Care and Support Impact Report

Op FORTITUDE is Riverside’s central referral pathway that works with armed forces veterans at risk of or experiencing homelessness, supporting them either into suitable accommodation, or helping them to maintain their current home.

In 2024/25 Op Fortitude received 2,279 referrals with the team referring into veteran supported housing and exploring mainstream options where veteran supported housing wasn’t a viable option.

Our Sefton Families Service is a homeless prevention service which uses social housing to get people out of temporary accommodation and into a permanent family home. Families receive on-going support from Riverside’s Specialist Support Worker to help them sustain their tenancy for example with benefits, debt, rent arrears, health, domestic abuse, hate crime, anti-social behaviour and getting back into work or education and training.

The scheme’s coordinated approach has led the more efficient use of the Council and its partners’ services. It has been calculated that the pilot generated a saving of £24,394 per family – £3.36 of benefit for every £1 spent.

We’re continuously working with customers and partners to find innovative ways of meeting customers’ needs. At our Railway Road service in Wigan – part of the ‘Springboard Partnership’ of supported accommodation providers – we supported the roll out of Dentaid, a visiting dental service for people who are experiencing homelessness. One of our customers hadn’t visited a dentist for 25 years but through our partnership with Dentaid he was able to get a full dental check, extractions and fillings making him ‘feel like a new man’.

Our floating support services in different parts of the country provide housing-related floating support service to vulnerable people to help them to maintain their tenancies. In our Engage Enfield service in North London over 1,350 customers completed a programme of support while:

• 600+ people maximised their income
• 700+ people reported a development of greater confidence, control or involvement
• 700+ people were supported to make wider links in their community through referrals and signposting

As part of our Retirement Living Investment Programme (RLIP), we’re investing in our schemes for over 55’s across the country, transforming them into environments that look and feel brand-new. Hawthorne Court in Sefton, Merseyside saw £1m invested in major remodelling work to refresh and modernise the communal areas, lobbies, and facilities for our customers living there. To date 53 services have received investment totalling £45.5m with the last property completed in October 2025. 

Colleagues across Care & Support have co-produced a Colleague Wellbeing Plan that is designed to provide ways that colleagues can maintain good health and wellbeing, and access support. The Plan acknowledges the busy, demanding and often challenging roles they have and is based on feedback from colleagues. It includes guidance, activities and resources around things like: reflective practice, taking a break, accessing colleague benefits, and advice on self-care. The Care & Support Well-Being Plan complements Riverside’s ‘Our Five Ways to Wellbeing’ Plan. 

This year we opened two brand new Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered Extra Care schemes that provide independent living flats with support and personal care for adults over 55 years old.

The first – Keswick Gardens – is situated in Middleton, Greater Manchester and consists of 88 apartments and a real community hub, which was designed and built with our customers’ care and independence in mind.

We also opened Leacroft Lodge, a beautiful state-of -the -art scheme which forms part of a wider regeneration project in partnership with the London Borough of Newham at the heart of Canning Town in East London. This stunning new scheme has become home to 50 people and was officially opened by Riverside Group’s Chief Executive, Paul Dolan.

Meanwhile, work is well under way at Harbour Place – our latest Extra Care scheme development situated in Workington, Cumbria. This new scheme will offer 79 affordable one and two-bedroom extra care apartments to people over 55 who require care and support to live independently. Building work on this stunning new scheme is nearing completion and the doors will open to our new customers in early 2026.

Harrison Park, Cecil Gardens and Redwood Glades in Hull are intergenerational Extra Care services that help people with care needs live independently. With bright and modern one- and two-bedroom apartments the services offer the independence of private apartments within a warm, engaging and inclusive community setting.

We encourage customers to give us feedback and help design our activities programme through feedback forms, Events Focus Groups and residents’ meetings.

Some of the activities we’ve organised this year in response to residents’ suggestions include aromatherapy sessions, providing space for customers to display their artwork, setting up a walking group, monthly karaoke sessions, running extra soft bowls sessions and a workshop making dream catchers!

Jane* lives at our Cecil Gardens Extra Care Scheme in Hull. She used to live with her mum but as her mum got older she felt less able to look after Jane, who has a learning disability. Since moving into Cecil Gardens, the team has helped Jane to live more independently whilst getting the care and support she needs to thrive. She enjoys being part of a close community and the opportunities to do new things such as completing her Level 1 Food Hygiene Certificate. Jane’s also been able to take on some caring responsibilities for her mum which she’s really pleased about and means she gets to spend time with her.

Tom* is a resident at our Redwood Glades Extra Care Scheme in Hull. After taking on a volunteering role in a local charity shop, Tom told us he was feeling unhappy and out of place because he didn’t have ‘smart’ clothes and couldn’t afford to buy new ones. The team applied to Riverside’s Helping Hand Fund which provides one-off grants to Riverside tenants experiencing financial hardship enabling them to give Tom money to buy new clothes. Tom’s really enjoying working at the charity shop, being part of a team and doing good for the local community.

*names changed

Technology plays a vital role in helping us deliver safe, effective and responsive care services. This year we successfully transferred our helpline service to Appello Smart Living Solutions, an accredited, industry-leading provider of telecare services. Our helpline provides high-quality, person-centred and easy to access support for customers whenever they need it.

Our focus for the coming year is delivering a successful transition from analogue to digital phone systems in readiness for the shutting down of the Public Switched Telephone Network. We’ll be working closely with customers to ensure they’re kept informed and can shape our approach every step of the way.