Nick Baxter, who has died aged 65, ensured care in the community was available for people who, in the 1970s, were often left to languish, sometimes neglected and forgotten, in institutions. Cornerstone, the charity he founded with a handful of individuals in Aberdeen in 1980, was initially organised from his family's dining room. Since then it has become one of Scotland's largest charities, employing 1,700 staff and 300 volunteers in 20 local authorities, and with an annual turnover of more than £30m. It provides services for more than 2,000 adults, young people and children with learning and physical disabilities, mental health problems and other support requirements.
Nick was born in York, son of Lt Col Clive Baxter and his wife Molly (nee Riley). When Nick was five, his father and elder sister, Susan, died in an accident, after their sailing boat was overturned off Gravesend, Kent. Nick was educated at Mount St Mary's college at Spinkhill, near Sheffield, and after graduating in sociology from London University joined Birmingham city council as a trainee childcare officer.
This was followed by a professional social work qualification from the University of Aberdeen in 1971. He then took a post in Aberdeen with Grampian regional council, where he eventually became the senior social worker responsible for learning disability services.
Nick grew aware of the lack of services for people with learning disabilities in Scotland. He felt that people with learning disabilities should be able to live not in institutions but within their own communities, with their own homes and jobs. In 1980 he founded Cornerstone Society for the Mentally Handicapped, later to refine its title to Cornerstone Community Care, now Cornerstone.
Starting with a house in Granton Place, Aberdeen, Cornerstone established a model of care that became a quality standard for subsequent developments throughout Scotland. As the organisation grew, Nick recognised the importance of management and financial skills, and in 1994 he took an MBA. Cornerstone gained numerous awards and Nick was named Ernst & Young UK Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2003. He stood down as CEO of Cornerstone in 2008.
In retirement, Nick and his wife Louise toured Europe in a campervan. They enjoyed travelling and loved New York City, but it was France they adored. They eventually purchased a beautiful property in Charente, inland from France's Atlantic coast. Earlier this year there was an unexplained deterioration in Nick's health. Eventually the most likely cause was diagnosed as sporadic CJD, a neurological disorder.
Nick is survived by Louise, their four children, Catherine, Francesca, Antonia and Nicholas, and three grandchildren, Joe, Rory and Jemima.