The Service

Padstones prevents young people (aged 16-25 years) becoming homeless by providing accommodation along with 24/7 support. The team empower young people and develop their resilience, skills and knowledge to prevent the risk of homelessness arising again.

It provides a safe and secure environment for residents to develop their potential and move towards a more independent living. Accommodation is in two small residential projects in Burnham and High Wycombe, which are staffed 24 hours a day.

For young people ready to move on from the higher support units, Padstones offers other accommodation with lower level support.  This stage is to prepare the young person further towards being completely independent.  A Floating Support Worker is available to assist when the time comes to move on.

Padstones strongly believes in early intervention in the prevention of homelessness.  By reaching young people when they start facing issues, and working with them to develop independent living skills through tailored support; we reduce the likelihood of them becoming homeless in the future and subsequently their reliance on services.

The Padstones team are keen to visit schools, youth clubs/groups and other organisations to provide further information on and facilitate sessions around preventing homelessness. Please contact us if you’re interested in a visit or materials.

How we can support you

Provide a safe and secure environment for young people at risk of homelessness
24/7 support
Develop independent living skills to prevent homelessness in the future. e.g. how to manage a budget, housekeeping and a healthy lifestyle
Encourage residents to commit to continuing their educations or training
Support with applying for benefits, completing forms, budgeting, registering with GP, dentist, and opticians
Emotional support to residents and facilitate links to outside agencies if/when required
Support to prepare residents for move-on and resettlement from the start of them becoming residents
Closely monitoring residents’ behaviour by picking up early warning signs to prevent substance use or misuse, a decline in mental health, safeguarding and CSE concerns, radicalization.

Do you meet the criteria?

To be considered for housing the applicant must be aged between 16-25 years.
Young people are often referred to us by an agency such as the Local Authorities, Youth Offending Service, Social Care and Housing Departments. We also receive referrals from schools/colleges and voluntary organisations.
All applicants to Connection Support will engage in an interview process where an assessment of their needs will be carried out.

How do we work?

We will contact the applicant or referrer within 48 hours of a referral form being received and arrange to complete a face to face assessment with the young person. We will then contact the young person or referrer within 48 hours to confirm whether the applicant meets the accommodation criteria. The length of time between acceptance and an offer of accommodation will vary depending on whether any vacancies are available at the time of assessment.

We aim to support Padstones residents into long-term independent accommodation. By working with the local council and local landlords we will support the young person to find full independent accommodation once the young person is able to display full independent living skills.

The support provided by Padstones is client-led which means we actively involve clients in how we deliver and promote the service.

We work in partnership with other organisations. Our service is multi-disciplinary and often involves involve families, educational providers, social workers and partner organisations, as well as the council’s housing team.