The Lifeways Annual Review 2024/25

By Andrea Kinkade, Chief Executive of Lifeways 

As I reflect on this past year at Lifeways, I feel an enormous sense of gratitude to work in a sector that, while challenging, makes such an incredible difference to people’s lives. 

Every day across the country, our amazing teams go above and beyond to help people we support live as independently as possible. Nothing is more important to our people than making a positive difference. It’s in our DNA. 

Our Annual Review of our 2024/25 year shares the stories of people we support who have taken massive steps towards independence in the face of huge personal challenges – with our people at their side every step of the way. 

It also highlights the investment we have made in improving our services and the steps we have taken to welcome scrutiny and challenge from those whose voice matters most – the people we support. 

Our review acknowledges the realities of the challenges we face. Across the sector, we continue to see pressure on pay and conditions, growing complexity in care needs, and the ongoing challenge of recruiting and retaining the right people.  

These are not small hurdles, but they make the achievements of the people we support and our teams even more extraordinary. 

Our key numbers for 2024/25 look like this: 

• 10,000 team members 
• More than 4,000 people supported 
• 1,500 services across the UK 
• Delivered 13,107,000+ hours of support 
• Moved 54 people with complex needs to independence 
• invested £6.5m in our properties 
• invested £2.1m in transforming services 
• achieved 100% compliance across all Scottish registrations 
• achieved 91% overall regulatory compliance (including third party inspections) 

I am proud, too, of our honesty. We know we don’t always get it right. When things go wrong, we must own it - and we do. We listen, we learn, and we act to put things right, because the people we support, and their families, deserve nothing less. 

Our journey is far from over. With the dedication of our people and the strength of our purpose, we are improving and making huge progress together. There is more work to do and we remain fully committed – but we enter the 2025/26 year – our 30th anniversary year – stronger than we have ever been. 

To everyone who continues to place their trust in us, and to all our colleagues for their hard work and care, I want to say thank you. It’s your dedication that brings our values to life and makes the difference.