Published Wednesday 4 August 2021 at 10:25
VULNERABLE adults in the county will benefit from a new £6.5million scheme to help those with homelessness, substance misuse, and mental health issues.
The bid for the ‘The ‘Changing Futures’ Programme was submitted on behalf partners from across Lancashire by Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.
The programme, which aligned funding from the National Lottery Community Fund – the largest funder of community activity in the UK with that of the government, will test at scale approaches to working with the most deprived in society, integrating specialist and community support around service users.
The work will build upon the learning from Blackburn with Darwen and Preston’s ‘Making Every Adult Matter Approach’ schemes and Blackpool’s ‘Fulfilling Lives’ programme alongside learning from everyone in the campaign supporting rough sleepers through the Covid Pandemic.
The Blackburn with Darwen lead bid was one of 15 to receive funding from the scheme and will receive £6.5m over the next three years.
The programme seeks to test new ways of bringing together the public sector and community sector to address cross-cutting issues and to drive the modernisation of public services for people experiencing multiple disadvantage.
Working with 15 local area partnerships across England, the programme will work with people who experience a combination of homelessness, substance misuse, mental health issues, domestic abuse and contact with the criminal justice system.
People in this situation are among the most vulnerable in our communities, often with past experiences of trauma. Getting coordinated support from local services can be difficult, and this can lead to greater risk of homelessness, ill health, and increased contact with the criminal justice system. This in turn can result in greater pressures on services that respond to crises such as A&E, policing and homelessness services.
Bringing together £46m of funding from the Government and almost £18m from The National Lottery Community Fund – the largest funder of community activity in the UK – means the programme can work with local areas for a third year, enabling more vulnerable people in our communities to get the help they need.
The Changing Futures programme, announced in 2020, began work in local areas in June 2021 and will continue until the end of March 2024. It aims to deliver improvements at the individual, service and system level:
- To stabilise and then improve the life situation of adults who face multiple disadvantage
- To transform local services to provide a person-centred approach and to reduce crisis demand.
- To test a different approach to funding, accountability and engagement between local commissioners and services, and between central government and local areas.
Cllr Mustafa Desai, Executive Member for Adults Services and Prevention for Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said:
By providing specialist support in a co-ordinated and complimentary way, which we have been able to trial here previously, we hope to see significant improvements for those most in need.
With this targeted approach we can help to create long-lasting change, helping those on the margins of society reach their full potential and-build a brighter future.
Dr. Arif Rajpura, Director of Public Health for Blackpool Council, said:
This is welcome news for the people of Lancashire and will go a long way in supporting some of our most vulnerable residents.
Here in Blackpool the funding will help build on the great work that has been started through the Fulfilling Lives project.
