What if we stop treating social care like a service? This village shows the way

A village in northern England runs social care as shared community life rather than a professional service, and its residents say it has changed their lives.

Botton Village, in the North York Moors, is home to the Esk Valley Camphill Community, part of the international Camphill movement. Founded in 1955, it has about 120 residents across 19 households. Adults with learning disabilities, called villagers, and co-workers live and work together, with no formal split between people giving care and people receiving it. The author, a philosophy PhD researcher, spent three months there as a volunteer after visiting a childhood friend, Max, who said, "It's been the best two years of my life."

Daily life follows a shared rhythm of communal breakfasts, workshops, lunches and dinners. Residents rotate between households for meals, so roughly half of everyone's meals are eaten in other homes, which builds a village-wide web of relationships. Long tenures matter too: some co-workers and villagers have supported each other for more than 50 years, a continuity the author argues a rotating staff model cannot match.

The article sets this against mainstream UK social care, which faces a crisis. Around one in 10 adult social care posts is unfilled, and turnover was 23.7% in 2025. The author notes that there have been 22 reform attempts in England over 30 years, none successful. The new prime minister, Andy Burnham, has promised to fix the system. The author argues the debate rarely questions the assumption that care must be a professional, shift-based service.

Key points

• Esk Valley Camphill Community, founded 1955, has about 120 residents in 19 households near Botton Village.
• Villagers and co-workers share work, meals and decisions, blurring the line between giving and receiving care.
• Rotating shared meals link households and create daily relationships across the whole village.
• UK adult social care has about one in 10 posts unfilled and 23.7% turnover in 2025.
• England has seen 22 failed attempts at adult social care reform in 30 years.

Why it matters

The article questions whether social care must be a paid service at all. It suggests that long-term relationships and shared community life may meet needs that standard services struggle to provide.