Durham Homestay (County Wide) - Housing related support

The Homestay service is under the umbrella of Home Group - Care and Support which has a proven track record in supporting vulnerable people, utilising their knowledge and expertise to help people to find effective solutions that will enable them to live healthy independent lives.

We provide support depending upon the individual need of the customer around the following outcomes:

  • housing
  • finance
  • health
  • education, training and employment
  • meaningful use of time

The service is provided using three interventions which depend on the needs of the customer at initial contact. Customers are able to access one or more of these at the same time to meet their needs:

Drop-ins

These are a single point of access for all customers looking for support from the service. Drop-ins are based throughout the Durham and Chester-le-Street area and more information on these drop-ins will be sent to stakeholders and advertised locally. 

The aim is to assess customer needs, support customers to deal with these needs at the first point of contact, and to concentrate solely on the needs which the customer wishes to address.

The service aims to resolve the issue with the customer during this time. Some customers may need to attend more than once, and customers are welcome to attend as many times as needed to resolve one or a number of needs. 

Some customers may need additional support in one or more areas and may then be signposted to another organisation or referred into the Group Work or Floating Support aspects of the service.

Customers can also self-refer to Drop Ins by phone using the Contact Homestay number  0191 731 1470.  Referrers can also refer customers to Drop Ins by emailing the referral proforma to Durham Gateway.  Please ring 0191 332 4935 for further information.

Group Work

To access the Group Work, customers can attend a drop-in and be assessed and referred for the Group Work sessions, which focus on delivering learning programmes around housing and finance.

Sessions will be delivered to a wide range of customer groups in a range of venues and settings to ensure customer needs are met. The service also looks to prevent issues and develop skills around housing and finance for customers to use to support their future resilience. Lower age limit is 14 years.

External Group Work packages will also be delivered to learners and tenants within schools, colleges, training providers, RSL Providers and private landlords. Depending on customer needs, the Group Work programme will continue to grow and develop bespoke packages to meet these needs.

Floating Support

Referral via either referral proforma emailed to Durham Gateway, or self-referral via phone to Durham Gateway to complete a self-referral which takes approximately ten minutes.  Thereafter, the Floating Support staff will ring the customer to discuss a home visit.  The Support Coordinator will assess the need for the service and where applicable refer the customer to Floating Support. 

The customer will be offered a tailor-made package of support which could involve all of the support interventions in order to meet their needs. Support will last a maximum of six months.

Please contact the Gateway on tel: 0191 332 4935 for more information or to make a referral.

When is it on?

Time of day
Morning
Afternoon
Session information
Monday to Friday office hours

Who to contact

Contact name
Gateway
Contact position
Referral Co-Ordinator
Telephone
0191 332 4935
E-mail
gatewaydurham@homegroup.org.uk

Other details

Referral required?
Yes
Referral and availability notes

Professional contact / referral

email: Gatewaydurham@homegroup.org.uk

Information or request referral form : 0191 332 4935

Support for you?

Customer line: 0191 731 1470

email: Contacthomestay@homegroup.org.uk

facebook: County Durham Homestay Service 

Text service: 07341 457573

Disclaimer

Durham County Council's Families Information Service does not promote nor endorse the services advertised on this website. Anyone seeking to use/access such services does so at their own risk and may make all appropriate enquiries about fitness for purpose and suitability to meet their needs.
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