News
January 2012
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Aisling's first blog of 2012 is now available to read on the Certitude website. We are also 'Working Together for Change' with Helen Sanderson Associates and you can follow our monthly blog on their website to see how we are progressing.
December 2011
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
Aisling Duffy, Chief Executive, would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Read Aisling's Christmas blog on the Certitude website. You can also read our 2011 Winter newsletter to find out what's been happening over the past few months within our organisations.
November 2011
LD TODAY EXHIBITION
Staff were kept busy when we exhibited for the first time as Certitude Support. Contacts were made and services marketed. There was particular interest in the health project Treat Me Right! and Lucy Harrision's video about Intensive Interaction proved a popular discussion topic. My choice, Carers' Breaks, Travel Support and Shared Lives postcards flew off the stand and the Certitude pens had all gone by lunchtime, along with most of the chocolates!
October 2011
ANOTHER AWARD FOR BEYOND PRISON!
Now it's official. The Beyond Prison film - Bringing the Outside In - was highly commended at the Scottish Mental Health and Arts Film Festival 2011 and won the Best Short Documentary Award. Thanks to all who worked on the initial project for the super effort and all of those currently working on the legacy of Bringing the Outside In. The film can be watched here: www.beyondprison.org.uk
MY CHOICE WEBSITE LAUNCHED
A new website called My Choice aimed at customers has been launched by Certitude, our parent organisation. If you, or anyone you know, is looking for support, you can use this site to find out what we can offer, how to plan your support, and what to do next.
September 2011
MICHAEL ROSEN AWARDS - WINNERS NOW CHOSEN!
For further infomation about our new Michael Rosen Award winners please visit the Certitude website.
BRIXTON REEL
The Fanon Resource Centre are participating in the Brixton Reel for the third consecutive year. This is being held between 5-13 October 2011 For more information visit www.brixtonreel.co.uk or ring the Fanon Resource Centre on 020 7737 2888.
TIMEBANKING PIONEER DR EDGAR CAHN VISITS THE FANON RESOURCE CENTRE
A very special event was been being held at the Fanon Resource Centre on Friday 23rd September at 10.00 - 11.30am.
Dr Edgar Cahn* the founder of timebanking has agreed to talk about his work and hold a question and answer session on Friday during his visit to the UK.
Certitude and it's partner organisations have set out to develop Time Bank opportunities and approaches, particularly in our mental health services, as a way of supporting people to help themselves and help others. To this end we partnered in April with the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Lambeth to second 2 highly experienced Time Bank staff to work with us for 3 years to lead on the development of timebanking within Lambeth and throughout our services.
They have arranged this exciting and unique opportunity to hear about the origins of timebanking and hear about the work that is happening across the UK and in many other countries.
*Dr. Edgar Cahn is a civil rights lawyer and social innovator. As an activist, he has made impacts in areas as diverse as hunger and malnutrition, poverty, indigenous people's rights, public services, community health, public housing and social welfare.
Much of Edgar's work has focused on ideas of the core economy and co-production: finding ways to tap into the vast array of human capabilities and connections which go unpaid and unnoticed by the market economy. His major innovation in this area has been timebanking, which now operates in 22 countries and has been running in the UK for over a decade. Edgar founded TimeBanks USA and the US Time Dollar, of which he remains president, and wrote a book No More Throw-away People (2004) which explains the thinking behind timebanks and co-production.
Edgar started his career in government as a speechwriter for Attorney General Robert Kennedy under President John Kennedy. His next role was in the Office of Economic Opportunity in the White House, under President Johnson, where he helped launch the National Legal Services Programme as a means of helping Americans living in poverty. After leaving government work, he founded the Citizens Advocate Centre in Washington DC as watchdog to challenge government treatment of American Indians, and collaborated with American Indian scholars to write Our Brother's Keeper, the Indian in White America, which helped get self-determination to be recognised as national policy.
In 1968, Edgar published Hunger USA, the first exposé of hunger and malnutrition in America, which launched a major national campaign, supported by his own litigation work. Edgar is also the founder of the Antioch School of Law (now called the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law) which puts social justice at the heart of legal education.
