Southdown Housing Association

“I joined Home Works when it first started in 2009 as a Floating Support Assistant and after three months obtained a Floating Support Officer position. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to progress so quickly.
The company has also been really accommodating when it came to adapting my work hours, due to health issues with both my family and myself. They allowed me to move from full time to part time but still keep my job, which has helped immensely.
Over the past 10 ye...ars, the role has changed beyond recognition.
We used to do travel training, supporting clients to take a bus or a train. In addition, we’d go shopping with clients, helping them to budget and eat healthily. Most of the clients referred to the service had mental health challenges.
Back then, getting housing was realistic too. It was never straightforward but you’d always know you’d be able to get a property for your client, whether it was social or private accommodation.
Over the years though, this has changed.
The lack of housing is the biggest issue. I’ve learnt to be upfront with clients. I don’t want to give false hope. It’s really hard, especially when you see people who desperately need help.
It is really rewarding when you can support people to improve their quality of life and get the support they need.
When I first started, I remember shadowing a colleague and thinking how on earth did she know everything she did. It was incredible! Over the years though, I’ve amassed that knowledge. What we do in our role is vast.
I’m proud to have been with Home Works since it started. Many lives have been changed. People have been supported to secure housing, access services they wouldn’t have known about, secured welfare benefits they didn’t know they were entitled to and been supported to live independently.
Why has Home Works lasted so long? The service is constantly evolving. As things change, it changes too. It’s a fantastic service, which I love being a part of.”

Home Works is our housing support service in East Sussex. It provides focused support to people aged 16 to 59 years. Clients may be single people, couples or families who are at risk of losing their home, have no permanent home or need help to live independently.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
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Thanks Culture Shift and @PriorySchoolLewes for inviting us to talk to Year 8 students about career opportunities across Sussex at the Creative Cafe event yesterday.
With more and more people needing support to live independently in our local communities, it was really great to talk with the students about working in social care, including what it's like working in our learning disability services.
The students also came up with some fab ideas on how we could use social medi...a to encourage people to consider a career in care.
Thanks again!
#everydayisdifferent #careerincare #futuregeneration
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“Getting housing support has helped me a lot. It’s given me a roof over my head. Living on my own feels like a sanctuary.
I just wanted to be settled. My life has been a rollercoaster - I feel like a post that keeps moving.
I first got support from Home Works about three months ago. The council had put me in temporary accommodation but I had problems in a couple of the places because I couldn’t share the bathroom and kitchen facilities and I was getting ill. I have Type 1 Dia...betes and it is important I have the right kitchen facilities for my insulin.
Living in town I wasn’t settled. I was upset and depressed where I was living. I didn’t feel safe. The noise was a nightmare with people going to clubs and fighting outside. It really affected my health.
I kept going to the council to get things changed. I kept fighting for my case to get a better place. It was very hard and tearful.
My Housing Officer then put me in touch with Southdown’s Home Works service. My Home Works Worker was wonderful. We would meet at the Council and she really helped. Her attitude was very good - I couldn’t ask for a better Support Worker. She took her time with me. She was calm and understanding.
She helped me put my case across for me to move and she and my Housing Officer worked together to try and find suitable accommodation for me with my own kitchen and bathroom.
It felt nice but a bit scary because I’d never had my own flat. I was scared of the responsibility – I have to pay for the TV licence, council tax, and utility bills, but I’m getting there.
Having my own place is good. I enjoy it. I like my own comfort, my own space. I like watching my movies – I’m a Harry Potter fan!
I want to have a better life. I want to enjoy my life and just be happy. You have to try and do the best you can, be positive. Keep fighting. Don’t ever give up. Always get the support and help you can. Don’t keep it inside.
I think I am lucky where I am now. I have a roof over my head. That’s so important.”

