We recently caught up with some of the people accessing our Wellbeing Hub, delivered in partnership with the Greater Manchester Integrated Rehabilitation Service. Read below to find out what impact the hub is already having.
Background.
Bernard was initially living at his mother’s home even though he had his own flat as it was not in a habitable state with rubbish everywhere, no bed, no heating, and his mental health was constantly up and down. Several things needed chasing up which had been left for months as he did not have the support in place to help with this. He was dealing with alcohol dependency, binge drinking, mental health crisis and depression. He also had a young child who he was not allowed unsupervised contact with, living at Bernard’s mother’s house which social services said that they would like Bernard out of as soon as possible.
Support Needs Identified.
Bernard was referred to Foundation 92’s Wellbeing Hub for support with his health, wellbeing, how he spends his time, drug and alcohol use, his trust issues and hope. After conducting an initial meeting with him and assessing his situation, it became apparent that he also needed help with his housing as the flat he was currently in was not in a habitable state. He was involved with other teams, but nothing seemed to be progressing and he felt like nothing was going to get done.
Support provided and challenges faced.
A home visit was conducted, and several areas were identified as needing attention. The main point was the heating. The heating in the flat had not been working for the past two years since he had moved in, and his dad’s friend had said numerous times that he would come and fix it but he never showed.
There was a broken door, a broken light in the kitchen, a broken and faulty plug socket, no flooring, and some decorating needed doing on the walls.
For these issues several reports were made to Stockport Homes Group (SHG) repairs team and the following day they sent someone out to fix it. Bernard has managed to fix the door himself and the lighting – he identified which bulb was needed and all he needs to do is buy it.
Some walls in Bernard’s flat are covered in graffiti and he wants nicely painted walls again. Bernard sleeps in a two-seater sofa in his living room and has no bed or mattress. A welfare fund application has been submitted to support Bernard to buy some painting and decorating equipment, a bed and a mattress due to him having very little funds as his main income is universal credit, but it’s never sufficient to cover all his living costs. An appointment has been set for an electrician to come round to fix the plug socket.
Together the Foundation 92 staff and Bernard called the job centre to make an appointment so that the sanctions on his account could be lifted. As it was a meeting to lift the sanctions this had to be done by the job centre employee. Foundation 92 staff suggested that he requested an appointment via his UC account by sending a message to his work coach on the journal page.
Through his engagement at the hub Bernard appears to have built up confidence to contact the job centre independently and follow up on the appointment and a week later he was invited to a meeting at the job centre.
Bernard attended the Wellness course once at the Hub during which he became very emotional and decided not to attend the session again as he said he was opening up and struggling to deal with the way he felt when somethings where being discussed in the session. Bernard said he would try the Arts & Crafts workshop which he seems to enjoy.
Outcomes.
Bernard’s housing situation has greatly improved with all the repairs that have taken place so far and he is looking forward to painting his living room and getting a new bed and mattress. Bernard appears more motivated to do more to make his flat more habitable and reports feeling better now that he can see some progress being made with his goals. Bernard is also taking the initiative to progress other things on his own whilst keeping the Foundation informed of any progress made and asking for support when required.
Bernard’s Universal credit Sanction was lifted and he now receives his monthly payment which has improved his financial wellbeing.
Bernard’s welfare fund application has been approved and he will be supported to buy paint and decorating equipment, a bed frame and a mattress which he says is going to make a massive difference to his mental wellbeing as he will sleep better and be in a better mood.
Bernard is spending his time more meaningfully recently and attends the Arts & Crafts workshop at the Hub which he appears to enjoy and has been encouraged to join the boxing session too.