Types of support CCL offers

  • Help finding local social groups, healthy activities and other community services for any 18+ Lewisham resident e.g. lunch clubs, fitness groups, arts & crafts groups
  • Arranging telephone and home befriending support for people who are lonely, isolated and/or housebound
  • Referrals for group and 1:1 mental health support
  • Support with applying for subsidised community transport schemes such as Taxicard, Dial-a-ride, Blue Badge
  • Arranging practical support e.g. volunteer shopping, foodbank referrals and community transport
  • Signposting or referring clients to services that support their financial wellbeing e.g. benefit assessments, finding grants, reducing energy costs
  • Help with finding free IT support and getting long-term loans of devices (e.g. laptops, smartphones)
  • Helping clients to find employability support, work-based training opportunities and Adult Education courses
  • Help finding activities and work experience opportunities for people with Autism and Learning Disabilities
  • Accompanying clients on their first visit to a new group to help them settle in
  • Signposting to advocacy services for people with physical disabilities, visual impairment and long-term mental health issues
  • In depth personal planning for those facing multiple and/or complex issues

 

What our service cannot help with

Personal Assistance or Carer Support-our staff are not able to act as, or directly arrange, carers or PAs for our clients. When appropriate our staff can make referrals to Lewisham Adult Social Care to request an assessment for care support or Occupational Therapy support. However, if this is your priority need then we recommend that you reduce your waiting time by getting in touch directly with Adult Social Care. To do this, contact the Gateway team on Tel: 0208 3147777 or by email: Gateway@lewisham.gov.uk

Booking appointments for clients-we will be happy to provide the appropriate signposting such as contact numbers or web referral forms (e.g. for GP appointments or appointments with Citizens Advice Lewisham) but we do not have the resources to book appointments on your behalf

Clients diagnosed with dementia-our team does not have the necessary expertise to support clients diagnosed with dementia. If you require support or advice for a relative, friend or client living with dementia we encourage you to get in touch with Lewisham Dementia Support Hub. To access support, refer someone to their service or for general enquiries please contact them on Tel: 0203 228 5960 or email lewisham@dementiahub.org.uk. 

Housing Support-there is unfortunately a limited amount of support we can provide for issues relating to housing association and council properties. For example, we are unable to arrange or speed up the process of getting repairs to your property, or with the process of moving to a different property. We recommend that your first point of contact for these issues should be Lewisham Council or your Housing Association/designated Housing Officer. However, if this is not helping to resolve your issue then please feel free to phone us and we will do our best to assist you. For example we can point you in the right direction for local organisations that provide expert advice or advocacy for housing issues.

Befriending services to clients who are currently misusing drink or drugs or who have a history of violence-if you or a client you wish to refer has a history of violence or criminal offences, or is currently misusing alcohol or drugs then we will be unable to refer them for volunteer led home befriending and/or telephone befriending services. This is purely to safeguard the welfare of volunteer befrienders and a stipulation of the befriending organisations we refer to. We can, however, help such persons through signposting and referring them to a number of relevant community services such as our key partner ‘Blenheim Drug & Alcohol Teams’ or ‘Lewisham Community Wellbeing (MIND)’

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Community Connections Lewisham run its own groups and activities?

The only group that we run ourselves is our weekly Drop-in, which takes place from 10:30am-12:30pm every Thursday at the Lewisham Irish Centre. Adults in Lewisham are invited to come to our drop-in whenever they like to join in with our group activities (focused on improving health and wellbeing) and/or to have a one to one appointment with our team to get help finding local activities and services.

Apart from this, the key work of CCL is in helping you discover and access groups and services across Lewisham that are relevant to your needs and goals.

How long will I need to wait to get support from CCL?

This depends on the type and amount of support you (or the person you’re referring) require. If you need specific information about local groups/services or need a quick referral (e.g. foodbank support) then you can get immediate support by calling our main Monday-Friday phone line on 0330 0583464.  If, on the other hand, you are facing multiple or complex issues and require a more in-depth chat and support planning then you will be referred to our team of Community Facilitators. The waiting time for this support is typically several weeks.

How long do you support clients for?

A lot of the support we give is same day support to people who call our support line. For those who have been referred for more in depth ‘person centred planning’ we can offer up to 6-8 weeks of support. However, due to the high demand for our service we cannot provide long-term 1:1 support like that of a PA or support worker.