Our housing support service in East Sussex, Home Works, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. It provides focused support to people aged 16 to 59 years. Clients may be single people, couples or families who are at risk of losing their home, have no permanent home or need help to live independently.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
See More

Our fabulous Home Works service in East Sussex has been celebrating 10 amazing years of life-changing work in the community today!
Thank you to all our current and former Home Works colleagues for your invaluable work throughout the years.

We’re delighted to let you know that NHS Brighton and Hove CCG and Brighton and Hove City Council has awarded Southdown a citywide mental health contract to transform support across Brighton and Hove.
The first of its kind in Sussex, the citywide ‘Community Roots’ contract (which starts in October 2019) brings together 15 separate organisations to strengthen, develop and integrate mental health support for different levels of need.
To develop a network of integrated suppor...t incorporating existing services, we’ll work closely with other local mental health providers, people accessing support, their families, carers and the wider health and care system (both clinical and other non-clinical services).
We’ll also lead on a phased transformation of support, over the next five years, including the development of new services and initiatives.
Do visit our website here https://bit.ly/2LA5mBE for more info and we’ll also keep you updated with news in future posts.
Brighton & Hove City Council Brighton and Hove CCG #communityroots #nowrongdoor
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Congratulations to our Southdown Road Registered Care Home learning disability service for receiving a 'Good' rating overall and an 'Outstanding' rating for 'responsiveness' in their latest CQC report! We’re currently recruiting for people to join our learning disability services’ team. For more information visit our jobs page and follow Southdown Jobs on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Read more here https://tinyurl.com/yxtzfgsf

A big thank you to everybody who came along to our Mental Health Matters event last Friday in Hastings, which was sponsored by Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye.
It was great to see local providers, organisations and people with experience of mental health challenges talking together about how we can collectively provide joined-up support and improve access to services.
A big thank you also to Jess, a local artist, who was interviewed by Sky TV at the event and spo...ke eloquently about the importance of enabling people to talk about how they feel and know how to access support when they need it.
If you need support for your mental health, or know somebody that does, do take a look at the online East Sussex Mental Health Directory and West Sussex Pathfinder's website. Our website www.southdown.org also shares information about support available.
#mentalhealthmatters #communitysupport
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* LEARNING DISABILITY WEEK 2019 *
“I am a Service Manager in a Supported Living service for four gentlemen with autism. We provide 24/7 support.
I’ve been working for Southdown since 1997! Career progression is definitely possible in support work. In my twenty years here, I’ve got two NVQs and I have moved from being a Support Worker to a Manager.
...Continue Reading

To our friends and followers in Brighton and Hove,
We would like to draw your attention to a survey that is being conducted this month by Possability People and commissioned by the NHS Brighton & Hove Clinical Commissioning Group.
This survey has been created for disabled people, carers and the general public to have their voices heard on their experiences of using Urgent Care services in the city, and how to improve these services for everyone.
... Urgent Care is for when you need physical or mental health help the same day, but it is not a 999 or A&E emergency.
You can find the survey by clicking this link : https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PG3WTYG< br> Thank you
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‘I’m an Outreach Coordinator for Community Connectors.
Community Connectors is a social prescribing service. Social prescribing supports clients to access specialist agencies and activities in their local community that can help to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
After a referral from a GP, a Community Navigator will work with the client to develop a personalised wellbeing plan. They will support the client, step-by-step, to action the plan, including helping them... to connect to relevant services and activities within their local community.
My role is to recruit, induct, and coordinate volunteer Buddy and Peer Support Workers to support clients to access services and activities within their local community. This compliments the Community Connectors work to ensure that clients access the most appropriate and relevant support that they require.
By utilising volunteers we now have a greater reach within the community to support people with a wide range of social, emotional, or practical needs to improve their mental health and physical wellbeing.
Research has shown that peer workers yield improvement in client psychiatric symptoms resulting in decreased primary care needs, larger social support networks, and enhanced self-esteem and social functioning.
Services like this are important because prevention is better than cure! On a clinical level, it can help combat over-medicalising people as well as save primary healthcare money. On a social level, it helps positive relationships develop between different individuals and groups towards a shared understanding and common values. On a psychological level, it helps people overcome their own personal barriers to increasing their mental wellbeing. What’s not to like? It’s win- win all round!"

