FLIC was an eight-year Lottery funded learning programme, designed to support people experiencing multiple disadvantage and affect system change to improve the experience and outcomes for people accessing services.
Too often the voices of people experiencing multiple disadvantage aren't heard. Putting clients at the centre of everything we do was key to our work. Our support service was intensive, trauma-informed and led by the experiences and insights of our clients.
We worked in partnership with statutory and voluntary agencies across both boroughs to improve services for people with multiple needs and drive systemic change, influencing how services are designed and delivered.
Our clients are at the heart of everything we do. Since our inception we've provided intensive one-to-one interventions to support more than 100 people with experience of multiple disadvantage.
Most of our clients have been let down by the system for many years and many feel they have never really been listened to. By working together with each of them in a flexible and person-centred way, we've been able to build relationships based on mutual respect and trust.
Treating them as experts in their own experience, we strive to put clients themselves in the driving seat, so that they can determine their own personalised support and have the opportunity to influence the design and delivery of FLIC's services. In turn, their voices will help shape and enhance the commissioning of services and feed into our recommendations for systemic change.
"Being able to build up a level of trust, to open up a bit and develop a personal relationship - I've been able to rely on it. I've been at my wits' end and they've stepped in." - Lucy
Our intensive model of support has resulted in significant improvements in the personal wellbeing of FLIC clients and their ability to manage their lives better. Levels of substance use for many clients have been greatly reduced, clients are reporting better mental health and offending has more than halved.
Many challenges remain, but we're continually inspired by what our clients achieve when provided with services that treat them as individuals and are responsive to their needs.