These all concur with the ethos of the Trust. As such, we have helped fund these important projects across different sectors. The projects will run for one year, until 2019. The projects are also match funded by other charitable organisations.
Our first project is the Kisharon Employment Agency. Kisharon is a learning disability charity, that work within the Jewish community. The Trust takes a gendered approach in our work, focusing on the rights of women and particularly learning disabled women. This project partnered with Kisharon, will assist in the progression of a greater number of women transitioning into employment.
The employment agency will source a broader range of opportunities to develop confidence, and enable access into the wider community. It will offer wider services including CV writing, travel training, job coaching and searching and preparation for work sessions. The agency will assist with job retainment using evidence based employment support. There will also be access to Kisharons’ social enterprises including a high end gift shop, bicycle sales and repair shop, creative design agency and public partnership library as well as other employment opportunities.
For more information on Kisharon please see: http://www.kisharon.org.uk/
Our next one year pilot project is partnered with Rethink Mental Illness, a national mental health charity. It is focused on the Resettlement of women leaving Low Newton Prison in County Durham. The project helps women make safe and effective transitions from prison to the community.
It will provide housing and continuity of care as the women build their resilience and become empowered to make positive decisions and reintegrate into society. The project will work alongside Cornerstone , a local partner who will provide a three-bedroom supported housing unit. A Rethink Mental Illness resettlement worker will provide the 8-12 women leaving prison with continuity of care and support, with some day to day staff support from Cornerstone.
Rethink will support the women with their health, employment and social needs, linking them in with organisations as they are helped to find safe housing and integrate back into the community.
For more about Rethink Mental Illness click here: https://www.rethink.org/
The third match funded project is partnered with Skills for Care, who work to create a valued adult social care workforce. The aim of this project is to develop the work force to enable and support people with learning disability who have additional mental health needs. We will be working with Skills for Care to draw together knowledge and skills.
These will be from people with learning disability, their families, the workplace who support them and the communities they live in, with the aim to raising staff confidence and knowledge bases about learning disability and additional mental health needs. The project will identify specific issues for women with a learning disability and mental health needs within broader policy and practice.
For more about Skills for Care click here: https://www.skillsforcare.org.uk/Home.aspx
We at the Trust are thrilled about these three new projects and hope they will help transform the learning disability and mental health landscape, making a real difference in the lives of those they will touch.