AIF CIC has to date been involved in a wide range of projects including Peer Mentoring in West Lancashire and Social Care Support Plans in Sefton. The Directors collectively have extensive experience working with children and families, vulnerable adults, adults with mental health difficulties, ex-offenders and prisons, unpaid carers, including parent carers of disabled children, a wide range of multi-agency organisations, and within wide ranging government policy contexts.
Good Life (Peer Support Mental Health Project)
This innovative and potentially game changing mental health Peer Support project is delivered across the Central and West Lancashire areas. The project supports people aged 18 years and older suffering with poor mental health The support offered is person-centred e.g. the service can agree the type of support they receive from the Peer Mentor. Peer Support Workers encourage and support service users to engage with mental health services and VCFSE agencies who offer a range of activities and social connectivity.
Wonder Women
The project is designed to help women of all ages and backgrounds across the West Lancashire area improve their employability where issues of confidence, anxiety and negative self-image are at play by exploring these issues and creating a network of self-motivated women who can continue to support each other through these issues as they continue to move toward greater employability and career development. The project is female led and offers a programme of 3 hour sessions over 12 weeks.
Gateway – COVID – 19 Support Programme
The project provides a support and information, advice, guidance and befriending service for individuals and families across the West Lancashire area with a child/children with an additional need or disability and those who are managing long term health conditions and managing poor mental health during the COVID – 19 pandemic.
We are offering Telephone befriending as a way of being able to continue to provide support to vulnerable people in our borough whilst in Lockdown. Telephone Befriending support is currently offered to those who have usually been able to connect with us face to face.
Our work has identified the great need of those we are in contact with of the vital importance and impact of connectivity and guidance in these challenging times.
https://www.divinedays.co.uk/gateway-support/
SUPPORT with ADDITIONAL NEEDS (SAN) PROJECT
The SAN project aims to make to support parents in the Sefton area who care for children with additional needs, in order to help and guide them through the diagnostic process. The project aims to empower parents so that they are able to navigate confidently around the many different pathways and procedures in order to access services in health, education and social care for their children.
Project Outcomes:
- To improve parents of disabled children or children with Special Educational Needs to have timely access to the services and support they need – thus preventing unnecessary stress.
- Increased access for parent carers to training to support them meet their children’s needs.
- Increased access for families to therapies and equipment as needed.
- Increased support to challenge ‘blocks’ in the systems.
- Increased resilience and confidence amongst parent carers in managing their caring role and their children’s individual and specialist needs.
Next Steps Children and Family Disability Support Project
AIF CIC are currently establishing an information, advice, guidance and training service for families with a baby / babies or child / children with an additional need or disability in the West Lancashire area. The project will work closely with Ormskirk Hospital and be available to all patients / service users.
It will empower and enable Parent Carers to navigate confidently around the many different pathways and service routes available, to ensure they can access the right services for their children within the increasingly stretched health, education and social care systems.
We aim to provide emotional well-being support in order to reduce stress and encourage Parent Carers, (and their children), to access health and well-being services in their local area.
Disability Network Development
AIF CIC have recently been funded to develop a partnership network of voluntary organisations working with people of all ages with a disability. The aim is to co-ordinate the organisations into a collective body which will share ideas, work in partnership and source funding as a group.
