Trusted, vetted carers across every Southwark ward, from Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in the north, through Walworth and Camberwell, to Peckham, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village in the south. Southwark Direct Payment friendly. Spanish-speaking, African and Caribbean carer matching that is real, not a marketing line.
Southwark is home to around 307,600 people across 23 wards, from the river at Borough and Bankside, through Bermondsey and Rotherhithe in the north, down to Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham, Nunhead and Dulwich in the south. The 65-and-over population is around 25,800, growing by more than 15 percent over the last decade. The largest concentrations of older residents are in Livesey, The Lane and Camberwell Green.
Southwark is a borough of many cultures, many languages and many ways of calling somewhere home. Across Bermondsey, Rotherhithe, Walworth, Camberwell, Peckham, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village, families from every background live alongside each other and shape the everyday rhythm of the borough together.
Peckham is affectionately called "Little Lagos" for the size of its Nigerian community, and the Camberwell and Peckham constituency has the highest proportion of African and Caribbean residents of any constituency in England and Wales. The Latin American community around Elephant and Castle and Walworth Road brings Ecuadorian, Brazilian, Colombian and Peruvian families to the borough, and Spanish is the second-most-spoken main language in Southwark, with around 13,000 residents speaking it at home. The Irish community in Bermondsey runs its own pensioners' project. British, Caribbean, South Asian, East Asian, European, Middle Eastern and many other communities make Southwark home. Everyone here belongs.
For families looking for home care, that shapes everything. The right carer is the one who feels right to the person being supported, whatever their background. That might mean someone who shares the accent and the rhythms of a neighbourhood you have always known. It might mean someone who speaks Yoruba or Spanish or Cantonese at home. It might mean someone who understands a particular faith, a particular food, or simply a particular way of being. Southwark joined the WHO Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities in 2015, one of the earliest London members, and Hibant is built around the same idea: care that fits the person, not the other way round.
Hibant arranges visiting care, personal care, dementia support, live-in care, overnight care, respite, post-hospital and end-of-life companionship across every Southwark ward. Carers are self-employed, personally vetted, and paid fairly so they stay.
Funding your care
Four ways to access care in Southwark.
Whether you are funding privately, drawing on a Southwark Direct Payment, eligible for NHS Continuing Healthcare, or somewhere in between, Hibant works with all of them. Here is the local lay of the land.
Southwark Council Direct Payments
If Southwark Adult Social Care has assessed you under the Care Act 2014 and confirmed a personal budget, you can take it as a Direct Payment and use it to pay Hibant carers. We issue council-friendly invoices for claim-back. Southwark routes care decisions through ASC and uses Barrie Bookkeeping for the financial admin.
Older people and physical disabilities:020 7525 3324 Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm
For Southwark residents with a primary health need, the NHS pays for all care including the home-care side. CHC is commissioned by NHS South East London Integrated Care Board, with the assessment delivered by Guy's and St Thomas' on the ICB's behalf.
NHS SEL ICB head office: 160 Tooley Street, London SE1 2TZ (in Southwark)
We accept CHC payments and can liaise with the named CHC nurse to set up the package.
Personal Health Budgets
If a Personal Health Budget has been agreed (often for adults with long-term conditions, learning disabilities, or after-care under section 117 of the Mental Health Act), you can use it with Hibant. We provide the invoicing and care notes the budget holder needs for review.
South London and Maudsley crisis line (24/7):0800 731 2864 freephone
Self-funded
Most families fund their first few weeks privately while a Care Act assessment is underway. Visiting care in Southwark typically ranges from £18 to £22 per hour. Live-in care typically ranges from £1,150 to £1,400 per week.
No agency mark-ups. No long contracts. Carers keep the majority of what you pay, which is why they stay.
Need a Care Act assessment from Southwark and not sure where to start? Hibant can walk you through the steps in a free 20-minute call, and if Hibant is not the right fit for you, we will say so.
In a borough as layered as Southwark, language and culture are not extras. They are how trust starts. A grandfather who wants a carer who shares his accent and the rhythms of the streets he has always walked deserves one. A grandmother who slips back into Yoruba, Spanish or Patois as dementia advances deserves to be reached in her own language. A widower who hasn't spoken Cantonese since his wife died deserves to be heard when he tries. The match should always be honest, never assumed.
Hibant carers come from many of the same communities that make up Southwark. We match across British, Caribbean, African, Latin American, European, South Asian, East Asian, Irish and Middle Eastern backgrounds among others. Tell us the kind of carer you are looking for at enquiry, in whatever words feel right, and we will find someone who fits. If we do not yet have a strong match for what you have asked for, we will say so honestly rather than send the wrong person.
Cultural match goes beyond language: food preferences, religious practice, comfort with personal care from a man or a woman, willingness to attend church, mosque, temple, the local pub for a chat, or stay in alongside the person. We ask, you tell, we match.
Beyond home care
Southwark's day centres and community hubs.
Many families pair a Hibant carer with a borough day centre or lunch club. Here is the list we share when families ask. We are not affiliated with any of them, and we are happy to help arrange transport or accompanied visits.
Stones End Day Centre
Age UK Lewisham & Southwark · dementia · SE1
Day care for older Southwark residents, including those living with dementia. Door-to-door transport, hot cooked meal, creative and therapeutic activities. 11 Scovell Road SE1 1QQ, five minutes from Elephant & Castle.
Cultural day centre established 1980 for Southwark's older Caribbean, African and BAME-heritage community. Meals, music, faith sessions, advocacy, door-to-door transport. 86 to 88 Bellenden Road SE15 4RQ.
Welfare-benefits advice, housing and social-care advice, art, music, computers, exercise, social groups. 305 to 307 Camberwell Road SE5 0HQ. Open Mon to Fri 9am to 5pm.
One of Southwark's most varied older-people programmes: Happy Mondays for socially isolated older people, a stroke club, strength-and-balance keep-fit with Guy's and St Thomas', a Pub Club for older men, befriending and an escorted minibus. Old Mortuary, St Marychurch Street SE16 4JE.
Link Age Southwark
Befriending & dementia groups 60+ · borough-wide
Borough-wide befriending and activity charity with specialist support for adults living with mild-to-moderate dementia. 25 exercise and activity groups, four dedicated dementia groups, plus a light gardening and handyperson scheme. Free for Southwark residents 60+.
Blackfriars Settlement Positive Ageing
Dementia & memory · North Southwark SE1
Daytime programme for older people in north Southwark. Forget-me-not memory group, Smile Inside dementia singing, Franks Club For Men, Art & Craft Social Club, cooked meals twice a week. 1 Rushworth Street SE1 0RB.
140-year-old Walworth social-action centre. Monday and Thursday lunch clubs for older residents, plus a dancercise class. The Walworth Living Room is a free open community space with meals and creative activities. 80 Tatum Street SE17.
Dulwich Helpline
Isolated older people 60+ · East Dulwich SE22
Volunteer-led support and more than 20 activity groups for socially isolated older people in south Southwark. Based at Dulwich Community Hospital, East Dulwich Grove SE22 8PT.
All listings verified May 2026. Please call ahead to confirm availability. Hibant has no affiliation with these centres; we list them because Southwark families ask. Fred Francis Day Centre on Lordship Lane closed permanently in January 2021 and should not be relied on, despite older directory listings.
Coming home from hospital
After King's, Guy's or St Thomas'.
Southwark's main acute hospitals are King's College Hospital at Denmark Hill, Guy's Hospital at London Bridge, and St Thomas' across the river at Westminster Bridge. South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (the Maudsley sits next to King's) covers mental health for Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham and Croydon.
