Passmore Edwards House is home to 37 residents and offers various levels of support within sheltered accommodation. Since its opening the scheme has held a variety of initiatives and projects including an allotment project co-run with Bounds Green School, exercise classes and a programme of therapeutic singing sessions, working jointly with Bounds Green Group Practise.

For four residents, Kiymet Huseyin, Maureen Greene, Audrey Hagger and Rene Contze, the celebration held great significance as they have been residents since the scheme opened.

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for area said: “Passmore Edwards House is such a warm and welcoming place, and I always have such fun when I come here, be it to check out the allotment, or sing with the residents. So it feels very special to be celebrating with such a lovely crowd here today, especially with Kiymet, Maureen, Audrey and Rene who have been here from day one!”

Marion Carden, Senior Sheltered Scheme Manager, said of the celebrations: “Passmore Edwards House is a home and a community hub. We are delighted to be celebrating 20-years of supporting residents and being involved with the local community. This is a very special occasion for all of us and we are pleased that so many friends and colleagues have been able to join us.

Funding projects in partnership

The Migration Foundation will fund projects that aim to benefit new migrants and whole communities. We will work in partnership with other organisations and investors to increase the impact of activities and to help understand migration.

Research and evaluation

We understand that migration is a fact of life. Our focus is on developing an evidence base that will establish what makes migration work – and what does not. This includes the professional services of our dedicated research and consultancy team.

Sharing and influencing

By sharing what we learn with others and by lobbying decision makers the Migration Foundation will influence policy and practice, helping to make life better for whole communities.

Bill Payne, MHP’s Chief Executive Officer said: “The newspapers often publish stories about new migrants and asylum seekers, regularly skewed negatively against the newcomers. The facts often reveal these stories to be nothing but fabrication – but how do we redress the balance and make sure migration works for the benefit of the new migrants and the communities they live in? The initiative provides us with an opportunity to do that and demonstrate our commitment to MHP’s vision: Improving life together.”

Paul Birtill, Director of the Migration Foundation said: “I’m proud to be the first Director of the Migration Foundation, and I’m committed to realising our vision of communities that feel and see the benefits of their diversity; where new migration complements and extends traditions.

You can find out more about the Migration Foundation and what it aims to achieve on by visiting www.migrationfoundation.org.uk

The work of MST’s research and consultancy team is now carried out under the Migration Foundation name.

Hosted by MC Nige, local man of many talents (MC, DJ, dancer, entertainer), the day featured a number of performances and activities from a wide range of cultures, including:

• Drummers United – an African percussion group
• Shanga – traditional Kurdish music
• henna painting and art workshop
• Mr Zoot – children’s entertainer
• Tom Jones – singing and acoustic guitar (and MST member of staff)

The day also provided an opportunity to celebrate achievements, with MST customers from Sheffield Station Foyer receiving certificates for completing the Jobs, Education and Training (JET) programme at Sheffield Station Foyer.  

A number of MST’s partners were on hand throughout the day to provide customers with information, advice and guidance – and make the most of the chance to form stronger links with each other.

Foud Saleh from Community Training Services said: “We’ve been working closely with MST for the last 2 years and have a brilliant relationship with them. This event has been really good for networking with other businesses, and there are a lot of our clients/service users here who are really enjoying the event.”

Barrington Brown, MST’s Community Initiatives Officer and the event organiser said: “The aim was to bring together different strands of the community and, by creating a positive atmosphere, encourage interaction – a chance meet new people and learn more about the different and diverse cultures that make up the rich fabric of South Yorkshire community life. It’s great that we’ve achieved that.”

For more information about the event and MST’s services in South Yorkshire, please contact Barrington Brown on 0114 2675253.

MST’s specialist refugee, asylum seeker and new migrant services are known as Refugee Support.

Refugee Week is a UK-wide programme of arts, cultural and educational events that celebrate the contribution of refugees to the UK, and encourages a better understanding between communities. Refugee Week 2010 took place between 14 to 20 June.

When Yorkshire Housing decided to focus on the needs of its core customers, MST was a obvious new home for its specialist services from  Leeds, Sheffield, Calderdale, Bradford and Hull.

