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A Support Coordinator from one of the Novas Groups Supported Housing projects once received support from the project he now runs. When he was 18 he was looking for accommodation and heard about the Supporting People service provided by Staffordshire County Council from Connexions. The Supporting People team arranged for him to live at the Project as part of their supported housing scheme. This scheme not only provides accommodation but helps young people with life skills, budgeting and support with training and employment.
His journey has made him eager to give something back to his local community. He is an active youth worker and trains youngsters at his local football club. Over the past 5 years he has accessed further education to gain the qualifications and life experience needed for his role as Support Coordinator. In addition to this he has gone from living in supported accommodation to owning his own home.
My success story!
By Sian Jackson
I moved in to Ashfields Court in August 2006 due to being homeless, pregnant and living in a tent. I ended an interview at Ashfields and following that I was successful and then offered a place shortly after. I was keen to move into the flat due to where I had been living before and for my babies health. The team were very supportive and I am truly thankful of attending the interview. The team and my key worker helped me with a wide range of support with budgeting, life skills and helping with lots more. My baby was born on 14th December 2006, just in time for Christmas.
I was resettled in July 2007 when I felt able to live independently. I am managing very well on my own and Its is very strange knowing that if I want a chat I can not just go round to the office as the area of where im living is a bit away but I know I am always welcome to drop in to the office and try to when passing.
Living in a two bedroom house is strange when your on your own but when you have a baby it is easier as you have more space for all the babies things, also I have a front and back garden, this is good because it is your own private garden and you haven't got anyone watching you and I also have a washing line for my washing and it save me a lot of time as I had to wait for my clothes to dry on the radiators. This is the best move that has happened to me and my son so I would like to say thank you to all the team at Ashfields Court for all the help and support they have give me.
From Sofa Surfing to Success
By Peter Bray
Everyone knows how stressful life can be when you're a student… getting up at midday, parties, chasing girls, and of course the occasional essay. Having time to fit all of this in is bad enough, but unfortunately for me I was made homeless a couple of months before my final exams for A Level. After spending several weeks 'sofa surfing', staying on my friends' sofas and dragging my life around in one bag, the complications arising from this made my work and revision really suffer.
Fortunately, a mate from college informed me that a similar thing had happened to her, and now she was living at Ashfields Court. I came down and filled in an application form, and a week or so later I had an interview with Sam Hope who manages Ashfields Court and the Housing Officer.
After nine months of room checks, residents meetings, trips to Liverpool, litter picks with fish and chips, kickabouts on the lawn and a lot of laughs with the residents and the team, I felt ready to move on. The only problem was I wasn't happy in my current job. Fortunately (as he always does), Sam had a solution and got me an interview for a Trainee Support Worker role at Ashfields Court. I got the gig, and started learning about everything that goes in to supporting our residents.
Now I've been working here for a few days short of a year, and I'm having a great time. I never realised that work could be something you enjoy! The work can be tough, but it's worth it knowing I'm helping people with something I'd been so grateful for just a few months before.
Adele Edge had to leave work at St Andrews Care Services in Newcastle because of poor health about 18 months. She fell behind with bills and also needed advice on benefits. Adele's mum knew of a Tenancy Support Worker, Julie Ogden, who made contact with Adele to find out what support she needed.
Julie is paid from a government grant called 'Supporting People' provided by Staffordshire County Council.
Julie met Adele regularly and gave valuable financial advice as well as much needed emotional support at a very stressful and difficult time in her life.
Adele can't praise Julie enough saying 'I wouldn't have coped without her' and 'I don't know how I'd have managed.'
Adele's physical disabilities mean she has great difficulty getting about and is presently on the waiting list for a ground floor flat. This will be much more accessible and means she will be able to have a 'walk-in' shower fitted.
Lillian Shaw is 85 and finds walking very difficult due to severe arthritis in her knees and life became even harder when her husband died. In the spring of 2005 she moved from Lancashire to live with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr and Mrs Nevitt, in Leek.
She found the climbing the stairs hard to get to her bedroom and bathing was impossible.
Before moving a rep from the Dept for Work and Pensions in Lancashire referred Mrs Shaw to a colleague in Stoke, who helped her claim Pension Credit.
