Residential care · registered for 10
The New Inn
Lewes Road, Ridgewood, Uckfield
A detached two-storey Victorian building — originally a public house — comfortably converted for ten residents.
East Sussex · Specialist residential care · Est. 2002
A full, active life — in four homes across East Sussex.
Ridgewood Care Services provides residential care and supported living for adults with learning disabilities, autism and associated challenging behaviour — in period Sussex properties set among lakes, paddocks and the Ashdown Forest, with 24 years of specialist practice behind the team.
Registered with the Care Quality Commission · View our CQC listing
Established 2002
24 years of specialist practice
Four homes in East Sussex
Uckfield · Heathfield · Halland
CQC registered
Location ID 1-141930773
Learning-disability specialists
Autism · epilepsy · challenging behaviour
Our philosophy of care
Five accomplishments.A full, active, normal life.
Our aims and principles are grounded in John O’Brien’s Five Accomplishments — a framework widely used in learning-disability services to keep a support plan honest about what matters most. Each is an outcome we keep asking ourselves whether we are actually delivering, not a slogan.
We believe that everyone with a learning disability, whatever the nature or severity, should be empowered through appropriate support to exercise their right to choice, opportunity, respect and dignity.
— Ridgewood Care Services Statement of Purpose, 2020
- 1
Choice
The right to make the decisions that shape a daily life.
- 2
Respect
Being treated as an individual, not as a diagnosis.
- 3
Competence
Developing the skills to live as independently as possible.
- 4
Community Participation
Being part of the place you live, contributing to it.
- 5
Community Presence
Being visible and known in the local area, not hidden from it.
Our four homes
Four properties across East Sussex —each chosen for its place, not its shape.
Each home is a distinct property with its own history, size and strengths. A late-Victorian former public house. A century-old building that once served as a convalescence home for Canadian soldiers. Two period Sussex properties on the Crockstead Farm estate. We don’t try to make them the same.
Residential care · registered for 6
Woodcote
Cross in Hand Road, Heathfield
A six-person home in three acres of grounds — formal lawns, a lake with walkway and footbridge, a tennis court and paddock.
Residential care · registered for 5
Crockstead Farmhouse
Off the A22, Halland
A period Sussex farmhouse registered for five people — exposed beams, wall panelling, inglenook fireplaces, and a sensory room.
Supported living · registered for 10
Crockstead Farm Supported Living
Crockstead Farm estate, Halland
A twelve-bedroom converted Sussex barn on a 200-acre estate with an on-site equestrian centre, gym and therapeutic centre.
Who we support
A specialist provider —not a generic care home.
Each of our homes is registered with the CQC to support adults whose primary needs on admission fall within learning disabilities, autism, challenging behaviour, and their associated mental-health needs. Ridgewood does not provide nursing care.
Learning disability
Our primary specialism. Every home is registered to support adults whose primary need on admission is a learning disability.
Autism
Thirty-plus years of specialist practice, reflected across senior team and support staff.
Challenging behaviour
Behaviour plans are written by the support team, with clinical input, and reviewed against real outcomes — not just risk logs.
Epilepsy & related mental-health needs
Complex medication plans and day-to-day monitoring, coordinated with each service user's wider clinical network.
Complex-need presentation
We take thorough referrals for service users whose needs don't fit tidy categories — the admissions process exists for exactly this.
Respite & transition
Respite stays are welcome and often a useful way to test the fit of a longer placement.
Please note
Ridgewood Care Services is not registered to provide nursing care. A clear statement from our published Statement of Purpose — referenced here so referring authorities can plan appropriately.
— Ridgewood Care Services Statement of Purpose, 2020 edition
Who runs Ridgewood
A small, experienced senior team —long in the sector, long at Ridgewood.
The four senior roles at Ridgewood carry, between them, well over eighty years of experience in learning-disability and challenging-behaviour services. The business has been continuously run by the Ascroft family since 2002, with specialist clinical and managerial hires made as services expanded.
Lynn Ascroft
Registered Provider · Responsible IndividualOver thirty years in the care industry, specialising in autism and challenging behaviour. Lynn was, at an earlier point in her career, the youngest Registered Manager in the London area. She has been involved in the establishment of four new registered care provisions and in the reprovision of patients at St Ebba's hospital. She founded Ridgewood Care Services in 2002 and remains actively involved with each service.
Diploma in Care Management · Diploma in Caring Skills · NVQ Level 5 + specialised training
Kamaraj Seeromben
Service ManagerKam is a qualified Registered Learning Disability Nurse (RNLD) with a Diploma in Management of Autism, having worked in both the private sector and the NHS. He joined Ridgewood in 2016; his responsibilities include placement procurement, quality assurance and staff training.
RNLD · Diploma in Management of Autism
Andrea Barnes-Moss
Service ManagerOver twenty years' experience working with adults with learning difficulties, mental health needs and Acquired Brain Injury. Previously a Registered Manager during Ridgewood's early service expansion, Andrea returned in 2019 to the role of Service Manager, with responsibility for quality assurance, management support, and health and safety.
James Ascroft
Operations ManagerFourteen years in adult social care, having begun his career as a care support worker and progressed through Ridgewood to his current role. James holds responsibility for human resources, business development and quality assurance, and is currently completing a Master's in Social Work.
NVQ Level 5 in Health & Social Care Management · MSW (in progress)
Referrals, placements, visits
Most placements start with one phone call,and a long conversation about fit.
Whether you’re a Care Manager with a referral, a family member asking on behalf of a relative, or a professional exploring a respite placement — the best first step is a call or an enquiry. We will always come back within a working day.