Community Connectors is a free service for people with issues impacting on their mental health and where they or their GP have identified that a ‘social prescription’ would be of benefit. Social Prescribing helps clients find practical solutions to everyday issues and supports them to link in with specialist agencies and activities in their local community that can help improve their mental and emotional wellbeing.
This story is part of our #VolunteersWeek and Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
See More

"I’ve been a Buddy at the Recovery College since the beginning of 2018.
I wanted to give back everything I was given because I’ve received support from Southdown for five years now.
Because I was in a much better place, I thought it would be nice to help other people who are struggling.
... A Buddy is there for students at the Recovery College who need extra support getting from their home to the classroom. We can phone them and escort them to college and sit with them in the first few lessons until they no longer need that. If a student has an anxious episode, then we’ll sit with them outside the classroom and support them too.
Being a Buddy has taught me about boundaries and the different challenges people have. It’s also given me the skills to communicate with people.
The benefit of being a Buddy at the college is getting the pleasure of watching someone cope by themselves and be independent. You can see their progress.
I’ve been a student at the Recovery College for about four years. The courses gave me the confidence to go out there and face the world.
I would say to someone interested in coming to the Recovery College – what have you got to lose? There’s no harm in trying something. Give it a chance. I’m giving myself a chance. If someone’s offering you something, give it a go. Don’t be afraid.
If I hadn’t attended the Recovery College, I would still be homeless. I can look at myself in the mirror now, whereas before I just saw darkness."

Delivered as a partnership with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Brighton and Hove Recovery College uses education in a supportive learning environment to help people with mental health challenges become experts in their own self-care and recovery. The College provides a wide range of courses which are co-produced and co-delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges and are delivered in community and educational venues across Brighton and Hove.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
#volunteersweek
See More

"Hi, I’m the Volunteer and Student Union Support Lead at Brighton and Hove Recovery College.
I have several different responsibilities here. I co-ordinate the Buddies, lead on the Student Union, and also work in Student Involvement.
Buddies are volunteers who have lived experience of mental health challenges. Most Buddies have been students at the Recovery College who have moved on in their recovery journey and have seen the benefits of attending our courses. They want to gi...ve back and help other people access the college.
Buddies offer peer support to students wishing to engage with the Recovery College. They work with coaching principles and can offer support with travel and getting to the course, paperwork, classroom materials, engaging with peers, and attending events.
Anxiety is the most common reason a student might want Buddy support. Sometimes support can simply be sitting next to a student in the classroom. Courses can touch on sensitive issues and some students can feel very anxious.
Buddies, in their one-to-one support, can offer help around mental health difficulties and some of them use this volunteering opportunity and experience as a stepping stone for their career development. They gain training, experience, confidence, validation in their role and in the community, and reward in seeing their students flourish.
Buddies create a legacy here at the college. I’ve been able to really see the difference a Buddy can make in helping a student engage and access our courses at the College. Their presence and support, however minimal, can really help a student flourish.
Buddies are very unique to recovery colleges and bring that additional community feel to ours.
What keeps me passionate about this job is that I get to work with an amazing group of people who are also passionate about their work. I get to see them flourish, develop, and grow."

