Get support to live the life you choose with PSS Shared Lives

With PSS Shared Lives, you can get support from a PSS Shared Lives carer while you live with them in their home, spend the day with them, or stay for a short break.

You can use PSS Shared Lives in Merseyside, Manchester, North Yorkshire, Midlands, East Anglia, Lincolnshire and North Wales.

Care and support that feels like chosen family

With PSS Shared Lives, we match you carefully with a fully-trained PSS Shared Lives carer that you choose. You decide where you live, who supports you and what their home is like. You meet your carers before you move in with them, and we make sure you are going to get on really well.

But then the PSS Shared Lives magic happens.

Most people who live with PSS Shared Lives families say that, after a little bit of time, their carers don't feel like carers at all - they feel like chosen family.

They get to know each other so well, that things feel like they've always been this way.

Before you know it, you'll be walking the dog together, going on holidays, binge-watching your favourite Netflix series, arguing over football or rugby, and sharing your favourite meal.

With PSS Shared Lives, you can live your life to the fullest while your Shared Lives carers are your biggest cheerleaders, keeping you safe and well, encouraging you, caring for you, supporting you and cheering you on.

What can your PSS Shared Lives carer support you with?

Leaving foster care
Cooking
Your mental health
Learning the ropes as a new parent
Finding a job
Cleaning
Going on holiday
Having a bath or shower
Taking medication
Going to appointments
Sorting out your finances

Catching up with friends and family
Getting into volunteering
Trying new hobbies
Doing some training
Learning life skills
Having a relationship
Using the internet and other tech
Meeting new friends
Being part of your community
Getting out and about
Doing exercise safely

I used to live in supported living and I hated it. But this is so different, it doesn't feel like care, it just feels like my family. I never used to go out much, but now I'm never in. I go on holiday with Nisha and Chloe, I've gone back to college and made loads of lovely new friends, I take my meds properly every day now because Nisha helps me, and I'm looking for a job. One day, I want my own house. I can't believe this is my life.

- Chelsea, supported by Chloe and Nisha

Who is PSS Shared Lives for?

Lots of different people are part of PSS Shared Lives - it works for people who have a lot of support needs, and for people who just want someone to be there in case they need them.

Whether you need support with daily life, you're leaving foster care or just need some support when things get tough, when you're living with a PSS Shared Lives carer, you'll always have that safety net that feels like family.

Shared Lives could be a good fit for you if:

you’ve got a learning or physical disability;
you’re a new mum or dad who would like some help to learn parenting skills;
you need some support with your mental health;
you're escaping an abusive relationship;

you’re recovering from a drug or alcohol addiction;
you’re a young person leaving foster care;
you’ve just come out of hospital and need a hand while you get back on your feet; or
you already get care but want to have a bit more choice about how it works.

The different types of PSS Shared Lives support

PSS Shared Lives: Live-in

Our Shared Lives Live-in service is where you can get support while living with a Shared Lives carer and their family.

You can live with a Shared Lives carer for as long as you want to. We know people who have been living with a Shared Lives carer for two years, and we know people who have been living with a Shared Lives carer for twenty years.

We'll help you choose a PSS Shared Lives carer who has a home that will be right for you. For example, if you need to live somewhere where your bedroom's downstairs, we will find that for you. Or, if you want to live with someone who has pets, we can find a carer who has some furry friends.

PSS Shared Days

With PSS Shared Days, you can meet up with one of our Shared Lives carers and spend your day with them.

With Shared Days, you don't live with your carer. Instead you go to your PSS Shared Lives carer's house to spend the day with them and get some support.

You might go out and about together, or your might spend time in their home with their family.

PSS Shared Lives: Moving On

Our Shared Lives Moving On service is for young people who are about to leave foster care, but don't want to go it alone just yet.

We know what it's like to get to the point where it's time to leave your foster carer, but you're not ready to get your own place and juggle all the parts of adult life on your own yet. With our Moving On service, you can come and live with one or our Shared Lives carers and their families until you feel ready. That could mean you stay with them for five years, or it could mean you stay with them for a year. It's entirely up to you - there's no rush.

Your carers will support you in exactly the way you want them to - you won't be treated like a child. You'll be given respect, your own voice and choices. Your carer will be matched to you based on what you want from life and how much support you need, and you can choose who you live with and where they live, so you can move closer to your friends, work, uni or places you love, or stay put where you grew up.

PSS Shared Lives: Moving On Together

If you're about to leave foster care but want to stay living with your foster carer, they could turn into a Shared Lives carer with us and keep on supporting you in the same way, for as long as you like.

Your foster carer can be both a Shared Lives carer and a foster carer at the same time. By signing up as a Shared Lives carer, they get to keep on supporting you until you're ready to go move into the adult world and be independent.

If you decide you'd like to live with a different carer (not the person who was your foster carer), you could use our Shared Lives: Moving On service (more about that above).

Find out more about becoming a carer

PSS Shared Lives: Short Breaks

With PSS Shared Lives: Short Breaks, you can take a break from your usual care and go and stay with a PSS Shared Lives carer for a short space of time.

Your Short Breaks carer will support you in just the same way as your usual carer does - exactly how you want them to.

You can choose who you go and stay with, which means you could go and stay with a carer who has a house by the sea, in the countryside, in a big city, or close to someone you love.

With PSS Shared Lives: Short Breaks, you can get a change of scenery, and your usual carer can have a little rest.

