Community Integrated Care (CIC) is to merge with Scottish social care provider Inspire in August.

The move will give CIC the chance “to scale up and expand our work and mission across Scotland”, according to the charity’s chief executive Jim Kane.

CIC says that the merger is a “strategic fit for both organisations” and will help Inspire to “benefit from our charity’s size, scale and experience” in areas such as technology.

According to the charities register CIC’s income for the year ending 31 March last year was £143m.

Meanwhile, Inspire’s income was £14.9m for the same period. It supports 360 people with learning disabilities, autism and complex care needs and has a 570 strong staff.

“The teams at Community Integrated Care and Inspire have been in discussions for a number of years about the exciting possibility of bringing our two organisations together,” said Kane.

“We’re delighted that the moment has finally arrived where we can take this confident step forward. The move presents many positives: the opportunity to learn new ways of working through best practice sharing, the ability to align resources to work more effectively, as well as supporting us to collectively build initiatives that will improve the lives of our people.”

He added: “Of course, we know that the challenging landscape in social care makes collaboration within our sector key.

Inspire chief executive Linda Cray said: “Underpinning everything is our aim to ensure sustainability for our people, particularly given the environment all care providers are currently facing.

“Through this merger we will bring the best of Inspire and Community Integrated Care together – our goals, values and passion – so that we can continue to flourish with the benefits that come with being part of a large organisation.”

Share Story: