A UNIQUE care service set up by, and for, disabled people who need help to stay in their own homes is closing down after 11 years - bringing a dream to an end.

The non-profit making Independent Care Service, set up in 1991, will be officially closed at the organisation's annual meeting today.

Some 30 care workers and office staff have been made redundant, although most have been taken on by Broomhill Care, Malvern, a private agency which has also taken on the care of some of the service's 35 current users.

The agency has now set up in Kidderminster and appointed Sally Collins, formerly care co-ordinator with Independent Care Service, to manage its activities across Wyre Forest. Jan Bentley, one of the co-founders and first clients of Independent Care Service, with her new carer Maureen Pegg.

"It was a dream but that dream has ended," said chairman Jerry Conway.

The service was launched as a registered charity by a group of profoundly disabled people in Kidderminster.

They were concerned the type of home care provided by most private agencies took control away from them, giving them little or no say in who cared for them and how.

Instead the founders wanted users to be able to help select their own carers and have a personal package devised which met their specific needs.

Clients were helped to recruit their own care teams and draw up their own package of care, which would typically include help with basic tasks like bathing, dressing and getting meals. Some needed 24-hour care.

Among the first clients was 53-year-old Jan Bentley, of Orchard Street, Kidderminster.

She was born with cerebral palsy and has been confined to a wheelchair all her life. She needs round-the-clock care for her physical needs but is mentally independent, using a word board to communicate.

"I believe we, people with disabilities, can and should be in control of the care we receive and should also take as much responsibility for managing our care packages as possible," she said.

Jan received help recruiting and employing her own personal assistants. "I am extremely sorry the organisation is having to close."

Mr Conway said the service's demise was due to reduced funding from social services, which limited the number able to pay for the service, combined with difficulties in recruiting.

He added: "In the last couple of years it has simply failed to balance the books. It also became clear that we did not have the resources to meet new care standards which are being introduced in January, including more paperwork and improved training."

Mr Conway, a social services training officer in Wolverhampton, said it was with much regret the committee, made up mainly of disabled people, had taken the decision to close.