Support for Vulnerable People

---

Supporting People is a national programme, which delivers housing related support to vulnerable people to assist them to sustain their accommodation and maintain their independence.

The Norfolk Supporting People programme pays £1.6m to organisations to provide 861 units of accommodation to support vulnerable people in the North Norfolk District area. This includes extra care and sheltered housing for older people, housing for people with learning difficulties, mental health problems, young people leaving care, young people at risk and single homeless people. The programme also funds community alarm services and floating support services which can be delivered to people who need support to remain in their own homes and which can be delivered regardless of the type of accommodation the person lives in. Further details of the services in the North Norfolk District are included in the Supporting People Directory of Services, which can be found at www.spdirectory.org.uk.

Supporting People is a partnership programme and includes representation from the 7 City, District and Borough Councils, Social Services, Health and Probation. The Norfolk Supporting People Strategy identifies the need for supporting people services and the priorities for the commissioning of new services, this can be found at www.norfolk.gov.uk/supportingpeople The above link to the Norfolk County Council's website pages on Supporting People also provides a range of information including leaflets on what services Supporting People can fund and the types of services available.

If there is a charge for the service provided help may be available to meet some or all of the cost of this charge to residents on low incomes. If a resident of sheltered housing also receives homecare services from Norfolk County Council there may also be help available to meet some or all of the cost of this service. The leaflet "A Guide to Fairer Charging Assessments for Supporting People" is available from the Strategic Housing Reception or the Norfolk County Council website using the above link.

From 1 April 2007 all housing-related floating support services, except those managed by Julian Housing support, will be delvered by Stonham's new service called Stonham HomeStay - supprting independent living in Norfolk.

How to access Stonham HomeStay

If you have clients who are homeless, at risk of homelessness or at risk of not maintaining their independence you can access the new Stonham HomeStay service as follows:

• Through the Service website www.stonhamhomestay.org.uk/norfolk
• By emailing the service at StonhamHomeStayNorfolk@nomegroup.org.uk
• By phoning the service local rate Tel: 0845 155 0390
• By faxing a referral application form to local rate Fax: 0845 155 0391
• By posing a referral application form to: Application's Department,Stoham HomeStay, Heath House, 5 Woolgate Court, St Benedicts Street, Norwich, NR2 4AP
• Or via your local Housing Options team on freephone 08000 855889

If you want to know more about the Norfolk Supporting People programme please contact Karen Hill, Strategic Housing Manager on 01263 516183 or at Karen.Hill@north-norfolk.gov.uk. If you know someone who would benefit from supported housing, housing related support or from floating support please contact one of the Housing Options Officers within the Strategic Housing Team.