Mervyn Jones, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Housing said: “MST have a great relationship with local authority partners and we felt that the transfer of all the projects and related staff of Safe Haven was the best option, allowing Yorkshire Housing to focus on its core customers, and providing Safe Haven customers with an infrastructure to support its needs moving forward.”

Mark Austin, Managing Director of Metropolitan Support Trust said: “We are very excited that Safe Haven’s services have become part of MST . Our customers represent some of the most vulnerable people in the UK and we are looking forward to using our combined expertise and knowledge to provide a first class service.”

The handover of services, was marked at a party at Yorkshire Housing’s Sheffield offices on 29 March where staff from both organisations came together to celebrate the transfer.

The aim of Vital Link is to give service users and carers a voice so that they can influence the decisions made by NHS Lambeth and help improve adult mental health services in the borough.

Commissioned by NHS Lambeth, Vital Link is made up of sixteen service users and carers and will become a central point through which members can share their opinions on the mental health services they receive.

More voices heard
The members, working for up to two years, will also facilitate focus groups with other users and carers. They will conduct questionnaires, help organise consultation events and act as role models for those who are part of the recovery model/process. All the feedback will be passed onto NHS Lambeth.

Lambeth’s executive director of public health Dr Ruth Wallis says: “Lambeth has a higher prevalence of mental health needs than comparative boroughs, and this makes mental health one of our key priorities. Common mental illness like depression is widespread, affecting up to 10 per cent of our population.” She continued: “Vital Link will provide us with a means to ensure we are providing services fit for purpose”.

Addressing worklessness
The project will also partner with other employment and volunteering agencies in Lambeth in order to help representatives and participants become involved with Vital Link, and will create pathways back into the working community. There will be up to fifteen long and short term volunteer positions which will be available each year to help support the group.

Proud of the responsibility
Mark Austin, Managing Director of MST, said: “Carers and the people who use services are the people who know those services best and are best placed to improve them. Vital Link co-ordinates this and gives the best possible chance for those improvements to happen. At the same time it directly improves the chances of service users getting jobs.”

He added: “This service is a major opportunity to change the lives of users of mental health services across Lambeth. We are proud to have been given this responsibility by Lambeth NHS and are determined to really make it happen.”

To find out more about Vital Link or to discuss how we can help you set up a similar service with you, please contact Naomi Graham on 020 7501 2202.

John had initially faced eviction, but after intervention from his support worker, has now been told he can stay in his flat. Gary Raynor, Floating Support Worker, picks up the story.

John’s world turned upside down
“John was referred to Include, our learning disabilities support service, by his local job centre in February 2009. He had recently moved in with his brother Anthony, having suffered problems with his tenancy.

While receiving support John made great progress. He dealt with debts, found full-time employment and re-established contact with his 10-year-old son. But on 14 September John and his family’s world was turned upside down when his brother died suddenly in a motorbike accident on his way to work. This put all of John’s plans on hold and put him a difficult situation with his housing.

Facing the prospect of homelessness
Soon after the funeral, John was informed that had no legal right to remain at his brother’s flat because his name was not on the tenancy and he had only lived there for nine months (a minimum of twelve is needed to succeed tenancy). By the time John received the letter, he only had 14 days to sort out any accommodation. We called the housing office but got the same reply. John was faced with the prospect of becoming homeless again.

We were worried that this could lead to the loss of his job, loss of contact with his son and the return to a chaotic lifestyle.

What happened next
“I supported John to make a homeless application to Nottingham City Homes, which was accepted due to his disabilities. But John felt his brother would have wanted him to stay at his property.

We contacted Shelter for advice and they agreed to take on the case. We appealed against the ruling under ‘exceptional circumstances’ and also gained the support of the local MP, Graham Allen, who wrote to Nottingham City Homes expressing his concern. Nottingham Evening Post even ran some articles and public support grew.

John signs his tenancy
“Nottingham City Homes agreed with the appeal and on 17 November 2009, John officially signed his tenancy agreement at his brother’s home.

It was a very difficult time for John, but working together we ended with a positive outcome. John remains in full-time work, has regular phone contact with his son and is still positive and moving forward. He spent Christmas with his family in his home and he’s grateful for all the support he received from all parties involved.”

To find out more about the role of support workers, please contact your local office. You can also read more service user stories in “people like me” on the MST website.

