Birmingham Multi-care was started in 1980 by a group of Parents whose children were profoundly disabled. They wanted support and respite care to be available when they needed it to help them to look after their family members in the familiar environment of their own homes.

At first the organisation was known as Birmingham Multi-Handicap Group. It was funded by small grants from both Birmingham City Council and the Health Authority. People who used the Group became 'members' and were the majority on the Group's Management Committee. In this role they were fully responsible for setting the strategic direction of the organisation.

Over the years, thinking about disability changed. The Group changed its name to 'Birmingham Multi-care' as Parents and Staff alike felt that the word 'handicapped' was no longer appropriate.

The local authority moved away from grant funding and towards the contract culture which exists today. This meant that the organisation of Birmingham Multicare had to change in order to meet the challenges of the contract and to compete with the large private companies who moved into a growing care market.

Today Birmingham Multi-care employs approximately 120 people and provides:

• Respite care for people who live at home with Parents and Carers is still our core activity.
• We also have two small respite care homes within Birmingham, one in Erdington and one in Acocks Green.
• We have a lively Recreation Service which offers Evening Clubs for adults and Saturday and Sunday Centres for children.
• A Day Centre for Asian Women in Sparkbrook.
• We offer training to our staff in NVQ 2 & 3 and deliver all of the training which is a statutory requirement in the Care Field