Supporting People is a national government programme administered on a local level. Its purpose is to fund housing related support services so people who are vulnerable can live more independently.
Supporting People services can help prevent homelessness and help people avoid long term hospital care or institutional living.
This section of the site contains newsletters, reports and other information relevant to Lewisham Supporting People services.
Who does Supporting People help?
Around 4,500 vulnerable adults currently benefit from Supporting People funding in Lewisham. Service providers are funded to supply many different support services including: hostels, group houses, homeless family units, women’s refuges as well as home support services.
Adults who may be vulnerable are:
- people who have been homeless or a rough sleeper
- ex-offenders and people at risk of offending and imprisonment
- people with a physical or sensory disability
- people at risk of domestic violence
- people with alcohol and drug problems
- teenage parents
- elderly people
- young people at risk
- people with HIV and AIDS
- people with learning difficulties
- travellers
- homeless families with support needs.
Supporting People teams manage the programme in local areas and are responsible for:
- paying other organisations to provide support
- making sure that the support services are as good as possible
- finding out what new services are needed.
What is housing-related support?
Housing-related support services are aimed at helping people live independently. The services can assist people with:
- managing their money
- claiming benefits
- developing domestic or social skills
- personal and home safety.
These services are provided to people in their own homes or through supported housing schemes such as hostels.
They can be short or long term. Short term services are usually for less than two years.
How much do Supporting People services cost?
All short term housing-related support services are free.
People in long term services may have to pay a charge. This depends on their income and the cost of the services that are being provided.
Those who receive housing benefit will automatically have their housing related support costs paid.
A trained member of our financial staff will arrange an assessment for people who request one. This is known as a fairer charging assessment.
Those who cannot afford to pay may receive financial help from the Council or another agency.
To arrange a financial assessment or discuss what will be involved, contact us using the details at the foot of this page.
Supporting People websites
Follow the links on the right of this page to visit the websites below.
The 'Supporting People directory' is a national directory of support services, which includes Lewisham services. It provides comprehensive information about services and service providers. The directory tells you how to access services.
The Communities Supporting People website provides more information about the Supporting People Programme, including documents for service providers on Lewisham Supporting People services.
Voluntary Action Lewisham is a charity supporting more than 600 voluntary and community organisations throughout Lewisham. They can provide a variety of services to support your organisation, if your organisation works for the benefit of Lewisham's people.
Further information
For further information on housing related support, contact the Supporting People team using the details below. Information is also available from your local housing office or adult social care teams.
Complaints, compliments and comments
We regularly review the services we fund. When we do this, we try to talk to the people who use the service, their carers and anyone else involved in Supporting People. This information is then used to plan improvements.
All our funded services must have a written complaints procedure. Any complaints or comments about the service are first of all addressed to the service provider.
If further help is needed, any comments or complaints can be sent to the Supporting People service.