Delivered as a partnership with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Brighton and Hove Recovery College uses education in a supportive learning environment to help people with mental health challenges become experts in their own self-care and recovery. The College provides a wide range of courses which are co-produced and co-delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges and are delivered in community and educational venues across Brighton and Hove.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos
#volunteersweek
See More

#volunteersweek

#volunteersweek

#volunteersweek

#volunteersweek

"Hi, I’m Southdown’s Volunteer Coordinator.
My role is to support all our teams with identifying volunteer opportunities, the recruitment and recognition of client volunteers, and their on-going support. I’m the central point of contact for volunteering so there’s consistency for all volunteering across Southdown.
There’s a lot of good practice out there and my role is to bring all of it together. Good practice is supporting our client volunteers and recognising their needs.... Some volunteers want to develop their skills and knowledge, some want the experience for work and training, others for confidence and social inclusion and some volunteers wish to give something back to Southdown and their communities.
Southdown values its volunteers. Our aim is to keep volunteers motivated, involved, and to support their personal development. Southdown defines a ‘volunteer’ as an individual who volunteers their free time to others outside the family, unpaid and with no financial gain, and of their own free choice.
Volunteering is not just beneficial to the volunteer, it’s also very beneficial for us as an organisation. Our client volunteers are very valuable. They bring enthusiasm, diversity, and a different perspective. They are passionate, skilled, and can bring their own lived experience. We learn from them and they can feed back to us what the community wants.
Volunteering is a key part of Southdown’s Client Involvement Strategy. Roles can be anything from meeting and greeting clients in a Wellbeing Centre, providing one-to-one client support, leading a group, to being involved in a project. My responsibility is to help teams identify appropriate and meaningful opportunities and roles for client volunteers.
Volunteers and organisations both benefit from volunteers. They complement the work that’s already happening, supporting an organisation, not replacing a paid-for role.
I’m passionate about volunteers – and in my career I have worked and supported them for ten years. I love it because it’s about people! People volunteer for so many reasons and you see them go on a journey. There are challenges, but there are challenges in everything."

#volunteersweek
See More

“I joined Home Works when it first started in 2009 as a Floating Support Assistant and after three months obtained a Floating Support Officer position. It was fantastic to have the opportunity to progress so quickly.
The company has also been really accommodating when it came to adapting my work hours, due to health issues with both my family and myself. They allowed me to move from full time to part time but still keep my job, which has helped immensely.
Over the past 10 ye...ars, the role has changed beyond recognition.
We used to do travel training, supporting clients to take a bus or a train. In addition, we’d go shopping with clients, helping them to budget and eat healthily. Most of the clients referred to the service had mental health challenges.
Back then, getting housing was realistic too. It was never straightforward but you’d always know you’d be able to get a property for your client, whether it was social or private accommodation.
Over the years though, this has changed.
The lack of housing is the biggest issue. I’ve learnt to be upfront with clients. I don’t want to give false hope. It’s really hard, especially when you see people who desperately need help.
It is really rewarding when you can support people to improve their quality of life and get the support they need.
When I first started, I remember shadowing a colleague and thinking how on earth did she know everything she did. It was incredible! Over the years though, I’ve amassed that knowledge. What we do in our role is vast.
I’m proud to have been with Home Works since it started. Many lives have been changed. People have been supported to secure housing, access services they wouldn’t have known about, secured welfare benefits they didn’t know they were entitled to and been supported to live independently.
Why has Home Works lasted so long? The service is constantly evolving. As things change, it changes too. It’s a fantastic service, which I love being a part of.”

Home Works is our housing support service in East Sussex. It provides focused support to people aged 16 to 59 years. Clients may be single people, couples or families who are at risk of losing their home, have no permanent home or need help to live independently.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
See More