CALLING ALL FOOTBALLERS!
Southside has its own football club, formed in the summer of 2010. They are now recruiting new players and your can visit their blog for more information - www.southsidefootballclub.blogspot.com and read the attached flyer which will tell you who to contact and how to join.
August 2011
SMHAFF - the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival has Highly Commended Beyond Prison's 'Bringing the Outside In' video in its Best Short Documentary category. Awards take place in October.
June 2011
WANDSWORTH VOLUNTEERING FAIR
Jan Lemmon, Work Pathways Manager, represented Southside Partnership at the recently held Wandsworth Volunteering Fair. The Fair featured a broad of volunteering opportunities, including on-line mentoring of young people, helping people with learning disabilities safely use public transport, an LD theatre company, and many more. Jan and other stall holders were captured on video. To see the video and more go to www.pavilion-interactive.com.
HAPPY SOUL FESTIVAL
As most of you will know Southside is a regular contributor to the annual Happy Soul Festival and have in previous years hosted films in both our Lambeth and Merton Resource Centres. The festival uses films from around the world to raise awareness of mental health & well being in BAME communities by engaging audiences in dialogue, often with the films' director or stars. Please read this year's programme for more information.
May 2011
CLINKS PUBLICATION - BAME RESETTLEMENT
"Lessons for resettlement" is the latest Clinks study that explores issues around resettlement for black, Asian and ethnic minority prisoners. This follow-up study to our Double Trouble report sought to examine in detail the scope for statutory and non-statutory services to support and promote successful resettlement, particularly for BAME offenders. Download the report at: Clinks Publications
DISABILITY MARCH - THE HARDEST HIT PROTEST
On 11 May, Southside Partnership and Support for Living added their voices to the thousands of disabled people marching through Westminster to make sure that disabled people had their voices heard on the plans to reform Disability Living Allowance and cuts to social care services. The protest, organised by the UK Disabled People's Council and the Disability Benefits Consortium, comes on the first anniversary of the formation of the coalition government.
April 2011
RoSPA AWARD FOR SOUTHSIDE PARTNERSHIP
Southside Partnership, of London, has won a Silver award in the prestigious RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2011.
The Silver award will be presented at a ceremony at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel, at the National Exhibition Centre, on THURSDAY, MAY 19, 2011.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), a safety charity, launched its awards programme 55 years ago. The scheme looks not only at accident records, but also entrants' overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as strong leadership and workforce involvement.
David Rawlins, RoSPA's awards manager, said: "RoSPA firmly believes that organisations that have demonstrated their commitment to continuous improvement in accident and ill health prevention deserve recognition. Southside Partnership has shown that it is committed to striving for such continuous improvement and we are delighted to honour it through the presentation of an award."
The majority of RoSPA's awards are non-competitive, marking achievement at merit, bronze, silver and gold levels. Organisations maintaining high standards can win gold medals, president's awards and orders of distinction.
Competitive awards are presented in more than 20 sectors, and specialist awards recognise excellence in specific areas, such as the management of occupational road risk.
The RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards 2011 are sponsored by NEBOSH (The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health), the leading health and safety professional examining body.
Three days of award ceremonies and three gala evening dinners will be held in Birmingham from May 17-19, alongside Safety & Health Expo 2011, Europe's leading annual health and safety exhibition. An award ceremony and gala dinner will also take place in Glasgow in September.
See www.rospa.com/awards/ for more information about the RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards.
March 2011
IS MENTAL HEALTH A LAUGHING MATTER
Community Care and Mental Health Today have both featured articles about how humour can challenge mental health stigma among prisoners. Read more>>
Community Care article Mental Health Today article
DLA MOBILITY: SORTING THE FACTS FROM THE FICTION
The Government says it is committed to social justice for disabled people, and in particular the focus on personalisation and increasing independence for disabled people. However, the removal of the mobility component of the Disability Living Allowance [DLA], soon to become the Personal Independence Payment [PIP] from people living in residential care, will directly undermine this commitment. Campaigners have produced the DLA mobility report which is being launched on 9 March. A total of 39 charities and organisations, and ADASS have endorsed the report. The report is being sent to key Ministers and MPs. Download full report
November 2010
BEYOND PRISON - "Best of Health Awards 2010" Award Winner!
