The Orchards

The Orchards is a Supported Living service to assist individuals living with learning difficulties to build friendships, develop skills and improve their quality of life.

The Orchards is situated in Billinge at the heart of a village community. It offers a variety of amenities including shops, restaurants & cafés, a community centre, library as well as access to health services such as GP and dentist.

The homes are 6 bedroomed properties which have en suite facilities in all bedrooms, large living room and kitchen with the ability to use smaller lounges as family rooms or quiet lounges for people who prefer to be alone at times.

The Orchards is a supported tenancy, where the tenants have access to a dedicated team to help support with housing benefits, understanding of tenancy agreements and how to maintain agreements.

Onsite Communal Hub

The onsite communal hub provides tenants with learning, physical disabilities or those suffering with mental health issues a place to learn, develop and grow. It is a safe space where they can build friendships, and develop life skills in order to help them live a more fulfilled life.

Learning Disabilities

A learning disability affects the way a person learns new things throughout their lifetime, meaning that they may have difficulties understanding new or complex information, learning new skills and caring for themselves or living alone. Around 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability and the figure is increasing.

A learning disability happens when a person’s brain development is affected, either before they’re born, during their birth or in early childhood. This could be caused by things such as; the mother becoming ill in pregnancy, problems during birth that stop enough oxygen getting to the brain, the unborn baby inheriting certain genes, illness or injury in early childhood.

However, sometimes there is no known cause for a learning disability. It has been proven that the appropriate accommodation and correct social setting have a strong impact on the safety and overall quality of life of those with a learning disability, while also reducing social exclusion.