Listen Up - Social Welfare Portal

listenup!116 | Case Study 8iii. Service user participationCurrently funding is being sought for aparticipation worker to formalise service userinvolvement and ensure that it has a central andconsistent role in the organisation.iv. FundingThe Zone is aiming to establish a consortiumof local mental health agencies working withinthe voluntary sector to jointly bid for funding.This will enable these smaller agencies to bettercompete with large national organisationswhich have more resources available to devoteto tendering for money. It is also hoped that amore supportive local culture will be created asagencies will no longer be in competition witheach other for funding.How the project addresses gaps in localservice provisionA considerable gap in local service provision is theexistence of an accessible safety net for isolatedor socially-excluded young people who haveperhaps dropped out of the education system,have emotional or behavioural problems, historiesof abuse or neglect or other difficulties with themainstream working or social environment. IceBreakhas been founded to begin to meet this need,particularly for those young people who have hadthese kinds of problems over the long term.Barriers and constraints which impedeeffective provisionA lack of sufficient resources and funding are themajor barriers that the project faces to ensuringeffective provision. Although social inclusion isa priority of the government, it is still difficult tofind and then adequately support appropriatelytrained and skilled people to deliver programmes. Inaddition, whilst it is imperative for services to securetheir funding streams, the insecurity of funding forvoluntary services means they are forced to focus alarge part of the project’s energy into securing fundingfor the next year as opposed to delivering services.ContactsIceBreakThe Zone14-16 Union Street,Derry’s CrossPlymouthDevon, PL1 2SRTelephone: 01752 206626Website: www.thezoneplymouth.co.uk