Next Steps

We are piloting a project, Next Steps, funded by City Bridge Foundation.  

We initially worked with partners in the Camden and Islington areas of London between September 2021 and 31st March 2023 and we have now extended the project to Enfield and Barnet April 2023- March 2024.  We are now working across London until the end of the project in March 2025.

The project is focusing on areas such as mental health, work and benefits, domestic abuse, legal advice, disability, parenting and food poverty.

The aim of the project is to work with other local and UK-wide agencies and organisations to offer further support to single parents that goes beyond the remit of Gingerbread’s advice service and signposting. We have collaborated with a number of partners throughout the course of this project on various pilots. Our ultimate aim is to offer ‘seamless referral pathways’  and we are carrying on looking at how this best can be achieved and what works best for single parents and for organisations. This is a collaborative process and Next Steps can be seen as a learning project and we are working with an experienced evaluator (M2). We are working intermittently with the partners as and when there is capacity in the organisations to look at the possibilities for a successful collaboration.  

We are also offering a workshop focused on single parents’ needs. The workshops challenge assumptions and stigma and help identify single parents’  support needs. A single parent volunteer is involved in the delivery of these workshops. The events can be adapted to the needs of the organisation and range from a short presentation to a longer workshop/webinar with a discussion or a Q&A. They mainly take place online but can also take place in person. 

 If you are interested in finding out more please contact Mimmi Brostromer, Advice Development Officer.

Our partners

Lightning Reach

Lightning Reach is a tech for good company which aims to empower anyone to access support they need to build financial resilience and wellbeing. Their financial support portal makes it easy for people to find and apply for a wide range of personalised support (including grants, benefits, help with their bills and other vital resources) in one place. Their platform can be used by organisations to reach and engage vulnerable customers seamlessly and securely, with options to use innovative technology such as open banking and ID verification, or by individuals seeking to improve their financial wellbeing.

They work with a cross-sector range of partners including the Royal British Legion, Lambeth Council, Fair4All Finance and Sovereign Network Group, and are backed by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Barrow Cadbury Trust, Big Issue Invest and other funders. 

 Visit Lightning Reach portal

 

Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for welfare, pensions and child maintenance policy. As the UK’s biggest public service department it administers the State Pension and a range of working age, disability and ill health benefits to around 20 million claimants and customers.

Jobcentre Plus in Camden and Islington
Jobcentre Plus helps people move from benefits into work and helps employers advertise jobs. It also deals with benefits for people who are unemployed or unable to work because of a health condition or disability. Our work coaches are able to talk to you about work opportunities and getting support to meet the costs of childcare.

Find out more about the DWP.

Little Village

Little Village is like a foodbank, but for clothes, toys and equipment for babies and children up to the age of 5. We collect high quality donations and gift these on to local families dealing with challenging circumstance including homelessness, unemployment, low wages, and domestic violence. Our dream is that no child in the capital grows up without the essential things they need to thrive, and we make it as easy as possible for families to help one another achieve this goal. We are working in many London boroughs. We accept referrals from professional and voluntary organisations working with families in an official capacity. We do not accept self-referrals, or referrals for family and friends.

Please go to our website for more information: Little Village 

Choices

We are Choices . We offer confidential and impartial counselling sessions for women and their partners facing an unplanned pregnancy. We provide a safe, non-judgmental, and non-directive space to allow people to explore their options and make their own informed decisions. We then support women and their partners – whatever they choose.

We provide one-to-one counselling for clients who want to process difficulties arising from past and present decisions about pregnancy choices.

We also help those who choose to continue their pregnancy, or are finding parenting a struggle, and need practical and emotional support with some of the costs or other challenges of parenting.

We provide counselling in prison for women who are struggling with child loss and child separation issues.

Solace

We’re Solace. For more than 40 years we’ve supported women and children in London to build safe and strong lives. Futures free from male abuse and violence.

Whatever form violence comes in, from rape and trafficking to relationships based on psychological or financial control, we know escaping its effects can be the hardest thing to do. That’s why it’s so important we’re here.

We find creative and innovative ways to support thousands of women and children each year. Stand with us to end violence and abuse now.

Find out more at Solace Women’s Aid.

Scope

We’re Scope and we want equality for disabled people. We’re a strong community of disabled and non-disabled people. We provide practical and emotional information and support where it’s needed most. We use our collective power to change attitudes and end injustice. We campaign relentlessly to create a fairer society. And we won’t stop until we achieve a society where all disabled people enjoy equality and fairness.

Partners we have worked with

Camden and Islington Recovery College

Camden & Islington Recovery College welcome everyone aged 18+ in Camden and Islington to attend our free educational courses on recovery, mental health and wellbeing.  The Recovery College is a non-judgmental, inclusive and safe space where people can be truly authentic in sharing their stories and experience of their recovery and wellbeing journey and learn from each other. All our courses are co-produced by Professional tutors who have professional expertise on a course topic, Peer Recovery tutors who have lived experience of personal recovery, and our students who are experts on their own health/ recovery journey.

We offer in-person courses, online sessions via Microsoft Teams and recorded YouTube courses.  Each course provides students with concepts and tools to help themselves in their journey of recovery from mental health and/or physical difficulties and is a safe space for personal development, self-discovery and growth. All our courses are highly interactive and we encourage participation and sharing.  Students who would like 1:1 support can ask for a Learning Guidance Conversation. For information on our courses and what we do, and to enrol, go to our webpage:   http://www.candi.nhs.uk/recoverycollegeNo referral needed.

Citizens Advice

Citizens Advice believes no one should have to face a problem alone. Our network of independent charities offers confidential advice online, over the phone, and in person, for free. We help millions of people every year with issues related to money and debt, benefits, work, consumer rights and more. No one else sees so many people with so many different kinds of problems, and that gives us a unique insight into the challenges people are facing today. With the right evidence, we can show big organisations – from companies right up to the government – how they can make things better for people.

The Trussell Trust

The Trussell Trust exists so we can all be free from hunger.

Together, we’re more than 1,300 local food bank centres across the UK, providing practical support for people facing hardship.  But emergency food isn’t a long-term solution to hunger. People need food banks when they don’t have enough money for the essentials. It’s not right that anyone needs a food bank to get by, and we can change this by ensuring everyone has enough income to eat, stay warm and stay dry. That’s why we also work with communities across the UK to change the things that push people to need a food bank. Our network of food banks is supported by community groups, churches, local businesses, schools and more than 28,000 dedicated volunteers.

Together, we are thousands and thousands of people, from communities across the UK, working together towards a more just future. We bring together data and evidence from food banks and the people who need them across the UK, gathering powerful information on the state of our society. Our research projects give the most in-depth picture of who needs a food bank and why, helping us co-create and advocate for solutions that will ensure all of us have enough money to afford the essentials.

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