Our Successes

MPT Steps (More positive together)

(Pan Lancashire)

Employability & Skills

Our Employment Support Team provided an individually tailored service for people living in Lancashire and who were looking to gain employment, go into education, volunteering or job searching. Our experienced staff worked on a one to one basis to develop a personal action plan and support to achieve the person’s goals.

It helped people who were impacted by covid, struggling with mental or physical health, returning to work after a break. It also enabled people to boost skills and confidence before looking for work.

Service User Outcomes

• Boost confidence & self-esteem
• Update/Create CV
• Search for jobs
• Apply for jobs
• Practice interview techniques
• Improve digital skills
• Find the right training courses/qualifications
• Develop work skills
• Look for volunteer placements

Family Wellbeing/Starting Well

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Through funding from the Department for Health and Social Care, Lancashire Women have supported parents and their families through our Starting Well and Family Wellbeing Service.

Having a baby is a life changing event. It is normal to experience a wide range of emotions both positive and negative during pregnancy, birth and up to a child being two years old. Sometimes, it can be really difficult to talk openly about feelings.

Our Starting Well/Family Wellbeing Service offered emotional health and wellbeing support for parents and their families who have experienced neonatal care, neonatal loss, miscarriage, stillbirth, termination for medical reasons, health conditions, foetal medicine/rainbow clinics, pregnancy after loss, or for those experiencing mental health issues in the perinatal period.

We offered 1-1 talking therapy across Lancashire with a team of therapists who were based on the NICU ward and in clinics in Burnley, Preston, Blackpool and Lancaster hospitals. Support ranged from a quick conversation, or arranged weekly appointments. Our therapists worked in a way that was impartial, open, honest and non-judgemental.

Rapid Rehousing

Justice & Safety

Rapid Rehousing Navigators were assigned to rough sleepers who would benefit from tailored support. This support is most suited to those with higher and more complex needs, which were likely to include health-related support needs, and those who have been sleeping rough for a longer period of time. The focus was on developing a relationship with the individual, offering personalised and effective support, building trust and working in an inclusive and empowering way.

Through this support, caseworkers worked on finding a housing solution, but also supported the individual in their recovery to improve their health and wellbeing, find employment, undertake training, develop budgeting skills, cultivate positive social circles and be better equipped to maintain their accommodation and independence and avoid returning to the street.

Recourse – earlier intervention

Justice & Safety

Our RECOURSE Programme provided a commitment to a framework for females across Lancashire, driven by three priorities:

• earlier intervention,
• an emphasis on community-based solutions,
• and an aim to make community interventions as effective and decent as possible for those women who do have to be there.

In partnership with Lancashire Police RECOURSE aimed to divert both low level and persistent female offenders away from contact with the criminal justice system through community resolutions, conditional cautions and substitutes to penalty notices. RECOURSE provided an alternative to police custody and a route into support services for women who have often experienced trauma in childhood or adult life. This approach addresses vulnerability, follows the evidence about what works in supporting women to turn their lives around. It treats them as individuals of value which had substantial benefits for victims, families, and wider society, as well as for the female themselves.

Lancashire Women staff provided a whole systems approach which allowed women to address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour in a safe and non-judgemental environment, aimed to prevent further offending. The programme included support with Mental Health & Wellbeing, Employment Training & Education, Finance, Benefit & Debt, Domestic Violence, Accommodation and Restorative Justice.

Building Better Opportunities

Employment & Skills

We were delighted to be part of the Building Better Opportunities (BBO) programme in Lancashire which provided specialist employability and skills support. It was part of the nationwide Building Better Opportunities programme, funded by the European Social Fund and The National Lottery Community Fund Support to help tackle the poverty and social exclusion faced by the most disadvantaged people in England. It was tailored to each individuals’ personal needs and interests, with help provided to overcome barriers and help people move towards work and training. This project was delivered exclusively by social enterprises and community organisations and we were proud to be part this specialist partnership whose work transformed lives across Lancashire.

Age of Opportunity

Employment & Skills

Age of Opportunity supported people aged 50+, and who were unemployed or economically inactive, to improve their skills and employment opportunities. Support was aimed at those facing significant barriers to employment, for example caring responsibilities, low skills or mental ill health.

The Age of Opportunity project was designed specifically to meet the needs of over 50s who would like to work but were unable to without additional skills or support. A core focus for this project was supporting older people who were most at risk of social exclusion, for example; due to mental or physical health difficulties, homelessness or being full-time carers.

Through this project, we worked with a number of partners to offer employment support working with participants to understand their interests, aspirations and barriers to work or training. Each individual was then directed within the thematic partner network for specialist support that helped them to engage in work readiness activity.

Changing Futures

Employment & Skills

The Changing Futures project focussed on supporting people facing multiple and complex barriers to employment. All participants were unemployed or economically inactive and at high risk of social exclusion. For example, people from BAME communities, people with physical or mental health problems and people with learning difficulties.

Through the Changing Futures project, we worked with each participant as an individual. Our Employability Coaches helped each participant to understand their own abilities, skills and interests to identify ways to help address their multiple barriers to economic activity.