L’Arche is a grass-roots organisation, building community networks from the ground up as
people with and without learning disabilities.
Its core value is that of shared lives in mutual relationship.
In the Perth Seed group L’Arche is currently exploring the prospects for launching a new community.
*L’Arche offers more than forty years L’Arche experience in the UK
*The first community in Scotland continues to flourish in Inverness, the second in Edinburgh
*There are ten communities in the UK and 148 across the world.
Service provision is one aspect of L’Arche and its shape reflects the desire of local people with learning disabilities, of their networks of relatives and friends, and of the commissioning plans of a particular area’s Social Work team. Local plans reflect the existing strengths of the area.
In most cases, this provision begins by supporting local people at home – sometimes with people moving to a new home. But L’Arche always responds to whatever people in a local group value the most.
L’Arche fulfils all the accreditation steps, referral or SDS arrangements that go with the provision of dual-registered care services with the Local Authority and with the Care Inspectorate.
As L’Arche works on the options for a third Scottish community in Perth, the key criteria are whether there is a desire among local people with learning disabilities, their network of friends, their relatives and advocates, to show the role that a L’Arche community could play as part of Perth’s existing communities – and how that desire is matched in Social Work / Health, Housing and regulatory bodies.
Also of key importance are the interest shown by local people prepared to get involved as volunteers, helping build up momentum and providing skills for future project development and overseeing: and the scope in Perth in future to employ key people with experience.
A network of local people with a deepening vision for how L’Arche could grow in Perth, must come before and with the planning, the search for resources, buildings or workers – all of which are essentials to make this vision a reality.