Residential Support Services in Chichester

Chichester: The Independent Living Project
We offer our Support services in Chichester to 17 people in seven Community based tenancies. These provide a good balance between independent living and the need for ongoing support. We recognise that some people with learning disabilities need a lot of support in life. People often need a long adjustment period between needing support services and gaining full independence. These houses are ordinary houses, in ordinary streets, so that people can have ordinary neighbours - an opportunity to experience genuine mixing with everyday people in everyday living situations. The people who live in these houses are fully involved in ordinary living tasks such as shopping, washing, cooking, paying bills, budgeting and looking after their house and living environment. Ordinary community facilities are available in Chichester and are used by the people who live in the houses. We like to think we can move people away from specialist segregated facilities and opportunities which have traditionally been used for people with learning difficulties. The people who live in the houses have varying degrees of difficulty. Some people are in need of physical support, others are working towards the next stage of independence. This could be a shared flat or house with friends with very minimal support. We can assure people, however, that no one would be moved to a level of independent living which they were not ready for or could not cope with. We also like to think that we can make opportunities happen for people who may be unnecessarily denied an ordinary living experience because of their history or circumstances. For this reason we have been able to develop innovative services which provide for people with a whole range of unusual difficulties. These innovative schemes present a unique opportunity for people to be a real part of their own community but have a network of guidance and non-judgemental support in order that they can be, and feel, a citizen in their own right.

Paul Whitby is the Manager and if you want to know more about the work of the Independent Living Project at Chichester or would like to talk to us about the possibilities of developing a scheme for someone you know, please give us a call on 01243 811482 and we'll put you in touch with him.