Our latest publication, Closing down beneficiary support projects, draws together the experiences and perspectives of staff in various roles at four Fulfilling Lives partnerships whose direct work supporting beneficiaries has come to an end. Fulfilling Lives was always a time-limited programme, providing funding to test new approaches with the aim of informing lasting systems change. The report offers practical tips and recommendations from partnerships to aid the smooth closure of similar time-limited support. .

The report highlights that starting planning and preparation for closing projects early is key. A joint strategy involving all partners helps ensure everyone is clear about their role in the process. Ongoing flexibility and adaptation is required, and close monitoring of caseloads is important to balance demand with available resource.

External preparation and systems […]

In line with government guidance, the evaluation team are now working remotely and all planned face-to-face activities have been moved online for the foreseeable future. Our thoughts at this time are with our colleagues who are working hard to keep the most vulnerable in society safe. We will continue as best we can our work to develop the evidence base for longer term improvements in support for people affected by multiple disadvantage.

Following conversations with partnerships over the previous weeks, we are hearing about new creative ways of working developed by staff across Fulfilling Lives in response to the current pandemic. Those experiencing multiple disadvantage are at a heightened risk during this time and staff are continuing their work to ensure these individuals still get the […]

The 2020 budget announcement makes a commitment to provide £46 million from the Shared Outcomes Fund programme to support individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage such as homelessness, substance misuse and reoffending. At Fulfilling Lives, this comes as great news, as the national evidence for the programme highlights the need for those experiencing multiple disadvantages to be supported and for these disadvantages to be looked at holistically. Fulfilling Lives contributed learning from the national evaluation to the proposal to Her Majesty’s Treasury and the programme has been used as a source of supporting evidence as to why this investment should be made.

Fulfilling Lives, MEAM and Lankelly Chase were invited by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to contribute to the business case, with comments being […]

The latest publication from the Fulfilling Lives evaluation summarises key findings to date. It draws together the main messages from the series of briefings we published throughout 2019 that reported data and insights from our evaluation.

The leaflet can be read here.

Since 2014, Fulfilling Lives projects in 12 areas across England have supported over 3,400 people affected by multiple disadvantage, including mental ill-health, substance misuse and homelessness. Key features of the programme that we know make a difference to beneficiaries include persistent and ongoing support, free of short-term time limits; small case-loads for workers, allowing the time to build personal relationships based on trust; and providing holistic support with a focus on beneficiaries’ priorities.

The summary leaflets covers:

• Why we need to invest in multiple […]
  

Bruno Ornelas (Head of Services at VOICES) and Andy Meakin (Project Director of VOICES) were among authors who contributed to the article “Increasing access to Care Act 2014 assessment and personal budgets among people with experiences of homelessness and multiple exclusion: a theoretically informed case study.” The article, published in Housing, Care and Support has just been selected by the editorial team as an Outstanding Paper in the 2019 Emerald Literati Awards. It was noted by the editorial team as an exceptional piece of work. The full article can be found as open access here.

The paper discusses the progress that is being made in Stoke-on-Trent to increase access to Care Act 2014 assessments and personal budgets amongst those experiencing multiple disadvantage. […]

Today we publish the fourth paper in our series of briefings on multiple needs. This draws on data and insight from the 12 Fulfilling Lives partnerships, specifically focusing on what the programme has achieved over the first four years. Engaging with over 3,000 beneficiaries experiencing multiple disadvantage and otherwise excluded from services, the paper highlights a number of other successes of the programme. For those beneficiaries who remain with the programme and continue to make progress, there is an uptake in pro-social activities that characterise a full and fulfilled life.

To learn more, view the briefing online.

To understand more about the methods and data used, view the accompanying method notes.

CFE Research, working in partnership with the University of Sheffield, have published their latest report on the evaluation of the Big Lottery Fund’s ‘Fulfilling Lives: Supporting people with multiple needs’ programme.

Supporting those who are chronically excluded and disadvantaged – experiencing homelessness, mental ill health, substance misuse and reoffending – is a challenge that needs a different approach. The £112 million initiative is funding 12 projects across England to provide more person-centred and co-ordinated support.

Latest findings from the evaluation show that projects have made a good start in reaching those with greatest need. But continued effort is needed to reach ‘hidden’ and harder to reach groups such as women with multiple needs and people from Black and minority ethnic communities.

The initiative still has six years to […]

The All Party Parliamentary Group on Complex Needs and Dual Diagnosis, is looking for examples of good practice in working with people with co-existing substance misuse and mental health issues, to inform an online ‘library’ for policy makers, commissioners, providers, academics, experts by experience and others to reference.

For anyone who is interested in either providing a case study of good practice or contributing to this work in general, please do get in touch with us at appg@turning-point.co.uk<mailto:appg@turning-point.co.uk> with the attached form.

They are also planning on conducting a short survey to ascertain the current strengths, risks and opportunities facing services supporting people with multiple complex needs so please do look out for this in the next few weeks.

Sent […]

On the 29th January, in Stoke on Trent, the National Expert Citizen’s Group of Fulfilling Lives were invited to review the National Drugs Strategy. The strategy focuses on three key themes: Reducing Demand, Restricting Supply and Building Recovery. The day focused on the third strand – Building Recovery. A member from the Home Office’s Drug Strategy Team provided an initial presentation to set the scene. The rest of the day focused on obtaining expert’s views and opinions, from their lived experience, on key aspects that are needed to inform the new strategy. The review was particularly interested in:

— Barriers to recovery
— How to reduce the stigma of substance misuse
— What works well in recovery – particularly around housing and employment

The day was recorded graphically and […]

Following the success of the Experts by Experience launch film in 2015, Birmingham Changing Futures Together decided it would be fitting to create a new film for 2016. This film features some new year’s resolutions, a variety of stories and successful journeys and recommendations for services for 2016.

Watch it here

Birmingham Changing Futures Together will continue to work with Experts by Experience to help improve services across Birmingham, and make the lives of their users more fulfilled.

They really hope you find it as rewarding to watch as they found it to make.