Local Linked Support - Blog update from Sam Geden - August 2023

A bit about the team:

Local Linked Support is a part of adult social care in Essex County Council. For the time being, we cover Braintree, Colchester and Harlow. We offer support for autistic adults, adults with learning disabilities or their carers who do not get commissioned care and other support through adult social care. A formal diagnosis of autism or learning disabilities is not required to be supported by us.

We work with the adult to understand what is most important to them and support with planning the next steps to achieve their goals. We also work alongside carers – even if the adult they care for is not working with Local Linked Support – spending time to listen and understand, supporting to identifying and connect with resources and community options which will support them in their caring role. We can work alongside both the adult and their carer together.

What we do

We use person-centred planning with a clear focus on the adult or carer’s goals, wishes and aspirations, providing support for people to achieve what is most important to them.

We meet in community spaces where people feel most comfortable. This could be in a café, library, sports centre, community hub, college, youth centre or even a walk in the park. We take account of how people prefer to communicate and are more than happy to speak by phone/text/email or WhatsApp if preferred.

Our support is short-term and can last around four months depending on the needs and outcomes of the adult.

What I love about the job:

The joy of this line of work is that you take just as much from getting to know the adults you support as they do from you. I’m constantly inspired by the resilience and resolve of the people I work with; how they have clear ideas of what they want to do but don’t know how to achieve it. On the flipside, there are people who come to us that feel quite lost on the path to life, but from our first conversations, they start to realise what’s important to them and we start to focus on that. In a sense, we’re in the business of supporting people to have more faith in themselves, their dreams and abilities to achieve them. That’s such a special thing to be able to witness every day.

How to get in touch

We have weekly drop-ins in locations across Braintree, Colchester and Harlow. The best way to keep up-to-date on our whereabouts with drop-ins is our Facebook page, which also has links to other organisations, resources and conversations around autism and learning disabilities: https://www.facebook.com/locallinkedsupportessex

 

We can also be reached via telephone (0333 013 0593) or by emailing the address that connects with your area:

llsbraintree@essex.gov.uk

llscolchester@essex.gov.uk

llsharlow@essex.gov.uk