Southside Partnership is delighted to announce that Beyond Prison's Cracking Up "Bringing the Outside In" DVD project has won the NHS South East Coast "Best of Health Awards 2010" award in the Mental Health and Wellbeing Category.
Cracking Up "Bringing the Outside In" DVD was a project delivered by NHS Surrey and Southside which raises public awareness and challenges the stigma around mental health through comedy, drama and poetry and has resulted in more people using mental health and wellbeing services. Congratulations to all involved!
LD CARE SUPPORT SERVICES IN BROMLEY.
The second stage of implementing the new Bromley care support service gathered momentum this month. The first service is already up and running and we hope that the next two will follow shortly and be just as successful.
LAMBETH CARERS' BREAKS.
Since we started running the Carers's Breaks Service in Lambeth we have completed our first holiday. A group of Carers and Customers stayed at Hayling Island for a week to celebrate an early Christmas and New Year. There was a 'Tinsel and Turkey' theme and everyone had a fantastic time!
October 2010
WANDSWORTH TRAVEL SCHEME WINS AWARD!
The Adult Social Services Department's 'Travel Buddy' Scheme won the 'Community/Not for Profit project of the year' category at the Smarter Travel Awards 2010. The scheme was set up in 2008 to enable adults with learning difficulties and disabilities to travel as independently as possibly by pairing them up with a 'travel buddy' to help build confidence and learn skills to use all elements of public transport, as well as walking to reach any destination safely.
The achievement and success and the project has come from the unusually close collaboration between GO Ahead, TfL, Wandsworth Police Community Safety Officers and Wandsworth Adult Social Services and the two travel support providers HAIL and Southside Partnership.
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May 2010: COOKING IS FUN.
Southside and its social enterprise, Scotch Bonnet, will continue its popular Cooking is Fun program. Initially funded by Mrs Smith and Mount Trust, the project was so successful that it is being 'roadshowed' to other services and, ultimately, to local community and social care organisations.
May 2010: Southside was recently selected to run Lambeth Carers' Breaks Scheme and also a LD Care Support Service in LB Bromley. In addition, we were selected as one of a small number of providers on the Supporting People Framework Agreement for LB Southwark, LB Lewisham, LB Lambeth and LB Bromley.
April 2010: It's official! Support for Living and Southside Partnership have merged to form a new group, Certitude Support, as from 1 April 2010. The people who use our services may not notice big changes - but over time we believe we can make sure our services continue to improve and are increasingly flexible to meet people's individual wishes. The role of our new parent company, Certitude Support, will be to provude leadership, support and direction to Southside Partnership and Support For Living. Read more in our latest merger newsletter or our easy read version
March 2010. New Gardening Project; Fanon Resource Centre in Brixton was successful in obtaining funding from Big Lottery for a partnership gardening project with Roots and Shoots. The project will support Fanon customers to develop the back garden area while learning some useful new gardening skills at the same time.
Feb 2010. Southside has become a MINDFUL EMPLOYER (c) . Southside has signed up to the Charter for Employers Who Are Positive About Mental Health. This is part of our ongoing commitment to getting more people with mental health issues into our workplace. We have a 10% target in the current business plan (with ambitions to grow this target quickly)
Oct 2009. Southside's Customer Satisfaction Survey reveals that 83% would recommend us to a friend.
Oct 2009 Southside granted funding from City Parochial Foundation. CPF is providing funding to support a work pathways scheme for all mental health and learning disability customers at Southside. This funding will help in setting up an across-organisation scheme that will support customers to train, gain volunteering and work experience and find a job. A crucial element of the scheme will be to meet 'consumer preference' and also to work with employers to support them in providing work opportunities. Ultimately, it is hoped that service users will be employed within the scheme to provide one-to-one advice and support to those seeking a work pathway.
Sept 2009 Southside wins funding from Dept for Business, Innovation & Skills Transformation Fund for an innovative prison project. Southside, partnering with Media for Development and NHS Surrey , was successful in winning funding for a highly innovative project developed within our Beyond Prison services.