New video places spotlight on social work scheme

“Building on people’s abilities”, “helping people to make their own choices” and “looking at things differently” are some of the ways a pilot social work scheme is providing support in Shropshire, described in a new video. 

Anyone who would like to find out more about People2People, a not-for-profit community interest company, is urged to take a look at the video which is available now online. 

Shropshire Council was one of just six councils across England that received funding from the Department of Health to pilot the national social work practice. 

People2People aims to help increase people’s independence and reduce their long-term reliance on social care by giving them more control over their support, with an emphasis on helping people to use personal budgets to choose services. 

The pilot is providing social work services for older people, people with disabilities and their carers in the Shrewsbury area.  Due to the progress made by People2People in this area, the pilot is also being extended to the south of the county to test and share the benefit of this approach in a more rural location. 

Among those featured in the video are people supported by the practice, who share how it is helping them to be more active and tailor care to their needs, as well as staff, who explain how it is giving them more flexibility to act quickly on the choices of those they support. 

The video can be viewed by clicking here. 

The scheme was set up by a group of social workers.  People2People’s board of directors includes people who use the service, staff, non-executive directors and representatives from Shropshire Council.

Stephen Chandler, Shropshire Council’s director of adult services, said:

“News about People2People is spreading, and this has given us a chance to share more on what the scheme is all about, with the people at the heart of the practice.

“People have told us what they want from social care – support that is more suited to their individual needs, which provides the opportunity to explore new and alternative options, and remain in their communities for longer.

“The video provides another means for people to see how we are responding to what people have told us they want; how we are developing adult social care services in Shropshire and how People2People is exploring different ways of providing support.

“People2People aims to build on people’s abilities and existing networks, provide support at the first stage of contact to increase people’s independence, and work alongside other organisations to help identify the right support within people’s own communities.

“We are working to offer a more streamlined service, give social workers more control to support people to live in the way they want to, reduce bureaucracy, help people to use new support technologies and develop opportunities to gain support and advice from peers.

“I hope people find it useful and informative to hear from everyone involved in the scheme, in this way.”

Further information

For more information on People2People and personal budgets go to shropshire.gov.uk/adultcarer.nsf.