We are World’s 1st and UK’s only Adult Socialcare Marketplace and This is Our Story
Five decades of family legacy in the service of humanity
Our story begins in 1963 when a little known nurse from a suburban town in the outskirts of Lahore, Pakistan decided to take the ultimate leap of faith and travel to UK ! She was my grandmother and her name was Roshan Akhtar Bhatti, cutely called Sister Bhatti by her colleagues and nicknamed lovingly by her family - Apa Roshan.
Apa Roshan was born in India. Her family migrated to Pakistan during partition of 1947 when she was just 5 years old. Her father died in her early childhood. Raised by a single mom & facing challenges Apa learnt to become a person of high resilience. Her choice of nursing career took shape partly to support her mother, and partly by her desire to live a life of purpose turning her resilience into compassion to serve others.
Apa Roshan charted a track not trodden by many, and almost never heard of by a Pakistani female born in a conventionally thinking family of limited means and especially not back 50 years ago. Many have since followed her path, pushing boundaries of what’s possible, and living a life of purpose. Apa Roshan passed away quietly in her own home being looked after by family carers. She had no children who could take her mission forward but, in many Divinely Designed ways, the light of compassion, love, care and service of humanity that Akhtar Bhatti kindled has become an example that continues to shape the lives of many and to this day remains an inspiration many many generations after her. One such inspirational story is of my aunt, Dr Nabeela Nisar.
Following in the foot steps of Apa Roshan
Currently working in NHS as a Consultant in Stroke Medicine, Dr Nabeela Nisar, arrived in the UK back in 2004. Inspired by the legacy of Akhtar Bhatti, Dr Nabeela too chose to live a life of giving. She completed her high school degree from Kinnaird College Lahore and being a super bright student got admission at King Edwards Medical College in 1991. After graduating in 1998, Dr Nabeela continued her medical practice for a while, pursued higher education, and following in the footsteps of Apa Roshan, created herself the opportunity to move to the UK. Young, recently married and ambitious she began her medical career working in junior roles, contributing to the society, and building on the family values that had inspired not just her but many others. Working through the pandemic, Dr Nabeela was recognized for her care and services & hard work by NHS despite having lost her husband and taking full responsibility of raising her two children as a single mom. Compassion & love are what keeps us together !
Why Waqar and I created Care Marketplace
When the pandemic hit us the reality of life & its fickle nature became all too obvious. I was pursuing my degree in Biomedical & Life sciences at UCL and Waqar was in a corporate job in London. We were far from the social care sector but the impact of pandemic especially close to home made us realize just how much we depended on good NHS health care, and how much NHS depended on social care to sustain itself. Our neighbor at that time was caring for his wife going through the struggles of Dementia. We often discussed how the systems are not working together between NHS and social care and how difficult it is when you are caring for someone to have easy access to social care to allow you to be close to your loved ones at home. It was clear that individuals were not being empowered, and in some cases, even let down by the system and that’s the problem we took on. Continuing in the family legacy, I started deep research into social care system and my advocacy for real change across sector. As an outcome of more than three years of research I brought Care Marketplace to life. A one stop solution that empowers everyone to access care across all providers without bias and while being 100% transparent; like a trusted honest broker. For me, it has been a desire to help the vulnerable in society but more so a deep passion to live a life of purpose, compassion & love - something I have imbibed from many years I spent in close company of my Aunt, Dr Nabeela, and her inspiration and my grand mother, Apa Roshan. Apa has left the world but her legacy continues, and our family’s hope, through Care Marketplace, is to create an Ever Living Legacy of Apa Roshan that will continue to grow beyond decades to centuries, and beyond countries to continents, and ultimately to the whole world transcending all boundaries in service of humanity.
Hi, I am Lina, co-founder of Care Marketplace. I first came up with the idea while studying Biomedical sciences at UCL. I could see the gap between people’s needs and the market. I am passionate about giving people easier access to personalized care, and I launched Care Marketplace in 2023 to realize my vision.
Our Ethos
Choice -Empowerment - Comfort - Trust - Compassion
