We Are Care insights

From the We Are Care desk

Insights, updates and commentary from the We Are Care team and the wider sector. Perspectives on workforce policy, sector news, and the occasional argument worth having.

15 articles
A We Are Care carer at work Featured

Thought leadership

The quiet resilience of temporary care workers

Toby Gavin on the 118,000 temporary care workers covering 8% of filled posts: the long shifts, the unseen travel, and the integration few teams plan for.

Toby Gavin
Director, We Are Care
October 2025   6 min read

Media moments

The Carer: 'Who Cares? We Care!' — ProvidersUnite Day of Action

Toby Gavin quoted in The Carer Digital (Issue 230) on the Westminster ProvidersUnite protest against NIC and minimum wage increases.

The Carer Digital · February 2026 · External
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Media moments

Caring Times print: The quiet resilience of the temporary worker

Toby Gavin's piece re-placed in Caring Times print (February 2026 issue). A different audience, the same case for the integral role of temporary care workers.

Caring Times (print) · February 2026 · Print
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Media moments

socialcare.today: The quiet resilience of temporary care workers

Toby Gavin's piece on the 118,000 temporary care workers integral to the system, placed in socialcare.today.

socialcare.today · October 2025 · External
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Media moments

socialcare.today: Rapid mobilisation — maintaining safety during care provider transitions

Toby Gavin's piece on provider acquisitions and compliance gaps, placed in socialcare.today.

socialcare.today · October 2025 · External
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Thought leadership

Rapid mobilisation: maintaining safety and stability during care provider transitions

Toby Gavin on a provider acquisition where 80% of the inherited agency workforce failed compliance checks, and what filling 550 care hours in days takes.

Toby Gavin · October 2025 · 8 min
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Media moments

Caring Times print: Fair value for care

Toby Gavin's argument for redistributing value across the care system, placed in Caring Times print (June 2025 issue).

Caring Times (print) · June 2025 · Print
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Thought leadership

UK care sector at a crossroads: the reality of building a domestic workforce

Toby Gavin on the £12.82 salary threshold, 152,000 vacancies, and why cutting overseas recruitment without domestic infrastructure deepens the workforce crisis.

Toby Gavin · May 2025 · 10 min
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Thought leadership

Fair value in care: creating a sustainable ecosystem for all

Toby Gavin on the £60bn care economy, the broken markup model, and what a fair distribution of value looks like for carers, providers and recipients.

Toby Gavin · April 2025 · 8 min
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Thought leadership

Rethinking care economics: finding balance in a squeezed system

Toby Gavin on why the traditional 20–40% agency markup is out of step with the economic realities facing care providers, and what a fairer model looks like.

Toby Gavin · March 2025 · 5 min
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News

We Are Care secures seed funding

Private investment validates the social enterprise model and expands capacity to supply pre-vetted, ethically-employed carers nationwide.

We Are Care team · March 2025 · 3 min
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Media moments

Caring Times: We Are Care secures seed funding

Caring Times covers the We Are Care seed round: validation for the social enterprise model.

Caring Times · March 2025 · External
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News

Vicky-Marie Welfare joins as Director of Partnerships

Care sector specialist Vicky-Marie Welfare joins to accelerate growth across care groups and champion fair pay for healthcare workers.

We Are Care team · March 2025 · 3 min
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Media moments

We Are Care launched to end 'transactional' care work culture

socialcare.today on the launch: Julian Humphreys on Real Living Wage and partnership-led staffing.

socialcare.today · February 2025 · External
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Media moments

We Are Care launched across the UK

Care Management Matters covers the We Are Care launch: Julian Humphreys on Real Living Wage commitment and changing transactional staffing.

Care Management Matters · February 2025 · External
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News

We Are Care launches across the UK

A new social enterprise care agency promising fairness in both directions: above Real Living Wage for every carer, transparent rates for every provider.

We Are Care team · January 2025 · 3 min
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