Celebrating 21 years of helping vulnerable people. What’s the future?
On Friday 11th November 2016, local charity, Connection Support, celebrated 21 years with an event entitled ‘Your Future, Our Future’ in Thame Town Hall with commissioners, charities and partners across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes.
Commenting on the day, Mark Thompson, CEO of Connection Support said “Our 21st event focuses on looking ahead with organisations we work closely with and those we have helped through our range of services spanning housing, health and social care. With reductions in funding we find that change is the constant! One thing that remains the same is service users are at the centre of Connection Support and we focus on helping them face complex life challenges. They shape the work we do and how we do it. So it was invaluable to hear personal stories from three service users today.”
The guest speakers reflected the collaborative relationships Connection Support has with charities and partners. Nerys Parry, has commissioned Connection Support and spoke about her experiences of working with the Oxfordshire team in finding solutions, straight talking and thanked them for their ‘can do’ approach. She is currently working for Camerados in partnership with Connection focussing on “friendship and purpose”.
Connection Support is one of six charities in the Oxford Mental Health Partnership. Dr Rob Bale from Oxford Health NHS Trust explained the value of this person-centred partnership to anyone experiencing a mental health problem.
The morning concluded with an inspirational talk from Rick Henderson, CEO of Homeless Link who raised the question of prevention vs crisis management. The future is to provide services that educate, support and prevent homelessness. After all prevention is better than cure!
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