Forming strong partnerships with other local organisations is a very important part of Gateway’s work.
By sharing resources we are able to provide a more cost-effective, joined-up service – both as an individual organisation and as a sector. In an environment where budgets are shrinking, effective partnerships mean less duplication of work, which saves vital resources. It also means less “pushing from pillar to post” for clients, easier access to services and one point of contact to help someone navigate through services.
People rarely have one issue they need support with, so all our services have always worked in partnership with other organisations, either formally or informally. Over the last couple of years, however, partnership work has become even more important to the Health Trainer service as they have started working with broader groups of people, reaching out to communities who might not otherwise be able to access the service.
Health Trainers at The Signing Tree
One partnership that we’ve set up relatively recently is with BID Services, a charity supporting people who are deaf, hard of hearing, visually impaired or have a dual sensory loss. BID Services runs a social enterprise called the Signing Tree, based at the Deaf Cultural Centre in Ladywood – and it’s here we now run a Health Trainer service with interpreters (one provided by Gateway, and the other by BID).
Gateway Health Trainer Richard, pictured, says, “I visit the Signing Tree once a month, where I set up a classroom together with two interpreters. If it wasn’t for them, the communication barrier would definitely be a sticking point – I don’t think many of the people I see at the Signing Tree would contact the Health Trainer service otherwise. The interpreters are brilliant – they actually get involved and help me to provide an informative yet fun session each month. We have 15 clients per session and it’s very popular – in fact last time, I had to turn four people away.”
Bhavana Jamin, Specialist Enablement Co-ordinator at BID, says, “This has been a positive experience for all the deaf people involved. The trainers make the pace of the sessions meet the clients’ needs and by this the clients became confident to participate and engage with the sessions. They gain access to information about their health and wellbeing that they may not be able to access from other areas, so they now have some knowledge of healthy food choices, and the information is presented visually.
“Word of mouth has been used to promote these sessions within the community and I now have a waiting list of people who would also like training in the future. So I look forward to working with Gateway again in the future.”
Strong partnerships allow us to do several things, especially when clients have more complex needs. They enable us to have an up-to-date knowledge of the issues that people in Birmingham are facing, so we can adapt the services we offer and respond to need as quickly and usefully as possible. It means more opportunity to help clients prioritise their needs, and to deal with issues in a way that suits the individual, by taking the services to them.
As well as the Signing Tree, we now also deliver services in partnership with a number of other organisations, including Jobcentres in South Birmingham, and Cerebral Palsy Midlands, based in Harborne.
If you would like to know more about working with Gateway, whether that’s to work with our Health Trainer service, or any other Gateway services, for example the Pregnancy Outreach Workers Service, do contact us – we’d be very pleased to hear from you.
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