[2] To create a homely, indoor-outdoor environment, Close to Nature, and located beyond easy-reach of sources of alcohol / drugs.
[3] To involve Productive Enterprise, with positive and symbiotic connections to the surrounding community, as a core element of its work; and over time to develop one or more outward-facing urban and rural brands attracting young volunteers
4] To be Affordable to all; offering enhanced care at lower cost than the current NHS norms.
A Homestead can take many forms - conversions or new-build, permanent or pop-ups – but four ‘archetypes’ have been discussed to date:
[1] FOUR-LEAF-CLOVER: The rare but highly valued combination of four ‘leaves’ or realms for (i) severe need (ii) semi-independence (iii) staff and volunteers and (iv) community-facing enterprise.
[2] ENCAMPMENT: Huts or caravans encircling a safe space; set in nature and light on the land.
[3] COURTYARD CLUSTER: Modest buildings grouped around courtyards, like a farm, with more outdoor space than indoors.
[4] WALLED KITCHEN GARDEN: A safe haven – an inner realm – both productive and protected
Every Homestead will have some fundamental components, including:
[1] A large kitchen where cooking and eating together can happen.
[2] A pottery, art and music space
[3] Indoor and outdoor growing spaces
[4] A courtyard garden with a tree and bird-feeders, and covered outdoor space to gather.
Each Homestead will have a daily and weekly rhythm which it shares to some extent with other Homesteads around the country. It will be like a club, and everyone involved will be a member. The Homestead Network will also have rigorous strategies for safety, inclusivity and affordability which are outlined in Section 6 of this document. Alongside the fundamentals of creating a successful therapeutic, productive and symbiotic community, with a strong sense of purpose, some key innovations are proposed, which will require proof of concept. These include gathering a large cohort of young volunteers; both to increase carer-resident-ratios, and to raise awareness across communities from a grass-roots level.
We aim to work in partnership with the NHS and Social Care to create a national network of Therapeutic Communities, to supplement the handful that currently exist. We aim to help make symbiotic relationships between mental illness and mental wellness a normal part of Care in the Community; enriching the lives of all. We aim to help reduce significantly the amount of time spent in hospital by people suffering long-term psychosis; meanwhile accelerating the now-established process of de-stigmatising mental illness across society. We intend the Homestead Network to be as significant for mental illness as Maggie’s Centres are for cancer care; and like Maggie’s Centres, to work in public-private partnership with the NHS to set new benchmarks for designing therapeutic environments in aid of health and well-being.