Imagine Mentoring and Support

• Local Offer

 WHAT WE DO

✓ Invest in providing high quality support that makes a real, positive, and lasting difference in children and young people’s lives

✓ Uphold the importance of safeguarding

✓ Listen to and consider the needs and aspirations of children and young people in all we do

✓ Provide assessment and support in line with National Guidance, Standards, and Legislation

✓ Provide individual, comprehensive, and flexible support packages

✓ Provide high quality placements for young people who are in the care of the Local Authority

✓ Provide stability and safety within placements so children and young people can develop a sense of belonging

✓ Provide a living environment where young people can grow up healthy, stay safe and achieve their aspirations

✓ Provide support to enable children and young people to live healthy and independent lives

✓ Provide support and guidance to vulnerable children and young people, helping them learn independent living skills, including making informed choices to become successful young adults

✓ Use a model of support that incorporates a systemic, child centred and strengths-based approach

✓ Continuously review our approach in line with our measured support plans

✓ Seek to continuously improve our service through audit and feedback

✓ Work in partnership with the community, professionals, and the Local Authority to foster effective relationships with families, children, and young people

✓ Place emphasis and importance on our working relationships and the benefits that other professionals can collectively provide to support families, children, and young people 

✓ Provide an open-door policy to other professionals to ensure strong and fluid communication with colleagues 

✓ Employ staff that are appropriately qualified and experienced, following safer recruitment guidance

 PARTNERSHIP WORKING

At Imagine Mentoring and Support our aim is to work with communities, colleagues and partners to bring about the required change in children, families and young people’s lives. We understand that working in partnership is imperative to ensuring the best outcomes for the families, children and young people that we work with and that we cannot achieve this alone, it’s more about what we can achieve together. The relationships that we build with both the Local Authority and also our working colleagues are extremely important to us, therefore we pledge that building professional relationships and working in partnership will be at the forefront of all that we do. Our aim is to build excellent working relationships with Education, Health, Financial support services, the Police and Justice system, Employment support, Housing and our Local Authority and voluntary sector colleagues. We will also offer an open-door/contact approach for all of our colleagues to ensure that our communications remain strong and fluid.

 REFERRALS 

Imagine aims to keep the referral process as simple as possible. When Imagine  a referral in respect of a child, young person or family an informal conversation will take place with them and the professionals involved ensuring that the right support is prepared and provided. If the referrer has any questions regarding the referral process of full list of services that we offer please do not hesitate to contact us as we are always happy to help. 

 ABOUT US

Founded in 2021, Imagine Mentoring and Support is a newly established family run service with, staff having, over 40 years collective experience of working in trusted Government and Health and Social care roles. At Imagine Mentoring and Support we provide assessment, support and mentoring to children, young people and their families in the community as well as offering semi-independent supported living accommodation and move on support for young people aged 16-25 years. 

The aim of Imagine Mentoring and Support is to provide a continuity of support to children, young people and their families throughout their involvement with Early Help or Social Care services. Within our service we aim to provide quality support that assists children, young people and their families to make changes so that they can be resilient and successful in their future lives. 

 

 WHAT WE OFFER

✓ Assessment, support and mentoring services for children, young people, and their families

✓ High quality semi-independent supported living accommodation for young people aged 16-18

✓ Move on and outreach support and advice for care leavers

✓ Support to children and young people with emotional and/or mental health difficulties

✓ Supporting children and young people with an ADHD and/or Autism diagnoses or characteristics

✓ Support to children and young people at risk of exploitation

✓ Support to children and young people involved in or at risk of criminal activity

✓ Welfare checks

✓ Supervision of family contact

✓ Crisis support

✓ Conflict resolution

✓ Work with schools to reduce the need for exclusions

✓ Attendance at the police station to act as an appropriate adult

✓ Advocacy, and support at meetings

✓ Workshops where there has been an identified social and/or education need within the community 

✓ Measured support plans

✓ Emotional, development, self-esteem, and resilience support

✓ Support to aid fair access to services

✓ Parenting behaviour and support sessions

✓ Parental practical and emotional support

✓ Activities in the community

✓ Independent living skills workshops 

✓ Support with social skills

✓ Support with development, including applying for and engaging with education, training, and employment

✓ Support with communication and building better relationship with peers, professionals, and family. 

✓ Single assessments

✓ SGO assessments

✓ Fostering assessments

 

EXPLAINED FURTHER 

MENTORING AND COMMUNITY SUPPORT

Our mentoring and support interventions incorporate a systemic, restorative, and strengths-based approach, focusing on the skills and resources of the whole family or support network available to the child or young person. We aim to identify and build on the skills and resilience of the family, support network and child or young person by providing opportunities for learning and growth; with an overall aim of the child or young person being able to grow up healthy, stay safe and have the support they need to enjoy and achieve in their future lives. We can also attend meetings to support or act as an advocate for children, young people, and their families, provide family contact supervision and welfare checks. When completing any required assessments, they are carried out by professionals with the relevant qualifications, and we follow National standards, Frameworks Guidance and Legislation.

 HOUSING

Imagine Mentoring and Support provide semi-independent supported living accommodation and move on support to young people aged 16-25 years who are placed by the Local Authority outside of their family home. We provide quality local placements for young people who require housing, support, and a steppingstone to independence. Our properties are staffed throughout the night from 19:00pm until 08:00am and a support worker will be assigned to the home throughout the day to support with each young person’s individual needs. Whilst supporting young people we aim to provide a balance between a nurturing and supportive environment so to build resilience but also empower young people enough that they can build the skills to become independent and self-sustaining in their future lives.

Imagine Mentoring and Support understand that children and young people want to feel safe and supported throughout this journey and we are committed to providing a good standard of support to ensure the best outcomes for children on their journey to independence. We work alongside all professionals in the young person’s life, and we use both a child centred and strengths-based approach incorporating the seven principles of corporate parenting to ensure that every young person’s needs are met as set out within their care and pathway plan, to ensure that they are supported to achieve the best outcomes for themselves. We recognise that children and young people are likely to face many challenges and changes during their time with us therefore we aim to be flexible in our approach towards the support we provide.

 MOVE ON AND OUTREACH SUPPORT 

At Imagine Mentoring and Support we understand that corporate parenting does not stop at the age of 18 therefore we offer both move on and outreach support to young people in their transition to independence so that they are not left to face life’s milestones alone. In conjunction with the young person’s social worker and care plan we will ensure that young people are supported in decisions with their move on plan at the earliest opportunity, which will include helping them to set up tenancies, understand bills, learn how to budget, and cook meals, how to be a good neighbour as well as supporting them to settle into their property and ongoing emotional and telephone support. We will, as reasonably possible, ensure that this is carried out by the same support team and key worker that they were used to in their supported living environment, and we will also provide the young person the opportunity to visit their previous placement, if with us, to give continuity and a more gradual transition to independence.