Information about Supporting People Services

 Download the Making Space Floating Support Service Leaflet 214.81 KB

Making Space Floating Support Service

What is Making Space Floating Support?

If you have a mental health condition, the key to planning a happy and independent future is often as simple as getting expert help and advice from a Making Space Floating Support Worker.

Regardless of the accommodation you’re in – whether it’s your own home or supported housing – Making Space Floating Support is geared entirely to providing the ideas and support to help you enjoy an everyday life.

These are just some of the areas the service assists with:

• Training in skills which promote independence
• Maintenance of tenancy conditions
• Budgeting and managing money
• Dealing with household bills
• Completing forms
• Education, training and employment
• Personal and social development
• General mental health and wellbeing
• Advice in times of crisis
• Liaison with other agencies – Doctors,
  Approved Mental Health Practitioners,
  Probation and other organisations
• Identifying relevant welfare and health services

Who can apply?

You can…if you have a mental health condition and feel you need support relating to your accommodation requirements.  Taking the first steps couldn’t be easier.  You can contact Making Space directly for a referral form or you may be referred by your Doctor, an Approved Mental Health Practitioner, the probation service or even
another voluntary organisation.

What Then?

Making Space will contact you to arrange for one of their Floating Support Team to visit you and discuss how best we can help. They will explain a little more about the service, and will ask you the questions which will enable them to accurately understand your personal support needs.

Then, once they agree an appropriate level of support, Making Space will prepare a ‘support agreement’ which will outline their responsibilities – and yours – and so protect your rights within the Floating Support Service.

Of course, there are times when ‘floating support’ may not be right for you – in which case Making Space still make sure they signpost you to the most suitable service for your requirements.

Making Space

Making Space have been working within the field of mental health since 1982 and has a large number of services which support people living with mental health conditions, learning disabilities and dementia...and which support their carers too.

Dignity and respect are watchwords for their approach and their mission is to help people create the freedom to enjoy an everyday life.  Hardly surprising, then, that they have made the involvement of the people who use our services absolutely integral to shaping the support we provide.

This policy has now culminated in the recent publication of the ‘Service User Involvement Strategy’ 

For more details or to speak to their floating support team please call 01925 571680

Ready to Move On Booklet

The Supporting People Team, have produced a booklet entitled 'Ready to Move On'.  The information was developed in partnership with service users, Supported Housing Services, and Tameside Housing Advice.

The booklet aims to give service users some simple but handy tips to think about when they are ready to move on from supported housing accommodation.

Extra Care Housing in Tameside

Extra Care Housing supports people to live independently. The schemes consist of self-contained flats, designed to suit the needs of older people. A Scheme Manager and care staff are based on site 24 hours a day to support the needs of the residents. Extra Care Housing gives you security and privacy in your own home. There are three Extra Care Schemes in the area. These are located in Ashton, Droylsden and Stalybridge.

Sheltered Housing in Tameside

Sheltered housing schemes provide a warden or manager who is on duty during working hours and an alarm system to call for help when the manager isn't on duty. This is a long-term service to help people to live independently.

Support available in sheltered housing includes:

• A Community Alarm
• Help with filling in forms to access benefits and to make the forms easier to understand
• Regular visits from the manager at least once a week
• Support and encouragement to meet new people from different community organisations
• Advice and support on repairs, home improvement work or aids and adaptations
  Help to put you in touch with other services, for example Home Care Services

Handyperson Service

Improved help to make your home more safe and secure from Age Concern Tameside

In partnership with Tameside Council, Age Concern’s First Call Home Maintenance and Handy Person service is now offering an improved range of practical help and support to help make your home more safe and secure.  As well as carrying out practical jobs that need doing about the home and providing advice on repairs, improvements and adaptations, First Call can now offer a full safety and security check of your home, both inside and out, and carry out any remedial work that is necessary, or put you in touch with someone who can help you.

The safety and security check may include:

An assessment of any hazards or safety risks inside and outside your home, which could result in a fall or an accident.

• A Home Fire Risk Assessment and the installation, free of charge, of appropriate fire safety equipment such as smoke detectors. Electric blanket safety checks can also be carried out and in some cases you may be able to exchange your chip pan for a deep fat fryer
• A full Home Security Check which may include the free fitting of door chains, bolts, window locks and viewers. In addition, new door locks can also be fitted at material cost only. First Call will also fit Identislots to front doors, or arrange for someone to fit an Identislot through the Council’s Community Safety Unit, if they are not able to do it themselves
• An Energy Efficiency check, which means talking to you about keeping your home warm and making sure that you are paying the right tariff for your gas and electricity, as well as advising about grants that may be available to you for home insulation, or in some cases, central heating systems.
  

Practical support that can be provided by First Call includes:

• Fitting handrails to staircases/garden pathways
• Changing light bulbs
• Putting up shelves
• Small plumbing repairs (eg replacing faulty washers)
• Fitting/changing curtains
• Rearranging furniture in the home (eg prior to or following discharge
  from hospital)
• Fitting of Loop Systems or Easy Readers
• Easing of jammed doors and windows

What is not covered by First Call?

• Electrical or Gas repairs
• Internal or external painting or decorating
• Roofing repairs

What does First Call cost me?

Labour supplied by First Call is free of charge. However, you will need to supply or pay for materials used.

How can I contact First Call?

You can contact Age Concern on  0161 308 5000 and ask for the  First Call Co-ordinator

The First Call service may also talk to you about your general health and well-being. If you have any worries at all, then the service can put you in touch with the CORA Check and Support Service. This is a free and confidential service that aims to help older people to remain independent, active and well within their own home, by providing information and advice about services in the local area, and offering support where necessary to access those services.

Support might include:

• Help around the home - information on shopping, cleaning, laundry, DIY
  and gardening services
• Help with collecting your pension
• Information about welfare benefits and Council Tax
• Information about Telecare equipment (eg Pendant Alarms and Fall
  Detectors)
• Information on social and community groups in your area
• Befriending and buddying schemes

For further information please contact:

The Opening Doors for Older People Service Tel:  0161 370 1179
email: Opening Doors for Older People Service