Think about what home means to you. Think about your house, your flat. How have you made it feel like your home?

When you walk out of your front door, what do you see? How do you get to the shops? Where do you meet your friends?  Where’s the bus stop?

When we move house, these are all things that we take into consideration. It is important that we are comfortable and happy in the place we live, and that the location of our home is functional and allows us to live our daily lives with the minimum amount of inconvenience.

These are not choices that older people always get to make. darts and DMBC believe, however, that this should not be the case. It was as a result of this belief that the No Place Like Home project was born.

In August and September 2010, darts worked with a group of older people from Doncaster to gather their responses and ideas in relation to developing a set of Standards for Housing in Sheltered Accommodation and Extra Care Settings.

The older people involved in this consultation process then became the Guardians of the Standards, and worked with residents in Charles Court to test the Standards. darts brought a creative approach to this process, encouraging the use of song, dance and visual art to help portray and express the thoughts and ideas behind the project.

One participant in the project commented that: “For me, creativity breaks down barriers and allows relationships to develop more quickly, frees people up to better express ideas and thoughts, creates equality by giving expression to everyone (including those who have difficulty with verbal communication), and creates a level playing field. Above all it allows people to have fun when life seems so serious.”

The project was a great success in engaging older people in the Doncaster borough to take ownership of a set of Standards that impact on their lives and where they live for the first time.

Kate Sully, an artist from darts, clearly articulates the motivation behind the work: “It was comforting to go to Charles Court and see residents being asked their opinion. It is important that they still have a voice: I wouldn’t want to go into any kind of care setting and become voiceless and invisible, you shouldn’t be written off.”

Thanks to No Place Like Home, instead of being ‘written off’, older people are being given choice and independence, enabling them to have a real impact on their quality of life.

What’s next?

The success of No Place Like Home will be most significant if it continues to grow and develop in both existing and new housing developments. With this in mind, over the next three years the Guardians are meeting together again in order to prepare for their involvement in new older people’s accommodation.

In Kirk Sandall, they will be attending the opening of a development and testing it out in relation to the Standards. Guardians will then re-visit the site to co-deliver creative sessions with residents to gather their responses to the environment they have been living in.

By getting involved from the early stages, the Guardians can really have an impact on decision-making. They will ensure that future housing meets the needs and aspirations of the Standards, which will become a routine part of the older people’s housing development process.