The 48 hours after discharge are when most readmissions happen. Hibant arranges short-notice carers for that window: someone to be at the door when the ambulance arrives, to organise medication, to make a proper meal, and to spot the small things that could send your loved one back to A&E.
Talk to the ward discharge team first. Hibant cannot bypass NHS discharge planning. But once a discharge date is set, we can usually start within 48 to 72 hours.
King's College Hospital:020 3299 9000. Southwark Council's Transfer of Care team is stationed at King's specifically for Southwark residents.
Guy's and St Thomas' @home: 24/7 acute care at home for Lambeth and Southwark residents (referrals via hospital teams, GPs, district nurses, palliative care, London Ambulance). Up to seven days of intensive multidisciplinary care including IV antibiotics, palliative care and intensive physiotherapy. Around 280 referrals a month.
If a Section 5 discharge or Section 117 aftercare is in the conversation, we can also handle that. Tell us at enquiry and we will pair you with carers familiar with the relevant care plans.
Southwark-specific questions
Frequently asked.
Every ward in the London Borough of Southwark, from Bermondsey, Rotherhithe and Surrey Quays in the north, through Borough, Bankside, Walworth and Elephant and Castle, down to Camberwell, Peckham, Nunhead, East Dulwich and Dulwich Village in the south. Carers are matched by area and travel time so wherever possible you get someone who genuinely lives nearby.
Yes. Whether you are looking for a carer who shares your accent and the rhythms of the neighbourhood you have always known, or one who can speak Spanish, Yoruba, Igbo, Patois, Cantonese, Portuguese or another language at home, we match carefully. Hibant carers come from many of the same communities that make up Southwark, across British, Caribbean, African, Latin American, European, South Asian, East Asian, Irish and Middle Eastern backgrounds among others. Tell us the kind of carer you are looking for at enquiry, in whatever words feel right. If we do not currently have a strong match for what you have asked for, we will say so honestly rather than send the wrong person.
Yes. We work with Southwark residents who fund care through Local Authority Direct Payments and provide council-friendly invoices for claim-back. Southwark routes care decisions through its Adult Social Care team (Older People and Physical Disabilities Contact Team on 020 7525 3324), with the financial admin currently supported by Barrie Bookkeeping. Unlike Lambeth there is no separate brokerage hotline. We can liaise with your social worker or with Barrie where helpful.
Call Southwark Council's Older People and Physical Disabilities Contact Team on 020 7525 3324 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm), or email OPPDContactteam@southwark.gov.uk. For learning disabilities call 020 7525 2333. For mental health call 020 7525 0088. Out of hours, ring 020 7525 5000 and ask for the Emergency Duty Team. The Care Act 2014 gives any adult who appears to need support a legal right to a free assessment, regardless of finances.
Yes. We regularly arrange post-hospital home care for Southwark residents discharged from King's College Hospital (Denmark Hill), Guy's Hospital (London Bridge) and St Thomas' Hospital (Westminster Bridge). Southwark Council also runs a Transfer of Care team stationed at King's specifically for Southwark residents. Talk to the ward's discharge team first, then call us as soon as a discharge date is confirmed. We can usually start within 48 to 72 hours and we work alongside the Guy's and St Thomas' @home service where appropriate.
Yes. NHS Continuing Healthcare for Southwark is commissioned by NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (head office at 160 Tooley Street SE1 2TZ, inside Southwark itself), with the assessment service delivered by Guy's and St Thomas' on behalf of the ICB. If your loved one is eligible, we can be paid directly through CHC or through a Personal Health Budget. We work with the named CHC nurse to set up the care package.
Now serving Southwark
Tell us about your loved one. We will reach out personally.
No pressure, no rushing. A warm conversation, in the language you prefer, at the pace that suits you. If Hibant is not the right fit, we will tell you and point you to who is.
No commitment. We reply personally, usually within a few hours.
Thank you. Truly.
A member of our team will be in touch personally, usually within a few hours.