“Getting housing support has helped me a lot. It’s given me a roof over my head. Living on my own feels like a sanctuary.
I just wanted to be settled. My life has been a rollercoaster - I feel like a post that keeps moving.
I first got support from Home Works about three months ago. The council had put me in temporary accommodation but I had problems in a couple of the places because I couldn’t share the bathroom and kitchen facilities and I was getting ill. I have Type 1 Dia...betes and it is important I have the right kitchen facilities for my insulin.
Living in town I wasn’t settled. I was upset and depressed where I was living. I didn’t feel safe. The noise was a nightmare with people going to clubs and fighting outside. It really affected my health.
I kept going to the council to get things changed. I kept fighting for my case to get a better place. It was very hard and tearful.
My Housing Officer then put me in touch with Southdown’s Home Works service. My Home Works Worker was wonderful. We would meet at the Council and she really helped. Her attitude was very good - I couldn’t ask for a better Support Worker. She took her time with me. She was calm and understanding.
She helped me put my case across for me to move and she and my Housing Officer worked together to try and find suitable accommodation for me with my own kitchen and bathroom.
It felt nice but a bit scary because I’d never had my own flat. I was scared of the responsibility – I have to pay for the TV licence, council tax, and utility bills, but I’m getting there.
Having my own place is good. I enjoy it. I like my own comfort, my own space. I like watching my movies – I’m a Harry Potter fan!
I want to have a better life. I want to enjoy my life and just be happy. You have to try and do the best you can, be positive. Keep fighting. Don’t ever give up. Always get the support and help you can. Don’t keep it inside.
I think I am lucky where I am now. I have a roof over my head. That’s so important.”

Our housing support service in East Sussex, Home Works, is celebrating its ten year anniversary. It provides focused support to people aged 16 to 59 years. Clients may be single people, couples or families who are at risk of losing their home, have no permanent home or need help to live independently.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
See More

‘I’m an Outreach Coordinator for Community Connectors.
Community Connectors is a social prescribing service. Social prescribing supports clients to access specialist agencies and activities in their local community that can help to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
After a referral from a GP, a Community Navigator will work with the client to develop a personalised wellbeing plan. They will support the client, step-by-step, to action the plan, including helping them... to connect to relevant services and activities within their local community.
My role is to recruit, induct, and coordinate volunteer Buddy and Peer Support Workers to support clients to access services and activities within their local community. This compliments the Community Connectors work to ensure that clients access the most appropriate and relevant support that they require.
By utilising volunteers we now have a greater reach within the community to support people with a wide range of social, emotional, or practical needs to improve their mental health and physical wellbeing.
Research has shown that peer workers yield improvement in client psychiatric symptoms resulting in decreased primary care needs, larger social support networks, and enhanced self-esteem and social functioning.
Services like this are important because prevention is better than cure! On a clinical level, it can help combat over-medicalising people as well as save primary healthcare money. On a social level, it helps positive relationships develop between different individuals and groups towards a shared understanding and common values. On a psychological level, it helps people overcome their own personal barriers to increasing their mental wellbeing. What’s not to like? It’s win- win all round!"

Community Connectors is a free service for people with issues impacting on their mental health and where they or their GP have identified that a ‘social prescription’ would be of benefit. Social Prescribing helps clients find practical solutions to everyday issues and supports them to link in with specialist agencies and activities in their local community that can help improve their mental and emotional wellbeing.
This story is part of our #VolunteersWeek and Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
See More

"I’ve been a Buddy at the Recovery College since the beginning of 2018.
I wanted to give back everything I was given because I’ve received support from Southdown for five years now.
Because I was in a much better place, I thought it would be nice to help other people who are struggling.
... A Buddy is there for students at the Recovery College who need extra support getting from their home to the classroom. We can phone them and escort them to college and sit with them in the first few lessons until they no longer need that. If a student has an anxious episode, then we’ll sit with them outside the classroom and support them too.
Being a Buddy has taught me about boundaries and the different challenges people have. It’s also given me the skills to communicate with people.
The benefit of being a Buddy at the college is getting the pleasure of watching someone cope by themselves and be independent. You can see their progress.
I’ve been a student at the Recovery College for about four years. The courses gave me the confidence to go out there and face the world.
I would say to someone interested in coming to the Recovery College – what have you got to lose? There’s no harm in trying something. Give it a chance. I’m giving myself a chance. If someone’s offering you something, give it a go. Don’t be afraid.
If I hadn’t attended the Recovery College, I would still be homeless. I can look at myself in the mirror now, whereas before I just saw darkness."

