Multiple charities,
one Vincentian voice.
St Vincent’s Family Project
St. Vincent’s Family Project (SVFP), located within Central Hall Westminster, has served Westminster residents since 1975. It provides direct help and a supportive community to over 200 vulnerable local families. The staff, volunteers and student interns serve the local populace through a Vincentian ethos based on respect, inspiration, humility, professionalism, responsiveness and compassion.
Their programmes include parenting courses, a drop-in centre and crèche, access to health professionals, creative arts therapy and outreach services within the Churchill Gardens housing estate. SVFP extends the welcome of Central Hall Westminster to those who are in acute need, seeking support and who desire community.
St Joseph’s Services
St Joseph’s Services has been providing care and support services to adults with learning disabilities in Midlothian and Edinburgh for over 90 years. Their services help support adults with learning disabilities to live fulfilling lives, get involved in their local communities, play an active role in improving and evaluating services.
Their core focus is on connection, friendship, inclusion and belonging. Registered with the Care Inspectorate, the service works closely with Midlothian Council, families and carers, and other local agencies. The main values that define the organisation are: respect, choice, trust, friendship, inclusion, skills and hope.
The Louise Project
The Louise Project enables families living with poverty to transform their own lives, access appropriate services and actively participate in the social transformation of their community. Our aim is for families to live flourishing lives in thriving communities.
The Space, an initiative of The Louise Project, operates in Govanhill, the most culturally diverse area in Scotland. We have adapted our services in response to COVID 19 to ensure we safeguard the health and wellbeing of everyone involved in the project and we will continue to respond to emerging poverty and deprivations as a result of the crisis.
The dominant group supported by the project are the European Roma and their poverty demands a particular response which focuses on the following:
Community Crisis: focuses on building relationships with families and crisis support using our dedicated community telephone help lines. When circumstances permit, we will return to providing a drop in and a ‘place to be’ as well home visits.
Community Integration: supports families to access services, e.g. health, education, and housing by brokering relationships. We currently make use of the appointment bays we have created within the project to facilitate face to face meetings. Also included is our online Information Service which uses social media to provide translation to understand restrictions as a result of the pandemic and mental health webinars.
Building Better Futures: supports personal growth to enhance wellbeing and the development of skills to access greater educational and employment opportunities. We focus on literacy, digital connectivity, IT skills, mental health webinars, and creative sessions. In addition to small group work we provide devices and data to families to access our Digital Media Channel and online skills sessions.
We are a relational project that offers a holistic and nurturing pathway out of poverty. We have learned that whilst poverty is fundamentally an economic issue the resulting psychological impact of growing up in intense poverty is an important factor in perpetuating the cycle of poverty. Our model enables families to address the economic impact by meeting their most basic needs and then people are nurtured to move beyond a scarcity mindset to focus on developing skills, confidence, and wellbeing. As personal growth occurs so people can plan a better future and for many of the families we support this starts by engaging in basic education. We are also exploring social enterprises by enabling women to develop cottage industries, such as a project shop, translation service and an ironing business.
Out There
Out There offers a supportive, compassionate and caring service to prisoners’ families across Greater Manchester from arrest to post-release. Founded in 2006, the service seeks to reduce the isolation experienced by families of prisoners, maintain family ties and increase awareness in the wider community of the issues for prisoners’ families.
Out There provides one-to-one contact and home visits to families, along with a wide range of support groups. They serve as an intermediary between prison services and families, assist families to visits, and inform families of the services available to them. In addition, Out There seeks to raise awareness of the issues faced by families of prisoners through partnership working, delivering talks, and distributing information.
Vincentian Care Plus
Providing domiciliary care to isolated elderly people across the borough of Westminster, Vincentian Care Plus (VCP) has been tackling loneliness and supporting people to continue to live in their own homes since being launched in 2004.
Their aim is to offer practical and personal care and support services to enable older people to remain as independent as possible in their own homes. As a small and developing ‘not for profit’ Home Care provider, VCP provides its services either privately or through Social Services.
Marillac Neurological Care Centre
Founded in 1920, the Marillac provides support to adults with acquired brain injury, degenerative neurological disorders and complex physical difficulties. Based in Warley, Essex, the organisation has a strong focus on building community and also supporting the families of those utilising their service.
Their holistic care, rooted in Christian values, enhances the quality of patients’ lives, providing them with optimum independence, freedom of choice and a sense of fulfilment.