This publication, building on the Ordinary Life initiative, describes a project undertaken with 2 community services - one for adults and one for children. A P.A.S.S. evaluation of each service yielded detailed information on what life was really like for service users and pinpointed priority areas for further training and development for direct care staff and their managers. This paper describes the results of the evaluation, the training that followed, and ends with recommendations which it is hoped will be helpful to direct care staff, managers and all those involved with running and using community services elsewhere.