Keep local children local
Where it is right for the child, we want residential care to preserve connections with family, school, community, friendships and the professionals who already know them.
Residential care taking shape in the South West · Wider services available now
Residential care led by experienced social workers
A home for now.Relationships for life.
Phronesis Care is preparing Bracken Rise House, our first children's home led by experienced social workers in Saltash. Alongside this, wider children's services and bespoke support are available now through Nurtura Connect Ltd.
Our first home
Bracken Rise House
Saltash · South East Cornwall
8–18
Children & young people
Saltash
First residential home
South West
Long-term regional vision
Social work
At the heart of practice
Our approach
Residential care that keeps asking what comes next.
Home · relationships · belonging
A child's time in residential care matters. But so do the relationships, identity and sense of belonging that existed before they arrived — and the life they will build after they leave.
Family remains part of the story
Parents, siblings, grandparents and wider kinship networks should remain visible in a child's life and planning wherever this is safe, appropriate and consistent with their care plan.
Reunification stays in view
Residential care should not automatically become the destination. We will work alongside placing authorities to explore safe reunification and stronger family relationships wherever this is realistic.
Led by social work experience
“We want children to feel loved, respected and wanted — and to experience care that is predictable, compassionate and rooted in repair.”
Trauma-informed understanding shapes how we make sense of behaviour, risk and distress. We look beyond presentation to the experiences, relationships and unmet needs underneath it.
Children's voices are integral to planning. We want children to understand their plans, contribute to decisions and increasingly feel able to advocate for themselves.
Family and important people remain part of a child's world wherever it is safe. Relationships should be maintained, repaired and, where possible, reunification actively supported.
Our first home
Saltash · South East Cornwall
Age range
8–18
Setting
Residential
Approach
Social work-led
Our first home
Bracken Rise House, Saltash.
We have our first home in Saltash, Cornwall. Bracken Rise is being prepared for up to two children and young people aged 8–18, with access to local communities, education, services and opportunities across South East Cornwall and Plymouth.
The intention is for Bracken Rise to feel recognisably like a home — somewhere for shared meals, conversation, games, homework, ordinary routines and time with important people. Children will have their own bedrooms and space to make the home feel personal to them.
Explore Bracken Rise HouseResidential status
Bracken Rise House is being prepared as Phronesis Care SW Ltd's first children's home. It is not yet operating as a children's home and an Ofsted registration application has not yet been made. Registration will be sought before opening. Wider children's services are already available through Nurtura Connect Ltd.
For placing authorities & professionals
A placement should have a purpose, not just a vacancy.
Our model is being designed around thoughtful matching, clear communication and shared understanding of what the placement is expected to achieve for the child.
The principle
Residential care should create stability without losing sight of the child's relationships, identity, family network and longer-term plan. A placement should strengthen a child's world, not make it smaller.
01
Understand
A thoughtful referral and matching process built around the child's history, needs, relationships, risks, strengths and plans.
02
Stabilise
Consistent care, predictable boundaries and relationships that help children feel safe enough to begin making sense of what has happened.
03
Connect
Active attention to family relationships, kinship networks, education, community and the people who matter to the child.
04
Move forward
Clear planning for what comes next — including reunification where safe and appropriate, or another sustainable long-term plan.
Our direction
Grow carefully.
Stay thoughtful.
The ambition is to establish two homes in the local area before expanding carefully across the South West, preserving strong leadership, practice oversight and a clear organisational identity.
Future specialist development
Exploitation-focused care
A future specialist model designed around children experiencing, or at significant risk of, criminal or sexual exploitation.
Future specialist development
Harmful sexual behaviour
A future specialist home for children and young people displaying harmful sexual behaviour, developed around specialist assessment, safeguarding and therapeutic understanding.
These specialist services form part of the longer-term vision and are not currently operating or available for placement.
Phronesis / practical wisdom
Knowing what matters.
Knowing how to act.
Phronesis is an idea rooted in practical wisdom: judgement that helps people act well in complex real-world situations. It reflects the kind of practice we want to build — thoughtful, relational, ethically grounded and capable of holding complexity.
Start a conversation
Building something children can belong to.
Residential referral and recruitment routes will be added as Bracken Rise progresses toward registration. Wider children's services, workforce support and bespoke commissioned packages are available now through Nurtura Connect Ltd.
Contact & future referrals