Delivered as a partnership with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Brighton and Hove Recovery College uses education in a supportive learning environment to help people with mental health challenges become experts in their own self-care and recovery. The College provides a wide range of courses which are co-produced and co-delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges and are delivered in community and educational venues across Brighton and Hove.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos.
#volunteersweek
See More

"Hi, I’m the Volunteer and Student Union Support Lead at Brighton and Hove Recovery College.
I have several different responsibilities here. I co-ordinate the Buddies, lead on the Student Union, and also work in Student Involvement.
Buddies are volunteers who have lived experience of mental health challenges. Most Buddies have been students at the Recovery College who have moved on in their recovery journey and have seen the benefits of attending our courses. They want to gi...ve back and help other people access the college.
Buddies offer peer support to students wishing to engage with the Recovery College. They work with coaching principles and can offer support with travel and getting to the course, paperwork, classroom materials, engaging with peers, and attending events.
Anxiety is the most common reason a student might want Buddy support. Sometimes support can simply be sitting next to a student in the classroom. Courses can touch on sensitive issues and some students can feel very anxious.
Buddies, in their one-to-one support, can offer help around mental health difficulties and some of them use this volunteering opportunity and experience as a stepping stone for their career development. They gain training, experience, confidence, validation in their role and in the community, and reward in seeing their students flourish.
Buddies create a legacy here at the college. I’ve been able to really see the difference a Buddy can make in helping a student engage and access our courses at the College. Their presence and support, however minimal, can really help a student flourish.
Buddies are very unique to recovery colleges and bring that additional community feel to ours.
What keeps me passionate about this job is that I get to work with an amazing group of people who are also passionate about their work. I get to see them flourish, develop, and grow."

Delivered as a partnership with the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, the Brighton and Hove Recovery College uses education in a supportive learning environment to help people with mental health challenges become experts in their own self-care and recovery. The College provides a wide range of courses which are co-produced and co-delivered by people with lived experience of mental health challenges and are delivered in community and educational venues across Brighton and Hove.
This story is part of our Southdown Stories project where we highlight the fantastic and valuable work going on across the organisation whilst raising awareness of the challenges our clients face and challenging social stigma and taboos
#volunteersweek
See More

"Hi, I’m Southdown’s Volunteer Coordinator.
My role is to support all our teams with identifying volunteer opportunities, the recruitment and recognition of client volunteers, and their on-going support. I’m the central point of contact for volunteering so there’s consistency for all volunteering across Southdown.
There’s a lot of good practice out there and my role is to bring all of it together. Good practice is supporting our client volunteers and recognising their needs.... Some volunteers want to develop their skills and knowledge, some want the experience for work and training, others for confidence and social inclusion and some volunteers wish to give something back to Southdown and their communities.
Southdown values its volunteers. Our aim is to keep volunteers motivated, involved, and to support their personal development. Southdown defines a ‘volunteer’ as an individual who volunteers their free time to others outside the family, unpaid and with no financial gain, and of their own free choice.
Volunteering is not just beneficial to the volunteer, it’s also very beneficial for us as an organisation. Our client volunteers are very valuable. They bring enthusiasm, diversity, and a different perspective. They are passionate, skilled, and can bring their own lived experience. We learn from them and they can feed back to us what the community wants.
Volunteering is a key part of Southdown’s Client Involvement Strategy. Roles can be anything from meeting and greeting clients in a Wellbeing Centre, providing one-to-one client support, leading a group, to being involved in a project. My responsibility is to help teams identify appropriate and meaningful opportunities and roles for client volunteers.
Volunteers and organisations both benefit from volunteers. They complement the work that’s already happening, supporting an organisation, not replacing a paid-for role.
I’m passionate about volunteers – and in my career I have worked and supported them for ten years. I love it because it’s about people! People volunteer for so many reasons and you see them go on a journey. There are challenges, but there are challenges in everything."

#volunteersweek
See More