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Caerphilly Cares this Christmas

Posted on : 20 Dec 2021

What is ‘Caerphilly Cares’ and how did it come about?

The ‘Caerphilly Cares’ team, a team of established Caerphilly County Borough Council staff, will offer a new centralised coordination and response triage service for those county borough residents in need of support for issues such as food poverty, debt or rent arrears, isolation or loneliness.

The COVID pandemic saw residents present themselves to the council for support, often for the very first time. It became apparent that these individuals often required multiple interventions and support from a number of different council departments. ‘Caerphilly Cares’ aims to offer the individual a single point of contact with the team, who will assist that individual in getting to the root cause of their issue, meaning they will only need to explain their situation once.

The team will then link up with existing services, both within Caerphilly County Borough Council and with partners, including the voluntary sector and local community groups, supporting that individual through their journey with those various services, from end to end.

It is about understanding the variety of needs an individual may face and focussing on early intervention to help that individual get the support they need in a holistic, sensitive way.

Caerphilly Cares certainly doesn’t replace any existing council service; rather it offers that additional layer of support to an individual, building a trusted relationship with that person and supporting them through their journey to becoming more resilient and independent longer term. It also aims to reduce the need for statutory intervention.

What types of support can Caerphilly Cares offer?

This is a long-term model for offering holistic support to Caerphilly county borough residents, but the Caerphilly Cares team’s initial focus will be on supporting residents in the following areas:

• Financial support - debt support, benefits and maximising income.
• Tackling food poverty.
• Supporting individuals to employment support programmes.
• Tackling isolation and loneliness.
• Practical support for individuals requiring support linked to Covid 19 (such as those in receipt of buddy scheme support).
• Early intervention - such as mental health support and social prescribing.
• Building on partnerships with community groups.

What is Caerphilly Cares NOT?
While the remit of support the Caerphilly Cares team can provide is broad, there are a number of things that Caerphilly Cares is not. It is not:

• A call centre or a switchboard - any referrals made to the team need to be very specific to the remits of Caerphilly Cares as explained in this document.
• A ‘catch all’ for council service requests.
• A replacement for other services.
The Caerphilly Cares team are a dedicated and passionate, yet very small team and need to prioritise taking referrals specific to the remits of what Caerphilly Cares can offer.

What else does Caerphilly Cares aim to do?

The Caerphilly Cares model is underpinned by the principles within the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.

The team will also continue to work alongside the voluntary sector and community groups, building on the success of the COVID community response which saw a significant out-pouring of community spirit. This community centred approach will hope to:

• Build on the success of the Covid community response.
• The council, voluntary sector and communities working together in partnership.
• Mobilising assets in communities - making best use of the skills, knowledge and social networks available in communities, as well as peer support to support others.
• Linking to community groups and activities.
• An opportunity to harness and expend the community resilience demonstrated in areas across the area. How can I make a referral to Caerphilly Cares? As highlighted above, the initial focus for Caerphilly Cares is to support individuals with:
• Financial support - debt support, benefits and maximising income.
• Tackling food poverty.
• Supporting individuals to employment support programmes.
• Tackling isolation and loneliness.
• Practical support for individuals requiring support linked to Covid 19 (such as those in receipt of buddy scheme support).
• Early intervention - such as mental health support and social prescribing.

If residents in your area are experiencing issues with one or more of these - the Caerphilly Cares team would like to hear from them.

Call: 01443 811490 Email: caerphillycares@caerphilly.gov.uk The Caerphilly Cares team are available Mon-Thu, 8:30am-5pm & Fri, 8:30am-4:30pm.

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