As the Lisieux Trust celebrates 40 years of supporting people with learning disabilities to live full and meaningful lives, it is fitting to look back at the vision that started it all.
For founder Jo Trodden (who was Cross at the time), the inspiration was not a grand strategy or a business plan. It was a simple but powerful question asked by countless families:
“What will happen to my child when I am no longer able to care for them?”

That question became the foundation stone of the trust.

Speaking ahead of the anniversary celebrations, Jo recalls a very different world in the early 1980s. Attitudes towards disability were changing, but opportunities for people with learning disabilities to live independently in the community remained extremely limited.

“I was working at Ebrook Day Centre and St Thomas’ Adult Training Centre,” she explains. “Parents were frightened about the future. They knew they wouldn’t always be there, but there were very few alternatives. They wanted somewhere their sons and daughters could belong, somewhere safe, somewhere they could live an ordinary life.” support as they need to make choices for themselves.

At the same time, the Government was beginning its move away from large institutions towards what became known as ‘Care in the Community’.
“People often think our work was about hospital resettlement,” says Jo. “It wasn’t. The people we supported were already living in the community. The issue was what would happen when parents became older or were no longer able to provide that care.”

The idea that emerged was both radical and remarkably simple.

Jo and John Cross and their family, having overcome many difficulties , acquired a derelict house and after much support from professional people the building was carefully adapted for use and registration was gained – and that house became a home.

When Lisieux House opened in August 1986, there were no staff rooms, no separate staff facilities and no rigid systems. It was designed to feel like a real home because it was one.
“We were just living as a family,” she remembers. “People weren’t treated as a group. They were individuals. We called people by their names. We found out what they enjoyed, what they were good at, and helped them build on that.”

That philosophy remains at the heart of the Trust today.

One of Jo’s favourite memories captures that spirit perfectly. She remembers a resident named Billy, who arrived having had very few opportunities to develop independence because his mother had done everything for him.

Everybody in the house had a role. People helped with preparing meals, household tasks and daily routines.
“It was the ordinariness of it,” she says. “That’s what mattered.

“People boiled kettles for the first time, went swimming for the first time, went to the cinema for the first time. Everybody had gifts. Everybody had something to contribute.”
For Jo, independence was never about doing everything alone. It was about having the confidence and freedom to make choices and participate fully in everyday life.
Looking back, she believes the biggest achievement of the Trust has been helping people flourish.

“I would say the ethos is what I’m most proud of. People have blossomed. They have been allowed to be themselves.”

The name Lisieux itself carries special significance. It comes from Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, known for what she called “The Little Way”, the belief that small acts of kindness and love can achieve extraordinary things.

“It was never about doing something grand,” says Jo. “We do everything in a very little way. Just simple things, done with care.”

That commitment to relationships extended beyond the people living in the houses. Volunteers, families, neighbours and local communities all became part of the story. Over the years, countless people have given their time, friendships and energy to support the Trust’s work.

When asked whether she imagined the organisation growing into what it is today, with multiple homes, services and a large staff team, she laughs.

“No, I didn’t imagine it would become this. But I always hoped more communities would take the same approach. The need has never gone away.”

What matters most to her is not the size of the organisation but the preservation of its values.

“I think care works best when it is personal and local,” she says. “People need community. They need relationships. They need to feel that they belong.”

Forty years after a small group of families dared to imagine a different future, the question that inspired the Trust still matters. But thanks to the vision, determination and compassion of people like Jo, thousands of families have found reassurance in knowing there is an answer.

And as the trust looks towards the future, perhaps its greatest achievement is this: generation after generation of people have been empowered to live lives defined not by limitations, but by opportunity, belonging and friendship.

“We answered a need,” says Jo. “That’s what I’m proud of. We answered a need, and we helped people be themselves.”