St Georges Hall
Description
St. George’s Hall is an 11 room hostel, situated to the north of Darlington town centre, accommodating service users aged 16 years or over. Our renovated building, which overlooks North Lodge Park, first opened in October 2005. All our fully furnished rooms have en suite cooking and bathroom facilities, with a communal lounge/kitchen and laundry also provided. One of our rooms is partially adapted to accommodate a disabled service user and one room can accommodate a couple. The on-site office is staffed by our team of support workers 24 hours a day, with waking overnight cover
Pastoral Care
The team provides help and support for people with low support needs and works closely with other agencies to provide a comprehensive, needs-based support package. We promote a caring environment, encouraging our service users to look out for each other and to voice any concerns to our staff straight away. Our aim is to be all inclusive and we provide services such as the 700 Club representative for the LGBT community to whom any of our service users can seek advice from regarding any issues or concerns.
Primarily we offer housing related support to our service users, our goal is to successfully move our clients on to permanent accommodation. To do this efficiently however, it is necessary for us to adopt a more holistic approach when supporting our service users, by assessing what their needs are and addressing them. We strive to empower service users to live independently and aim to support the person’s wellbeing to enable them to grow as a person and give them the skills needed to help them establish and maintain a tenancy of their own. For example, we encourage all our service users to attend the Daily living skills course which is delivered over a 10 week period, looking at the different aspects of independent living, including, healthy eating on a budget, cleaning, first aid, and personal presentation etc. For more information click here http://www.700club.org.uk/how-you-can-help/daily-living-skills/
Service Description
We work on an application system and look at all applications and risk assessments for accommodation on an individual basis so as not to exclude anyone, who fits our criteria from applying to St Georges Hall. If accepted, the applicant will then be placed on our waiting list which is prioritised in order of need.
On entry to the hostel each service user is assigned a Support Worker with whom they will meet regularly to discuss their needs, hopes and aspirations. Initially the meetings will take place on a weekly basis for the first 6 six weeks giving the support worker and the service user time to get to know one another and to look at the key issues needing to be addressed.
We assist service users with a range of issues from reading letters and filling out application forms correctly, to sign posting and working in partnership with external agencies on specific issues, in order to achieve the best possible outcomes.
While addressing issues we also encourage and assist service users to take control of their own lives again and look towards the future. This can come in the form of attending a college course, training, employment or even volunteer work, something to help re- establish themselves positively back into the community and build up their confidence.
We encourage our service users to have a say in the way we shape the services offered at St Georges. Service user forums are held annually for the whole of the 700 Club, but in relation to this St Georges hold their own residents meeting on a monthly basis. This gives the service users the opportunity to raise any concerns that they may have, or to bring forward any new ideas which could be incorporated within the daily running of the hostel
Development and other services
We look to identify the goals and aspirations of our service users and then encourage and facilitate in achieving them. To complement the key workers role we have introduced a Volunteer Mentor Scheme to offer more support, giving our service users the opportunity to access one-to-one mentoring. For more information click below
http://www.700club.org.uk/how-you-can-help/volunteering/
The C’ Card scheme introduced by the 700 Club can be accessed by the service users of St Georges. The scheme offers sexual health information, support and free contraception.
Service User Involvement
We are committed to involving our service users at all levels of our organisation. At St Georges Hall there is the opportunity to become part of our Committee, be a member of the interview panel when employing new staff, assisting in fund raising and in shaping the service we offer by having an input into policies adopted by the 700 Club.
We also encourage service users to participate in activities such as barbeques, picnics, sports, walks, book clubs, quiz nights, gardening, cookery and DIY and painting & decorating groups. For information please click below
http://www.700club.org.uk/how-you-can-help/service-users/
Contact St. Georges Hall on 01325 464385 or e-mail 700club@700club.org.uk