This article, the third in a series describing the Hampshire person-centred planning team’s attempts to build a sustainable person-centred culture, is by Martin Nobbs and colleagues. They describe the team’s experiences of developing support networks and explore the opportunities that support networks can create, as well as some of the challenges faced

The Valuing People White Paper (Department of Health (DH) 2001) is part of the developing social policy driving partnership, empowerment and community responsibility in health and social care. There is an emphasis on enabling individual choice and independence, recognition of people’s rights and the inclusion of all people as valued community participants. At the heart of this is a person-centred approach to help change the way people engage with the world, so they are in control of their own lives.