Suspended children's home company run by reality TV star still recruiting roles

19 January 2024 , 09:09

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AP Care Homes is run by Ampika Pickston, 42, the former Real Housewives of Cheshire star (Image: Getty Images)

A private children’s home company run by an OnlyFans model and reality TV star is recruiting staff despite its home being suspended due to “serious and widespread” failures.

The home run by AP Care Homes Limited only opened in July but was judged “inadequate” following its first Ofsted inspection in November. AP Care Homes is run by Ampika Pickston, 42, the former Real Housewives of Cheshire star, and funded by her Tory donor fiancee David Sullivan. It is currently advertising jobs for a deputy manager, residential support worker and the key position of “responsible individual”.

It comes after Ms Pickston was left “overseeing” the inadequate home when the manager quit just seven weeks after it was registered. AP Care Homes insisted yesterday that it “delivers care for children to the highest standards” and was challenging Ofsted’s “flawed” findings. The home provided “care for up to four children with social and emotional difficulties” but only two children were there when Ofsted visited.

Ampika Pickston at Ascot races (Steve Reigate)

Cheshire House Wife Star Stars turn up to a club opening party (Manchester Evening News)

Inspectors found:

• One child claimed they had been sexually assaulted after going missing, yet the “recording of the incident is poor” and Ofsted was not told.

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• Despite concerns about “self-injurious behaviour and a risk of ligature use” for one child, staff did not get the relevant training and the child’s bedroom was not adequately risk assessed.

• Pickston took one child back to her home and an internal investigation found that “professional boundaries had been blurred”, yet she allegedly offered to do the same three weeks later. This time the children did not visit.
• Staff used “restraint techniques” and yet there was no record of them being trained in the methods used.
• Two staff members worked at the home before their Disclosure and Barring Service checks were completed and their references verified, while one was videoed by the children asleep on their shift.
• One child had to be moved to a hotel due to “threats to harm” them from another child and there was “significant bullying in the home” but “bullying incidents are poorly managed”.
• Staff “did not identify that one child was routinely missing meals”. A child did not eat for two days but staff “failed to seek professional advice in a timely manner”
• One child vapes and their risk assessment said that e-cigarettes should be removed from their bedroom if found during room checks yet staff did not do so.

• One child was using “unknown and potentially unsafe websites” and “communicating with strangers via video messaging” yet there was “insufficient evidence to demonstrate how this was addressed in a timely manner to keep the child safe”.

The inspectors did find there were “positive relationships between children and staff” but said “staff do not always listen to children when they make complaints or raise serious concerns”. Ofsted found that Ms Pickston “does not have the skills and experience to operate a home in line with children’s homes regulations” which “seriously compromises the welfare and safety of children”.

Ofsted said: “Due to the significant and widespread concerns identified at this inspection, a notice suspending the registration of the home was issued with immediate effect. Ofsted will continue to monitor the home.” Ofsted initially published its report in December but withdrew it from its website. It was republished yesterday with minor changes.

A spokesperson for AP Care Homes told the Mirror that it challenged the December report and that it was challenging the new version which was “as flawed as the earlier withdrawn report”. They would not comment on the current recruitment policy or confirm whether this was part of a plan to reopen the suspended home. Ms Pickston is engaged to West Ham co-chairman and Tory donor David Sullivan, who made his fortune from pornography.

She is the sole director and owner of AP Care Homes Limited, which is funded by one of Mr Sullivan’s companies Rickleford Ltd.
Mr Sullivan has donated £100,000 to the Conservative Party since 2019 through one of his companies Conegate Limited. Ms Pickston was one of the founding stars of the Real Housewives of Cheshire in 2015 until she quit in 2017 after appearing in 55 episodes. Ms Pickston said she started her £16 a month OnlyFans page on the advice of a “friend who works in porn” and that “I don’t mind flashing a bit of skin but I refuse to go fully nude”.

Nick Sommerlad