London

Sutton was the first foray with Mainstream outside of the Mersey Region, shortly followed by Merton.

Sutton has a small team of three bridge builders. The service has recently been reviewed by the local Commissioner who was extremely pleased with the progress that the team are making. We are achieving the objectives laid into the contract of Supporting People to access employment, training, voluntary work and leisure opportunities.

Merton has been quite a challenge because we took over the whole of the Merton Day Service contract so we are gathering experience of modernising traditional services for service users. Our model is based on self-help, as well as encouraging service users to access bridge building. The service also has a strong volunteering element to it.