Some more great news is that 83% of service users would recommend our service to other people. More positive feedback from customers includes:

• 96% are satisfied with how support workers listen
• 94% think support workers help in achieving their goals
• 91% think support workers help solve problems
• 79% are satisfied with how we explain things.

There are some things our customers have highlighted that we can do better, which includes providing better information on:

• how we deal with antisocial behaviour
• how we protect people from abuse and bullying.

You can find information on those subjects in our service user guide and on the website (ASB and safeguarding you from abuse).

We recognise that there are things we could do better and we shall continue to use feedback through a variety of methods – including our online forum – to help us improve our service.

“The results of this survey show a very large majority of our customers are happy with the services they receive. This is great news but we are certainly not resting on our laurels. We aim for even higher satisfaction and quite rightly the expectations of our customers are rising. More and more of our customers are now getting individual budgets. Our services can only continue to exist if customers are pleased with our services and wish to buy them.” Mark Austin, Managing Director

More details from the report will be published on the internet when they become available.

* From a total of 863 surveys, at a 19% response rate.

Mark Simmonds, who manages another MST service nearby, had heard about the team’s needs via MST’s staff  intranet and wondered if he could help. “I play for a local team in Nottingham and when I mentioned it to my coach, he said he thought the club could pitch in.” The cheque, presented by Mark on behalf of Trent Vineyard Football Club to current manager Maria Kunica and the team, will be used for kit, training equipment, and for hiring facilities during the winter months.

Maria doesn’t claim to have a lot of technical knowledge or formal training when it comes to football training, but what she lacks in experience she more than makes up for in enthusiasm. This positive attitude has caught the imagination of the residents at Hartington, who are eager to get involved and play regularly. As well as seeing it as a fun and healthy activity that gets them out and about, many of the players also recognise its value in terms of breaking down barriers and building friendships. “You get to see different sides of people – and everyone’s up for training and playing together”, said Paul Fairweather. Another resident, Lee Riddings, added “It’s great when you win, and you get interacting together.”

Maria also pointed out that it’s a good opportunity to build trust and respect between service users, and break down the barriers that sometimes occur between staff and residents.

With their new kit the Harriers are now ready and raring to go. All they need now is some competition! If you know of anyone who wants a game and fancies taking them on, please contact Maria Kunica or Mark Simmonds for more details.

The day is a national campaign organised to every year to recognise and celebrate volunteering, and MST decided to use it to promote the benefits to more staff and service users. At MHT House in London, several speakers talked personally of the benefits volunteering has brought to them. This included two service user volunteers, Marcel Aouzou and Lisa Shokir, both of whom urged other service users to get involved and to have a positive attitude in order to progress.

A similar event in Sheffield organised by Refugee Support’s South Yorkshire Regional Service User Group again saw a number of service user volunteers passionately tell their stories. Perhaps caught up in the moment, Head of Operations Les Cloughley announced that volunteers who took up a placement would receive a £35 gift voucher.

Marie-Louise (or Ma-lou to her friends), pictured left, was also announced as the winner of an ongoing competition to encourage service users to use the website.

Proscovia Wagaba, Volunteer Coordinator said “It was good to get such great feedback on the events. We started the MST volunteer programme in April 2007 and it continues to create opportunities for service users to gain experience and improve health. We now also have externally funded projects that involve external volunteers in activities that contribute towards MST objectives.”

For more information about volunteering at MST, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator Proscovia on 020 7501 2224 or 07823 530760.

Previous and existing residents came together to share:

• memories of living at the foyer and their experiences and success stories since moving on
• experience and advice on the challenges of moving into independent living.

The day seems to have been a great success, with one ex-service user saying: “It was wonderful to meet up with people that I used to live with at the Foyer and talk about what’s been happening with them since I left.”

Marion Boyd, Project Manager, said: “We were extremely pleased to see all of our ex-residents coming together, sharing experiences of when they lived at the foyer and how their lives have moved on. It was a lovely warm friendly atmosphere that all enjoyed”.

It’s some great further news on top of recent award of Big Lottery Funding (read more about the award), so a big thanks to all the staff for their continued hard work.

Lucy Cooper, Director of Midlands and Yorkshire region said: