Our story

Our founder Alex met isolated older neighbour Fred and took him for his first haircut in three months, inspiring the idea for The Cares Family. Watch the video of our founding story >>

Our first sibling charity, North London Cares opened spontaneously in August 2011 amid rioting by mobilising young people to assist with the cleanup. 

North London Cares began its first ever Winter Wellbeing project, mobilising young people to help their older neighbours stay warm, active, healthy and connected. Winter is a tough time of year for older and younger people alike, but by connecting on doorsteps and later in warm community halls, the generations came together.

Our second sibling charity South London Cares opened. South London Cares had the same model as North London Cares, mobilising younger neighbours to connect with their older neighbours. Check out how South London Cares evolved between 2014 and 2023.

In 2017 - Manchester Cares was born! We threw open our doors to invite older and younger Mancunians to spend time with one another. 

What started as a ripple was becoming a wave of connection gathering pace across the country. In 2018, we opened Liverpool Cares, expanding The Cares Family to another great city changing fast. 

And in 2019, East London Cares joined the family – to tackle isolation and loneliness and connect younger and older neighbours across Tower Hamlets and Hackney. That’s how The Cares Family is a family in more than a name – it’s a place for people to belong, and to feel ‘part of something bigger'.

2020 changed how we interact with our communities more rapidly than ever before. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing social isolation brought new challenges to our model. But, just as our community stepped up to help one another out nearly a decade before in the wake of the riots, neighbours came to each other's aid again to help each other stay connected – online, on the phone and in the community, albeit not face-to-face. That's how, in 2020 and 2021, we worked with more people than ever before.

In 2022, Manchester Cares celebrated our fifth birthday with an amazing party. Older and younger neighbours danced the night away!

By 2023, The Cares Family had helped drive a major shift in how the UK – and the world – see loneliness. More younger and older people were ready to talk about their sense of disconnection and loneliness. And our programmes helped them find their way back to connection with new communities. More than that, The Cares Family was able to inspire a movement of changemakers – from Cardiff to Coventy, Bristol to Birmingham, Aberdeen to Aberystwyth; and in Australia, South Korea, Tanzania, the United States, Germany and beyond.

In November 2023, Manchester Cares and The Cares Family board made a decision to close due to difficulty fundraising. Manchester Cares and The Cares Family may no longer be operational, but the ripple effect of our work continues to flow across the country and around the world. Find out more about our legacy vision at www.thecaresfamily.org.uk.