Annual Report 2005/06

This report highlights Avenues’ achievements throughout 2005/06. It describes real successes experienced by service users, staff who continue to deliver high quality services and clear governance through the workbof our trustees.

Despite substantial achievements we have a sense of unfinished business: a feeling that things could be better, that service users should be more involved. Our new business plan has this as a central theme. We are introducing person-centred active support (PCAS) across our learning disability services to ensure that people can exercise choice and feel real achievement in their lives. Avenues’ mental health services will similarly concentrate on individuals through the care programme approach, while our new home care services will concentrate on a personal service, not just the delivery of “hours”.

Coincidence and chance play a part in most people’s lives – unplanned things happen, opportunities pop up. An individual approach to services means we can respond to chance, supported by the more traditional approaches to planning to ensure stability in someone’s life.

This approach requires highly skilled and dedicated staff and managers. The new Avenues Academy aims to equip all staff to deliver high quality services. We will also increasingly employ service users to recruit and
train staff in order to ensure staff are truly focussed on the needs and aspirations of the people we work with.

Avenues must respond to the shift to more individual services, with the move towards direct payments. We plan to work with young people with disabilities over 14 and their families, offering services which families can buy in, as and when required. This year we joined with the award-winning Southwark Home Care, a specialist home care provider for people with high dependency needs, and will continue to expand our support to people in their own homes.

Click here to read our Annual Report 2006