Children's home plan to keep kids in their communities

Scott Darraugh from the community group said the home would be "radically different"

A new home aiming to keep "the most vulnerable children" in their local communities rather than moved hundreds of miles away is set to open.

Non-profit community organisation Social AdVentures has set up its first residential facility, Oak View, for children in Salford.

Chief executive Scott Darraugh said extra cash would be re-invested into the community rather than to make a profit as part of a "radically different approach".

The home is set to open this summer after talks with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

'Sense of identity'

The not-for-profit co-operative was set up in Salford in 2010 and runs various services including children’s days nurseries, a garden centre for people with mental health issues and a community gym and café.

Oak View will be home to three children but managers hope it will be the first of many more.

A study commissioned by the third sector group found the majority of children in Greater Manchester children who need residential care are placed outside of the region.

Mr Darraugh said they were being moved into "children’s homes in Scotland, Wales and as far afield as the south-east [of England]".

He said that led to children losing "their sense of identity".

"We know there’s better outcomes for young people if they stay local to the communities they grew up in," he added.

The study also flagged the need for more third sector providers of children's homes.

The majority of regulated children's homes in England are currently provided by private companies.

The new children's home was designed to be more "homely"

Mr Darraugh said outcomes for young people in care were "poor" with some children becoming homeless "within the first two years of leaving the care system".

He claimed many private providers in the children’s care system were putting profit before the welfare of youngsters.

“We want to do care in a radically different way that is much fairer for local authorities and for children.

“The fact we are a social enterprise means we have the opportunity to re-invest that money back in. We can make decisions based on values rather than on profit."

Manager of Oak View, David Thomson, said the facility had been created to be as "homely as possible’.

Two support workers will also live in the five bedroom house.

"We’re just trying to make the young people feel valued by us," said Mr Thomson.