PSS Shared Lives: Home From Hospital

Shared Lives: Home From Hospital is for people who have spent some time in hospital and are healthy enough to leave, but aren't quite feeling up to going back to their own home just yet.

You can come and stay with one of our PSS Shared Lives carers while you get back on your feet again. They'll support you to get your confidence back and help with the care you need to recover.

Once you're ready to go back to your own home, your carer can help get you settled in.

How do we find the right carer for you?

First, we'll get to know all about you. We'll find out what you like, what you don't like and what you want to do in your life. You, your social worker, your family or your carer will tell us all about the support you'd like to have, and what you're looking for in a carer. We'll get to know about any special support you'll need, and what type of house you want to live in.
Once we know all about you, we'll show you which Shared Lives carers in your area would be a good fit for you, based on what you've told us. We can use our matching website, Matching Lives, to show you who they are, what they like and don't like, if they have any pets, and even show you round their houses.
If you see someone you think looks like a good fit for you, we can arrange a meet-up, so you can say hello, and see whether or not they're the right carer for you. We can even arrange for you to stay overnight to see what you think.
When we've found you a carer that you really like and you start your Shared Lives journey, we'll keep an eye on things. We'll come and visit you and your carer regularly to check things are all ok, and that you're safe, happy and well.
If there are any problems while you're with your carers, we'll help.

What people say about Shared Lives

Every year, we ask the people we support with Shared Lives to rate it out of five. In 2025, they said:

4.75/5

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4.7/5

for blablablab

4.5/5

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Find your local PSS Shared Lives scheme

Shared Lives North Yorkshire

Get support from PSS Shared Lives across North Yorkshire.

PSS East Anglia

You can get support from PSS Shared Lives in Norfolk and Suffolk.

PSS Shared Lives Merseyside

You can be supported by PSS Shared Lives Merseyside in Liverpool, St Helens, Knowsley and Widnes.

PSS Shared Lives Manchester

See how PSS Shared Lives can support you if you live in Manchester.

PSS Shared Lives Lincolnshire

Get support from PSS Shared Lives in Lincolnshire.

PSS Shared Lives North Wales

Learn more about how to get support from PSS Shared Lives in North Wales.

PSS Shared Lives Midlands

Get support from PSS Shared Lives if you live in the Midlands.

PSS Shared Lives carers are trained in all kinds of things from safeguarding and providing personal care to administering medication.
We’ve got a dedicated learning and development team who support them to be the very best they can be, and each carer must do essential courses regularly to make sure they are up-to-date.
Yes! In England, PSS Shared Lives is regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC). In Wales, we‘re regulated by the Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW). We’re inspected regularly.

You can read our CQC reports by visiting the CQC website: www.cqc.org.uk. You can read our CIW reports by visiting the CIW website: www.careinspectorate.wales.
Yes, you can choose your PSS Shared Lives carer.
We'll take you through a match-making process, looking at what you like, what you don’t like, what you enjoy doing, what you need from your PSS Shared Lives carer and, if you’re going to be staying with your Shared Lives carer, what type of house you’d like to live in. For example, if you use a wheelchair, you might prefer to live in a bungalow, or if you’re a new mum or dad, maybe you’ll want to live somewhere that can fit a baby, too.
We’ll match you up with a carer who’s a good fit for you and who lives somewhere that suits your needs.
There are a few ways you can get a PSS Shared Lives carer.
- Have a chat to your social worker and ask them about PSS Shared Lives
- Get in touch with one of our team (check the list of our locations on this page) and see if we can help
- If we're not in your area right now, check to see if there are any other providers in your area
Our friendly team will be with you from the beginning.
First, we'll get to know all about you. We'll find out what you like, what you don't like and what you want to do in your life. You, your social worker, your family or your carer will tell us all about the support you'd like to have, and what you're looking for in a carer. We'll get to know about any special support you'll need, and what type of house you want to live in.
Once we know all about you, we'll show you which Shared Lives carers in your area would be a good fit for you. We can use our matching website, Matching Lives, to show you who they are, and even show you round their houses.
If you see someone you think looks like a good fit for you, we can arrange a meet-up, so you can say hello, and see whether or not they're the right carer for you. We can even arrange for you to stay overnight to see what you think.
When we've found you a carer that you really like and you start your Shared Lives journey, we'll keep an eye on things. We'll come and visit you and your carer regularly to check things are all ok, and that you're safe, happy and well.
If there are any problems while you're with your carers, we'll help.
Back in 1978, Shared Lives was invented by a brilliant woman called Sue Newton, who worked at PSS (no surprise there). Lots of older people were then living in ‘institutions’, where they lived in constant care. The government was closing lots of them down and many people who were living in them had nowhere to go.
That’s when we stepped up.
PSS invented a service where these older people would go and live with a volunteer who wanted to help them. It worked, and over time the service began to evolve, changing and developing to become what it is today – the fastest growing form of social care in the UK.
These days, the service isn’t run by volunteers, support’s provided by our amazing Shared Lives carers. And it isn’t just for older people, it’s for anyone who needs it.
PSS Shared Lives is for anyone who needs some support. We support people with lots of different types of needs, and everyone's unique. We support you in the way you want to be supported. We support everyone from new mums and dads who need a little help adjusting to family life, people recovering from addictions and people leaving foster care, and people with learning disabilities, though to people who have mental health conditions, people with brain injuries, people with physical disabilities, autistic people, and people leaving a domestic abuse situation.

Shared Lives