Onside collaborative approach wins award

Onside has been recognised for its excellent work in delivering mental health reablement services by Worcestershire County Council at its annual Worcestershire Partnership awards.

Launched in February,this flagship approach encourages support organisations to work together to assist vulnerable people with mental ill health recover.   

Worcestershire Reablement Service wins Compact Awards for 2011.

Front top left: Rethink, Shaw Trust, CAWF, ASHER, bottom left Onside, Epic & Tripod

praised how the eight providers, including Onside, worked together collaboratively to deliver recovery- focused, user- led services. They also commented that service users are empowered by being at the heart of decision making regarding their care and recovery journey.

Sarah Kane, project coordinator, at Onside said, “Previously Onside could be working independently with a person not knowing what other support they were using. This way we work in a co-ordinated, effective way with a shared approach centred around each individual.”

The focus of Onside’s project is to help people find volunteering and employment positions and, through mentoring support, have successfully found people both volunteering and paid work this year. Sarah continued, “This collaborative approach is the way forward and we are excited to have our early success recognised by the Worcestershire Partnership Awards”.

The team’s enthusiasm and flexibility have enabled this partnership to develop successfully while meeting the needs of the project users. Onside has found that people with, or recovering from, mental ill health often become caught in a cycle of illness, isolation, loss of self esteem and social isolation. Onside is hopeful that this county-wide collaborative approach can break this cycle and result in sustainable outcomes.