Community Link
Over the years, many women who have left the secure system have told us what it can be like out there in the community, and how tough it can be to manage on their own. Women have strong views about their care in the community and sometimes feel as though decisions are made without their consensus. It is often difficult for them to find out about the useful organisations and resources available.
We set up the Community Link project in 2002, to help make the move from hospital or prison into the community as smooth and comfortable as possible. Life back in the community can feel lonely and sometimes all that's needed is a listening ear or an independent person to talk to. It is entirely up to the individual how they use the service.
The project can offer:
1. Information
On useful organisations and support groups, education, training and employment, and sources of financial assistance.
2. Support
Through regular visits before and after leaving hospital or prison to give intensive support. There is a weekly drop-in at the Wish office in London, where women can come to socialise and get peer support, as well as advice and information from Wish workers. Some women may also be offered a befriender.
3. Liaison/advocacy with the care team
Support to ensure women are able to voice their opinions and views in meetings with their care team.
4. The Next Step
We can introduce women to valuable opportunities through our links with volunteering, work and community projects. Volunteering gives women the chance to learn new skills, gain confidence, and develop their CV.
Some of the positive outcomes defined by women who have used the service include a reduction in drinking and self-harming, the confidence to travel on public transport or go abroad alone, the ability to develop and sustain respectful and meaningful relationships and the opportunity to attend college. Housing problems have been resolved, and women feel more empowered to live independently.
What professionals say about the Community Link project:
Many of these women would not survive in the community without the Community Link Project.
It is not recognised that the Mental Health system creates many of the problems the women have to overcome, Wish understands this and works creatively and intuitively with them.
No other organisation is committed to working with these women who have experienced these problems.
What the women who use the Community Link service say about the project:
I can trust Wish to be there for me.
The scheme is what you would expect social workers to be able to do but they can’t because they are so busy.
If it wasn’t for Wish I would not be here.
The Community Link project currently operates in HMP Bronzefield, HMP Holloway, the Greater London area and Essex, but Wish is developing capacity to extend this service across the country. For more information, please contact the Wish London office.
The Community Link project is funded by:
- 29th May 1961 Charitable Trust,
- The Albert Hunt Trust,
- Austin & Hope Pilkington Trust,
- Garfield Weston Foundation,
- The Hackney Parochial Charities,
- The Henry Smith Charity,
- The London Catalyst,
- Lloyds TSB Foundation,
- The Norda Trust,
- Northmoor Trust and
- The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation.