Southside Partnership

We've delivered learning disability and mental health services for almost 20 years and in addition, for the last 11 years we have been providing services to offenders/ex-offenders through our Beyond Prison Project.

Learning disabilities: overview

Our services support adults with a range of learning disabilities who may also have additional support needs including autism, challenging behaviour, communication issues, dual diagnosis, physical disability, sensory impairments and complex needs.

Person centered working is central to our philosophy and practice. Service users develop through their own Person Centered Plan and our staff are trained in Person Centered Thinking.

We offer accommodation based services, community support, accredited or informal training, volunteering and work opportunities.  Customers are supported to engage with their communities and to participate in social and leisure activities of all kinds. Our Travel Buddy scheme helps our customers get out and about by building their skills, experience and confidence in public transport travel.

  • Registered services offer twenty-four hour staff support in services ranging from one to six beds. Many of the people we support have multiple disabilities, sensory impairments, autism and may present behaviours which have traditionally challenged services. Through working in person centred ways we support each individual to achieve positive outcomes.
  • Supported living services offer support to small groups of people sharing a home and living semi independently. These range in size from a one bedroom house to a 5 bedroom house. Our support is tailored to the needs of customers. For example, some people may need a few hours of support during the day or evening, but not require support overnight.
  • Respite and emergency care service supports 80 service users and their families to have regular and planned breaks in a variety of locations around the country. In addition, service users or their family may sometimes need a break in an emergency and, where possible, we aim to provide the care and support needed at such a time.
  • Shared Lives Service (Adult Placement) offers the opportunity for people with learning disabilities to live as part of a family. Carers share their home with a service user and offer care and support to develop as much independence as possible.

Customers with learning disabilities will soon be offered a menu of services through 'My Choice', an exciting new way for people to take more control over what support they want to buy.

Mental Health - Fanon: overview

Fanon's original focus was on BME services and while this remains a core area of expertise with Fanon delivering a number of culturally specific services, Fanon now encompasses all members of our communities in need of mental wellbeing support.  Recovery Star is a significant component to our person centered mental health support activity.

Our portfolio of mental health services include registered care services, 24 hour supported living services, specialist gender specific accommodation for men and women from BME communities, resource centres for people from BME communities, community outreach, resettlement and tenancy sustainment services, plus training and employment initiatives. We recently added IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) to our portfolio of services.

  • Registered care services for people with high support needs who are currently unable to live independently
  • High, medium and low support housing for people who are developing the practical and emotional skills needed to move to more mainstream housing
  • Specialist BME housing
  • Women's housing
  • Training flats where people can move from high supported housing to semi-independent living until they are ready to fully move out on their own
     Offenders/ex-offenders- Beyond Prison overview 
  • Through-the-gate outreach and resettlement support project: We support people from 13  prisons across London and the South East and people returning to any of the 33 London boroughs 
  • Peer Advocate Volunteering: we have 20 volunteers and a part-time coordinator all of whom have direct experience of mental health needs and/or are serving prisoners or ex-offenders. Volunteers work closely with the team to engage and support offenders in prison and ex-offenders on release. The peer advocate volunteers undertake a comprehensive induction and training program including access to an NVQ programme.
  • A Link Worker scheme in Islington: working with referrals from police officers, police based mental health liaising teams, drug arrest referral teams based at the Islington police custody, probation officers, court based officials, Islington GPs, CMHTs, HMP Pentonville, HMP Holloway and self referrals  
  • Specialist BME services for male and female offenders and ex-offenders, delivering Race Equality Community Development Work.
  • Intensive Support Project: an intensive service (funded by City Bridge Trust) for the first 48 hours of prison release, the most vulnerable period in resettlement.
  • Practical support; accommodation, benefits advice, access to health services, training and employment, drug detox, alcohol rehabilitation, family and social network and tenancy sustainment

Volunteering, training and work

Service users and others can participate in a range of volunteering, training and work activity. Projects which offer opportunities include; Beyond Prison (peer advocacy), central office (reception, administration & customer service), Travel Buddy, Scotch Bonnet catering and Home and Dry painting and decorating. Learning and Development (service user co-trainers on topics such as Race, Equality and Cultural Competency and Interview Skills).

Find out more about the work of Southside Partnership at www.southsidepartnership.org.uk/