Here at Great Places we understand that sometimes we all need a little helping hand. Life can be challenging for many reasons and for some people making ends meet each month can be a worrying time.
To help support our customers, our dedicated Community Investment Team offers a range of services and solutions for customers, to help them become more independent and financially resilient.
As part of our Cosmos integration programme, we have created our new Community Investment Team which has taken the “˜best of both’ from Great Places and Equity Foundation models and approaches to create a consistent and coherent service offer to all of our customers.
As part of the offer we have a variety of support available for customers – from money management advice, to employment and skills opportunities, all aimed at helping customers to become more independent and financially resilient.
Within the team there are specialist Employability Coaches who can offer help and support to customers on their journey into finding work. They provide practical advice, tips and information and help customer with CV building, interview practice and techniques, job searches, applications and general careers advice. They can also support customers with interview clothing, travel expenses and work tools or equipment. They’re also on hand to help customers who start employment navigate and adjust to working life.
We also provide a specialist Tenancy Sustainment Service, aimed at empowering customers to sustain their tenancies and to become more independent. The team of Tenancy Coaches who deliver the service work closely with customers to create bespoke wellbeing plans which focus on five key areas; Financial, Home, Mental Health, Physical Health and Social depending on the customer’s needs. They provide support and encouragement to the customer to work with local services and partners who can provide specialist knowledge and expertise.
We also offer a range of support for customers who maybe experiencing difficulty with access to basic essentials, such as food. We work with a range of partner organisations across all our regions who operate food banks or food pantry’s that stock everyday essentials and can refer customers who may benefit from this service.
We’ve also teamed up with National Energy Action (NEA) and through this partnership we can support customers who may need emergency fuel top-ups as well as help and support to find the best energy deal.
For those customers who may be struggling to furnish their home with basic essential items, we also have a range of partners across our regions who can provide furniture at a discounted rate.
We’ve put together a full list of the services we provide and our partnership organisations from across our regions.
