Hft
Formation1962
TypeCharity
PurposeSocial Care
HeadquartersBristol, BS13
Region served
England, Wales
Chief Executive
Kirsty Matthews[1]
Staff
3200[2]
Websitewww.hft.org.uk

Hft, formerly known as the Home Farm Trust, is a British learning disability charity based in Bristol. It was established in 1962. The parents who established the charity bought Frocester Manor in Gloucestershire as a residential home for their children. The organisation runs small, person-centred residential care homes and supported living services.

Hft is noted for having established the Fusion Model, which is based on the concept of Person-Centred Active Support, engaging people in meaningful activity and relationships as active participants.

In 2019 it is supporting more than 2,900 adults with learning disabilities.[3] Its charity number is 313069

Locations and services

It supports a successful group of 44 people in Flintshire, Tri Ffordd, which produces handcrafted horticultural goods.[4]

In May 2013, it merged with Self Unlimited, another charity set up in the 1960s to provide support for people with learning disabilities.

Supporters and ambassadors

Anne, Princess Royal has been the Royal patron of the charity since 1982.[5]

Other patrons of the charity have included:

Memberships and accreditations

Memberships

Hft is a member of the following umbrella organisations:[8]

Accreditations

Hft has achieved several accreditations and certifications:[8]

  • Investors in People: Hft has held the Investors in People accolade since 2002, and achieved Silver accreditation in 2017 and 2020.
  • Hft is a Skills For Care Centre of Excellence for its learning and development programme.
  • Hft has achieved compliance with the Energy Saving Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) to show its commitment to reducing energy use and lowering its associated carbon footprint
  • Hft is certified as conforming to the requirements of the OHSAS 18001:2007 workplace safety regulation
  • Hft has achieved the Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation

Codes of Conduct

Hft is a signatory to a number of different codes of practice and commitments designed to encourage best practice in the social care sector:[8]

  • Hft is registered with the Fundraising Regulator and has committed to adhering to the regulator's Code of Fundraising Practise and the Fundraising Promise.
  • Hft has signed up to the Driving Up Quality Code, which outlines good fundamental practices and behaviour that organisations that support people with learning disabilities need to be committed to.
  • Hft is a Disability Confident Employer.

Campaigns and research

Hft produces an annual Sector Pulse Check report on organisations providing social care that aims to provide a yearly snapshot of the financial health of the sector.[9]

In June 2019 it submitted evidence to the Low Pay Commission that social care staff are being commissioned at significantly lower rates of pay, compared to local authorities. Social care is typically commissioned at the National Living Wage. The Department of Health and Social Care pays even its lowest paid staff significantly more.[10]

It produced a report with Tunstall Healthcare which was launched in the House of Lords in 2019 highlighting the untapped potential of assistive technology in social care which was welcomed by the Voluntary Organisations Disability Group.[11]

In July 2019 it called for an end to "perverse" commissioning practices that are "negatively impacting" productivity and financial stability in the adult social care sector. It said that input-based by-hour contracts gave "no incentive" for providers to innovate or deliver anything other than one hour of support.[12]

Books

  • Peck, Bill (2008). A History of the Home Farm Trust 1962 - 2008. Bristol: The Home Farm Trust Limited. ISBN 978-0-9561178-0-9.

References

  1. ↑ Pearce, Lee (5 January 2021). "Hft announces new Chief Executive appointment". Care Home Professional. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Building On The Fundamentals", Annual Review and Annual Report for the year ended 30 March 2020 (Report). Hft. 2021. pp. 6–7.
  3. ↑ "Support worker from Machynlleth who found love at work celebrates career milestone". Powys County Times. 17 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "Meet the Flintshire charity helping people with learning difficulties into work". The Leader. 27 June 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  5. ↑ Paul Palmer; Jim Clifford; Fiona Sheil (2018). A Feast of Thanks: The Patron's Lunch and the value of Patronage (Report). Cass Business School.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Peck, Bill (2008). A History of the Home Farm Trust 1962-2008. Bristol: Home Farm Trust Limited. p. 175. ISBN 978-0-9561178-0-9.
  7. ↑ Lake, Howard (8 March 2006). "Martin Clunes becomes a patron of learning disabilities charity". UK Fundraising. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. 1 2 3 "Hft: About us - Membership & Accreditations". Retrieved March 28, 2021.
  9. ↑ "Learning disability charity welcomes Devon County Council consultation on yellow-line parking". Politics Home. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  10. ↑ "It Doesn't Add Up: Hft submits evidence to Low Pay Commission highlighting the unfairness of the enforced low pay model in social care". Politics Home. 5 June 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  11. ↑ "New report highlights untapped potential of assistive technology". Care Home Professional. 15 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
  12. ↑ "Hft calls for scrapping of 'perverse' commissioning practices in adult social care". Homecare Insight. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 25 August 2019.
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