Support people struggling with high cost of living

Reaching Communities struggling with the rising cost of living. 

Generally Families & Community Support Service (FCSS) provide a first response service for vulnerable adults, individuals and families wanting to access social care within the provision of Care Act and Children and Families Act 2014 in London Borough of Newham, including Advocacy, Advice, Information and Support.  

FCSS provide independent and high-quality information, advice and advocacy on matters relating to health, social welfare, and social care to strengthen integration between health, social care and community-based services, ensuring residents are provided with the right help as quickly as possible given rising cost of living. 

We help vulnerable adults and families who, because of disability, mental health illness, immigration issues, social exclusion and other challenges, find it difficult to express their views or get the support they need. Our aim is to empower people to have a voice and make a real difference to their lives. We do this by speaking for them when they cannot and support them to speak for themselves when they are able to do so. 

The development of the new service:

As a first response service in the Borough, we will carry out initial assessment and develop close joint working with people or local residents with low income struggling with rising cost of living. 

The development of the new service will include:

• Providing services to support people or local residents particularly from underprivileged communities and with very low income struggling with rising cost of living. 
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• Provision of advice, in particular debt and financial advice - for example Coping with Rising Cost of Living - Food, Fuel and Money. This will include support available and practical tips for local residents on how to cope with the rising cost of living focusing on food, fuel and money. These will cover:
  • How to access grants and schemes available including eligibility criteria
  • Benefit and income maximisation
  • Referrals of clients to access food support and the different types of support available e.g. Food Banks etc
  • Energy and utility bill saving tips
  • Case studies etc.
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• Provision of no or low cost food, through food banks - In partnerships with other local charities such as In Kind Direct Charity: inkinddirect.org - we buy cheaper essential materials/ products from this charity to distribute to needy and vulnerable adults in the community. this products include: Long life milk, Bottled water, Baby food, Tinned fruit, meat, fish, Dried foods e.g. pasta, noodles, rice, Tea and coffee, Biscuits and crackers, Food containers, Pet food and cat litter etc.
• In partnership with Fareshare Go charity: https://fareshare.org.uk/fareshare-go-and-foodiverse/ to support the community or the local residents. We redistribute surplus food from from the local supermarkets, including Tesco, ASDA and Waitrose & Partners, Nondos, KFC to the needy individuals and families in the community that turn it into meals. We change lives. - We believe that no good food should go to waste. This service is made possible through our dedicated volunteers.
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• The development of the new service will include supporting with housing needs whether for example advice to those made homeless or threaten with homelessness for example issued with Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 by private landlord,  home finding/ furnishings, referral to the Council/ Local Authority, Housing Association or supported accommodation for rehousing subject to meeting the eligibility criteria. 
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Furthermore, for outstanding work in the community, FCSS is awarded of The Advice Quality Standard (AQS) status which is the quality standard for providers of general advice services in the areas of social, welfare and public law etc. Categories of Advice include:

The current categories for advice work (particularly casework) are split into subject and client based case categories as follows - Subject Based & Client Based

• Consumer/General Contact
• Asylum Seekers and Refugees
• Debt
• Disability
• Employment
• Older People
• Health and Community Care
• Racial Discrimination and Racial Harassment
• Housing
• Students
• Immigration/Nationality
• Women
• Welfare Benefits
• Young People
• Family Law 
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• Finally - Provision of wider advice and support services to support individuals and families given rising cost of living.