Mr Nevitt was then referred to Sue Smith in the Social Care office at Cheadle, who recommended an adaptation to the ground floor of his home. This consisted of alterations to a cloakroom and adjacent room to form a walk-in shower and bedroom for his mother-in-law.
The planning work was done quickly because of Mrs Shaw's urgent needs and the actual construction phase took only three weeks.
Mr Nevitt said "Beth Johnson Housing were invaluable and I have great praise for the builders."
"Sue Smith was also very helpful and most beneficial in the process of this adaptation."
Mrs Shaw is now very settled and feels supported in her new home.
Yvonne Dainty left school aged 16 in 2005. Things had been difficult at home and she left the family home around the same time.
Yvonne got help from the Social Care and Health Directorate when a social worker became involved and was referred to the Perton Young People's Project. The Project provides two shared flats in Perton and support from a tenancy worker from Bromford Support, which is just around the corner.
Yvonne is happy to have had this guidance and a place to live at a very vulnerable time in her life. She is now 18 and in July 2007 she managed to get her own flat in Perton and was so affected by the emotional support she received, she now has a full time job herself as a trainee administrator with Bromford Housing!
Yvonne continued with education and is now a candidate in NVQ, Business Administration, which requires evidence of work based practice.
Peter Moran had a successful career working on the railways until he had to retire early because of ill health, in 1998. He is now 64 years old and has help towards his accommodation from Staffordshire County Council.
Peter suffers with Raynauds Disease which makes him suffer with the cold and affects his mobility. He had to spend some time in St Georges hospital in Stafford and was then moved to the Bethany homeless project for five weeks until suitable accommodation became available. It was then that Peter got support from the Stafford Hospital League of Friends who helped him to find accommodation which he shared with two other men in 2006 and early 2007. Peter longed for a place of his own and in March 2007 he found a flat in Sidney Avenue, Stafford; somewhere he could at last call 'home'.
Peter continues to have support from the League of Friends with occasional trips to the shops for him and he doesn't know what he'd have done without them.
He says " I can't praise them enough" "I feel like I would have been dead without their help and support".
The Bethany project closed some years ago after being gutted by fire, but is due to be rebuilt in 2009. The project and the League of Friends are partly funded by the Supporting People programme at Staffordshire County Council.
Richard Berry started to hit difficulties some years ago and was having trouble finding somewhere to live. He is 33 years old and in March 2005 was referred by Housing Services at Stafford Borough Council to the Bethany Project in Stafford, which provided temporary accommodation for people who are homeless. However, Richard refused to go. He preferred the alternative of self contained flats in Lovatt Street called Lichfield House, these provided more independence. He managed to get one of those flats with help from support workers at Lichfield House and lived there while looking for work and a permanent home. After only three months Richard managed to move into his own flat in Stone and in 2006 started work as a Contracts Manager for an Office Interior company.
Richard said the help and support for housing was fabulous. He said, "I was made up when I got the letter through saying I had got the flat".
The flats in Lichfield House are partly funded by the county council's Supporting People programme, which provides housing related support.
Jo Sparkes lives happily in Stafford but three years ago things were very different. Jo lived in a flat in Cannock and was addicted to alcohol. Her daughter, Jade, had to go into care and was only allowed two hours supervised visits a week with her mum until April 2007.
Jo, 31, was referred to Coton House, a detox clinic in Stafford, by the Drug and Alcohol Support in Staffordshire service in March 2005. She stayed there for three weeks and was determined not to go back to Cannock, partly because two of her neighbours are addicts and she knew that before long she'd be back to where she started. So, Jo was referred to Fernleigh House in Stafford, where she addressed her alcohol addiction, thanks to the help of the nurses, her link worker and the other residents.
With help from Fernleigh House, Jo never did return to Cannock and after successfully completing 16 months of rehabilitation was offered a bedsit in Stafford.
Jo is full of praise for the people at Coton House, The Alcohol and Drug Service and Fernleigh House saying quite simply "I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for them. Life wouldn't have changed at all."
Jo has also found work at Fernleigh House as a support worker, helping others to deal with their addictions. And, later this year, social workers will be reviewing Jade's accommodation and it is quite likely that she will be allowed home once again.
Last Modified:
10/03/2008 11:14:14
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