Message from Steve James, Group Chief Executive
Welcome to our website. We hope that it gives you a flavour of the services we provide and our approach to supporting people. We passionately believe that we are about supporting people to lead a rich and enjoyable life, making choices like anyone would.
Avenues has changed the way it provides services, creating a Group structure of charitable organisations that focus on different parts of our work:
- Avenues Trust Support Services concentrates on providing high quality individually planned support in small, specialist, residential settings for people with learning disabilities and mental health issues
- Avenues Trust Community Support Services provides community based support to a wide range of adults and young people in their own homes
- Community Futures Kent is a person centred community development organisation based in West Kent
- Optua, a Suffolk based charity that provides a wide range of services for disabled people, joined the Avenues Trust Group in April 2011. Optua's services include: Advice & Advocacy, Leisure and sport activities, Community Transport, Volunteering, Support Services (including home care and supported housing), Optua UK - case management for people with an acquired brain injury. Optua also represents disabled people on a wide range of voluntary and statutory committees, involving the planning, monitoring and provision of services for disabled people across Suffolk.
The individual websites tell you more about their services.
We've tried very hard to describe what we do in English, not jargon, which is why we describe what we do as "support to enjoy life". This will be different for different people, which is why we are committed to an individual approach, choice and control - not because it's the latest flavour of the month but it's because it's how you support someone to have a rich and enjoyable life.
No organisation can provide a quality service without quality staff. The Avenues Group is committed to supporting and developing staff. For instance our Learning & Development programme is second to none and we were very pleased to win a Regional National Training Award in 2009.
We would love to hear from you if you would like to know more about our services, or would like to talk about working for us.
Steve James
Group Chief Executive
- 17/01/2012Hot off the Press - the Avenues Trust Group 2010/11 Annual Report!
- 12/01/2012Anyone for tennis? New community tennis group launches in Sevenoaks
- 10/01/2012National Voices letter to The Times
- 10/01/2012Local MP visits innovative dementia service in Sutton
- 20/12/2011Community Futures Kent visit to House of Commons voted a great success
- 19/12/2011Avenues dementia pilot scheme is praised in Sutton
- 07/12/2011Mayor of Bromley visits new service for people with learning disabilities
- 07/12/2011We need your feedback!
- 01/12/2011All that Christmas jazz!
- 22/11/2011Barclays boost for Spencer Way fundraising day!
- 10/11/2011Avenues United in partnership with Bromley FC!
- 03/11/2011Optua celebrates its 30th anniversary
- 03/11/2011Avenues United at the recent South London Special League ‘Kick it Out’ tournament
- 12/10/2011Avenues United is looking for new players!
- 05/10/2011Avenues to host World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in Sherwood
- 03/10/2011Community Futures Kent and Voluntary Action Within Kent present: ' A Little Book of Ideas'
- 15/09/2011BIG Lottery launch at Bromley FC to help disabled people get active!
- 15/09/2011'Kent Valuing People Partnership’ wins the contract to manage and facilitate the County’s District Partnership Groups
- 06/09/2011Avenues launches new Dementia Support Service
- 01/09/2011Avenues' Annual BBQ
- 01/09/2011Banking on baking to raise money!
- 28/07/2011Disabled group from Cliftonville walking to raise money for hospice
- 28/07/2011Simon Goldsmith from Community Futures Kent has welcomed the news that improvements are to be made for disabled people at Swanley rail station in time for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
- 26/07/2011Avenues welcomes ‘Making the Difference’ libraries award
- 01/07/2011Into the Community from Orchard Hill Hospital
- 28/06/2011Avenues annual golf day - a huge success raising £13K!
- 21/06/2011Band without Boundaries....
- 09/06/2011Libraries Change Lives Finalist 2011!
- 19/05/2011Cutting the red tape.........
- 04/05/2011Avenues secures £10K lottery funding
- 04/05/2011Impact Case Study - Steve James Avenues CEO is interviewed
- 05/04/2011Optua joins the Avenues Group!
- 18/03/2011Avenues White Hat Charity Golf Challenge 2011
- 16/03/2011Avenues is recognised by the British Institute of Learning Disabilities (BILD)
- 01/03/2011News on Southwark Home Care...
- 14/02/2011Avenues Young People’s Team wins award for care innovation!
- 15/08/2010A better future for people with learning disabilities in Kent!
- 16/10/2009Avenues wins at the National Training Awards!
- 30/09/2009The Sports & Active Lifestyle Project Updates
Hot off the Press - the Avenues Trust Group 2010/11 Annual Report!
‘Round the clock support’ is the theme of our latest Annual Report, and is filled with stories about the people we support and how fulfilled their lives are being supported by Avenues.
It focuses on the relatives too – and how by giving that well earned respite has changed their lives for the better.
National Voices letter to The Times
Avenues in conjunction with 40 other national health and social care charities – all members of the National Voices coalition - have written to The Times calling on the government to make the Health Bill work better for patients and other service users.
