At 32, Steph is the life and soul of the house she shares with two housemates in the north east, and she’ll be the first to tell you that dancing is compulsory there!
It’s a long way from where her journey began.
After losing her Mum, Steph went to live with her Gran, who cared for her right through to age 17. Steph attended school until she was 18, when Gran, no longer able to manage alone, made the difficult decision that Steph needed more support than she could provide at home.
Steph moved to her first residential service before later moving to Abbeyvale, a National Care Group residential service, where she would live for seven years while attending a day centre placement. Her time there was extended by the disruption of the Covid pandemic, but when her day centre eventually reopened, something began to shift. Steph started building her independent living skills, and it became clear she was ready for more: more independence, more community, more of her own life. A residential setting simply couldn’t offer that.
After a thorough assessment and a well-planned transition, Steph moved into a supported living house in 2024, sharing a home with two other ladies closer to her own age, supported by Highlea Care.
The move didn’t happen overnight. It began with casual, impromptu visits, dropping in for a chat with the two ladies who lived there, sometimes with her social worker, sometimes as part of a support day out. Steph hit it off with her housemates straight away, it was clear they had plenty in common, from cooking to karaoke. The visits went so well that, on one of them, Steph simply asked if she could stay.
Before the big move, Steph and her then registered manager, Julie, cooked a spaghetti bolognese for everyone in the house, which was a small, warm gesture to mark the start of a new chapter.
Steph was quiet when she first moved in. She isn’t anymore.
Her confidence has grown enormously over the past two years, and so has her independence. When she moved in, she needed 30 hours of support a week. Today, that figure has dropped to just 12 hours (plus overnight support shared across the house) while she continues to attend day services three times a week. She’s gone from disliking household chores to taking real pride in her room and her home.
Steph loves music, ABBA especially, going to see musicals, baking with her support team, and talking. A lot. Making new friends comes naturally to her these days!
Steph has smashed goal after goal on her support plan. In 2024, she took her first ever holiday and her first ever flight, travelling to Bulgaria with a group of peers from Highlea Care. She loved it so much that she went to Turkey the following year, and she’s already planning where to go in 2026, though this time, she thinks she might stay closer to home.
There have been birthdays to celebrate too. After going to a Highlea Care friend’s birthday party, Steph decided she wanted one of her own, so in 2024, colleagues organised her very first birthday party, with everyone from across the Highlea family invited. In 2025, they went one better, helping her plan and host a party at home, complete with a giant bouncy castle in the garden.
And when her Gran and Aunty are able to make the journey to visit, those visits mean the world to her, even if saying goodbye at the end always brings a tear or two.
Steph never stops dancing, and she owns the dancefloor at every party. Her next goals are all about building on what she’s already achieved, more independent living skills, and more time in the kitchen perfecting her cooking.
Her registered manager, Kathryn, who knows her well and visits regularly, describes Steph;
"Steph is a joy to support and a much loved part of the Highlea Care family."
Steph’s story is a powerful example of what National Care Group’s progression model is all about: the right support, in the right place, at the right time, helping people move towards greater independence and genuinely take control of their own lives
Are you interested in learning more about how we support people like Steph to live their best lives?
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National Care Group is one of the UK’s leading adult social care providers. We support adults with learning disabilities, mental health diagnoses, acquired brain injuries, and autistic people, with services across England and Wales.
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