- Area:
- West Midlands
- Programme:
- Multiple and Complex Needs
- Release date:
- 27 3 2013
The BIG Lottery Fund (BIG) is announcing today that a Stoke partnership is now on its way to receiving up to £10m to better support people with multiple problems such as homelessness, mental ill health, addiction and reoffending.
BIG is awarding £50,000 to the partnership led by Brighter Futures to help submit business plans on how they will improve and better coordinate services to tackle the needs of people living chaotic lives, in order to receive up to £10m. Nine other successful partnerships across England are also on the verge of receiving a share of the £100m investment.
With problem drug users alone costing government and society around £46,000 a year, BIG’s £100m investment which aims to help thousands of people, could save the public purse hundreds of millions of pounds.
BIG’s investment, backed by Jon Snow Mitch Winehouse and Russell Brand, has brought together organisations and bodies that tackle these issues to improve the stability, confidence and capability of people with multiple and complex needs to lead better lives so they spend less time in prison, reduce their drug abuse, are in stable accommodation and have better mental health.
The vision for the Stoke partnership, consisting of nine organisations, is for people with complex needs to be able to access improved, more co-ordinated and personalised services. Peer mentors will support people who are not currently engaged with services, and co-ordinators will work within the eight partner agencies led by Brighter Futures to identify any service gaps. Service users will receive long term intensive support and be in control of their recovery, supported by personal budgets which will cover areas such as emergency counselling and training.
The project will look to initially target people with three or more complex needs, who are not engaging with services, are socially isolated, are considered a risk to themselves or others, who show impulsive or aggressive behaviour or who are at risk of abuse or exploitation.
Mike Wolfe, Chair of Brighter Futures, said: “Brighter Futures are delighted that the Big Lottery Fund has the confidence to invest in the Stoke on Trent volunteering sector and we are confident that the partnership we have has the right people, is the right size, and has the right commitment to really change the way services are delivered. Stoke on Trent will be an example to everybody nationwide who wants to ensure that services for people with complex needs are delivered in the most appropriate and effective way.”
Alison Rowe, Big Lottery Fund England Head of Communications, said: “There are countless statistics demonstrating a need to help people with multiple and complex needs – for example the NHS Confederation found that 70 per cent of prisoners suffer from a mental illness and a substance abuse problem.
“Imagine a world where service delivery gives individuals the power to turn their lives around – our ultimate goal is to use the learning gleaned from this investment to shift policy thinking so that individuals become assets rather than just a drain on society.’
Jon Snow, Channel 4 News Presenter and Chair of the New Horizon Youth Centre, said: “I have worked for some four decades in a project that works with vulnerable and homeless young people and I have rarely ever come across funding targeted directly at supporting people of any age with multiple and complex needs.
“That’s why I am so excited by the Big Lottery Fund’s radically new approach to put £100 million behind bringing the assorted services together behind this needy but difficult group of people.
“I believe this initiative is going to make life changing differences to the lives of very many people previously regarded as on the margins of society. I’m particularly attracted to the way the Big Lottery Fund has engaged the client groups themselves in designing services.
“In austere and difficult times, the Big Lottery Fund is laying the foundations toward making a profound difference. I’m honoured to support their endeavour.”
Mitch Winehouse, who alongside family members established The Amy Winehouse Foundation, said: “Since losing Amy I have been supporting charities that help people who are struggling with an addiction or health issue. I’ve been involved with Big Lottery Fund since the start of this investment and I’m very excited that successful partnerships are now on the verge of receiving up to £10 million to start helping people with serious and complex problems. This money will bring different organisations together to offer people more tailored support to deal with all the different needs that they may have.”
Russell Brand said: "The BIG Lottery Fund is investing 100m in people with complex needs - this means alcoholics, homeless folk, mentally ill people and drug addicts. They will be devising a strategy in collaboration with the beneficiaries - this is a unique and outstanding initiative that will significantly advance our society. The BIG Lottery Fund has a simple solution to complex needs - now I might buy a bloody ticket!"
Over the eight-year investment, BIG will track the success of the partnerships and gather evidence that will shed light on more effective and efficient ways of organising and delivering services including tracking the savings and benefits to the wider community as well as to the individuals who are supported. BIG will use this learning to improve practice amongst the projects it funds, to influence future policy and practice and encourage the continuation of successful interventions.
CASE STUDY - Stephen Armstrong (Brighter Futures, Stoke)
Stephen, 41, from the Staffordshire Moorlands, has a long history of homelessness, the most recent period lasting for four years. He had been sleeping rough in church yards, public toilets and on park benches. Stephen witnessed family breakdown from a young age and began drinking aged 10, which spiralled into an adolescence of alcohol dependency.
Brighter Futures began working with Stephen in November 2012, providing daily visits to him in Leek and a mobile phone in order for him to maintain contact. The team placed Stephen in temporary accommodation, registered him with a GP and made him an appointment for the following day. Stephen had no money and hadn’t eaten for days so the team bought him food. He began showing signs of wanting to change his lifestyle and started to ask for support.
Stephen said: “My life was a mess; I was going around in circles and had no one to talk to. I had been drinking since I was young and this got really bad after the death of my grandparents.
“Following a fall out with my mum I started sleeping rough. I was sleeping in the Leek Moorlands in freezing conditions. I couldn’t go on like that, if I hadn’t made changes I’m sure I would have died this year.”
Looking ahead, Stephen said: “I would love to get back into work and have a family. I know this is long way off and I have a lot of work to do with my drinking before that will happen, but I feel hopeful for the future.”
A total list of the nine organisations involved in the partnership is as follows:
Brighter Futures (lead partner), Arch, Stoke on Trent Citizens Advice Bureau, Expert Citizens Core Group, North Staffs Mind, RIOT (Recovery is Out There), Stoke On Trent Council, Stoke On Trent Health Directorate and YMCA North Staffs.
Big Lottery Fund Press Office: 020 7211 1888
Out of hours media contact: 07867 500 572
Full details of the Big Lottery Fund programmes and grant awards are available on the website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Ask BIG a question here: https://ask.biglotteryfund.org.uk
Follow BIG on Twitter: www.twitter.com/BigLotteryFund #BIGlf
Find BIG on facebook: www.facebook.com/BigLotteryFund
Notes to Editors
There are an estimated 60,000 adults in England with multiple needs who are beset by several problems at once and lack effective contact with services that support across all their needs. - Making Every Adult Matter (2009).
An estimate of direct annual expenditure on an ‘average’ adult with multiple needs in 2006 was around £23,000. David Halpern, Social exclusion: bringing opportunity for all,
Presentation at Chequers, 29th August, 2006.
Home Office research has suggested a problem drug user costs the government £10,400 a year in reactive expenditure and in social costs around £35,450.
Department of Health figures suggest it is four times more expensive for hospitals to care for homeless people.
St Mungos homeless service found 69% of their hostel clients who were former rough sleepers had some form of mental health problem.
• The Big Lottery Fund (BIG), the largest distributor of National Lottery good cause funding, is responsible for giving out 40% of the money raised for good causes by the National Lottery.
• BIG is committed to bringing real improvements to communities and the lives of people most in need and has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK. Since June 2004 BIG has awarded over £6bn.
• The Fund was formally established by Parliament on 1 December 2006.
• Since the National Lottery began in 1994, 28p from every pound spent by the public has gone to good causes. As a result, over £29 billion has now been raised and more than 383,000 grants awarded across arts, sport, heritage, charities, health, education and the environment.
Tags