Making things better: Lifeways takes on Salmon Street, a small London supported living service

A shared house which is home to five adults with complex needs in northwest London has received a new lease of life since Lifeways began to operate the supported living service.

In April, Lifeways began operating the Salmon Street service after being nominated by Brent Council, the local authority.

From the very first day of operating the service, plenty of work needed to be done.

The building was in poor condition, and required renovations and upkeep.

What’s more, each of the six individuals we now support there, who are in their fifties, have very complex needs.

Undeterred by the challenge to make the service a great place to live and be supported, our Service Manager Doris Rice set to work.

Here are some first steps taken:

• Working in partnership with the families of each individual, rooms are being decorated to match each person’s tastes, likes, and needs.
• Individuals at the service have been encouraged to keep fit by walking to their local restaurant, instead of taking public transport
• One individual was re-assessed and will be going to a new placement outside of the service

When the father of Gary, an individual at the service, passed away, our team supported Gary to attend his funeral. While there, Gary met his mother, who he hadn’t seen in years, and other family members.

Paul, another individual, had not seen his brother and sister in a while. When they were both supported to visit, Paul’s brother, who’s a musician, played one of his songs which everybody enjoyed dancing to!

‘Seamless and efficient’

While there’s still lots of changes that need to be made, Doris is confident her team are making the supported living service better every single day.

“It’s a pleasure to be working with Lifeways,” says Doris.

“I proactively manage my team to earn more experience and knowledge in supporting individuals, and always using a person-centred approach.”

For their part, Brent Council say they’re pleased at the way the service’s transition to Lifeways has been handled.

“Working with Lifeways has proven to be quite seamless and efficient, with regular engagement and keeping the local authority up to date with the progress of the contract going live,” says Omar Faruque, from Brent Council’s Adult Social Care department.

In addition to the Salmon Street service, Lifeways has also been nominated by Brent Council to launch and operate Cranhurst Road, a service which aims to support up to six people with autism and learning disabilities, this summer.

Stay tuned for more updates!

 

About Lifeways:

Lifeways is the UK’s largest team of support professionals providing support for adults in the community.

We support adults with diverse and complex needs, including learning disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, and mental health conditions. 

As the supported living sector’s largest team of professionals, Lifeways’ extensive experience and national reach mean we deliver extraordinary support to adults, enabling them to live fulfilling and independent lives in the community. 

Our 11,000 colleagues currently support almost 5,000 individuals who live in our 1,500 supported living and residential services across England, Scotland, and Wales. 

Find out more about how we change people's lives at: www.lifeways.co.uk  

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