St. Davids Care was founded in 1978 by Mair Morgan-Grey and Lyn Hall who, at that time, were teachers in special schools in London with backgrounds of social work and education, including learning disability and deaf/blind.
The work began in a small house in Solva with 1 resident from Preston and over the next few years the numbers steadily increased and a bigger house was found in St. Davids.
In the early 1980s St.Davids Care was almost unique as it provided young people who had learning disabilities with the opportunity to develop to the optimum of their abilities within a small community setting, but as part of the wider community of St. Davids.
During the 1980s and early 1990s we had many referrals from local authorities who, as yet, did not have the facilities to provide the wide range of learning opportunities that we offered. One of these programmes was a Further Education programme funded through the Further Education Funding Council. This was a 2 year course accredited by the Welsh Joint Education Council and the NPTC. This ran successfully for several years until FEFC was restructured. Many of those who had completed the further education course were then sponsored by their local Social Service Departments and joined us as full time residents.
Part of our ethos has always been that ‘education is for life,’ for all of us, and we continue to provide those learning opportunities for all. Whether through our own Day Service; conservation work with the National Park and National Trust or links with Pembrokeshire College. Each person has an individual programme to ensure that they have choice. Pembrokeshire is designated as an area of outstanding natural beauty and the conservation work has been beneficial to all parties. Earlier this year we were nominated by the National Park for a Local Heroes Award through Pembrokeshire radio station. Against stiff competition the residents won and are very proud of their Award.
We still work with many of the Local Authorities who placed residents with us and most of those residents are still living in St. Davids – including the first young man who joined us in 1979! We now have 6 Registered Homes and some past residents who now live within St. Davids in supported housing provided by ourselves.
We have always striven to be part of life in St. Davids City. Walking along the street the homes look just like every other house in the area. We feel that the residents are included in all aspects of ‘city’ life and are an accepted part of this society. We are very fortunate to be in an area which is beautiful, with low crime rates and that old community spirit. We have always believed that people who have a disability can and should take their place in society and here in St. Davids it has happened. Come and see for yourself.
