Fulfilling Lives in Islington and CamdenFulfilling Lives in Islington & Camden (FLIC) has now closed its doors. However, all of our news, learnings and reports can be found here, and our clients' voices and films can be found here. 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. If you have any questions, please email Lucy Campbell ([email protected]), SHP's head of Multiple Disadvantage Transformation. Home Our action plan Our work with clients Voices Learning and resources News Co-Location and Multiple Disadvantage (PraxisCollab Evaluation Report) As FLIC’s programme of work drew to a close in October 2021, a pilot co-location project was designed to provide an opportunity for collaboration between FLIC Service Coordinators and local voluntary and statutory sectors. The aim was to provide knowledge and skills sharing opportunities and enhance support options for people in the local areas experiencing multiple disadvantage. Description of the co-location projectsThe table below documents the types of services selected to undertake co-location and the aims and objectives of the collaboration... FLIC commissioned PraxisCollab to undertake an evaluation of our Co-Location work. Outcomes of the co-location project Outcomes for practitioners and services: Co-location contributed towards improving practitioner awareness of multiple disadvantage and how these experiences can affect how people react or respond to services. The pilot helped create opportunities and space for reflecting on case work and considering different perspectives, provided structured tools and improved connections between some services. Outcomes for people accessing support: Some evidence suggested that people accessing support had been more involved in co-producing activities to design the purpose and role of spaces. For some, the co-location work had facilitated access to a broader range of support options for people and enhanced engagement. Outcomes for system blockages: In the short time frame, fewer outcomes for this strategic aspect were achieved. A number of system issues were identified, the most prominent being a lack of appropriate housing, lack of resources and complexity of systems. The Community of Practice was noted to be a valuable way to shed light on important challenges and feed these back to commissioners and advocate for change. Summary of recommendations FLIC commissioned PraxisCollab to evaluate the effectiveness of FLIC's Co-Location project. Some of the recommendations include... Build in sufficient time for relationship building, observations, learning and discussions to take place between Service Coordinators and host services to build trust and provide a collaborative foundation. Empower frontline staff to be actively involved in the process and plans for co-location projects, informed by their passions and interests. Continue to encourage the cross pollination of skills and expertise within and across services and sectors supporting people experiencing multiple disadvantage to enhance the support available. Strengthen the process and mechanisms for collating and communicating system blockages to decision makers and incorporate feedback loops to demonstrate what, if any, changes occur as a result of the process from staff contributions. Find the full report and recommendations here.