News and blogs

NHS Long Term Plan - "an integrated strategic response involving health and social care is required", Avenues responds. Tuesday 8 Jan 2019 This statement is a response to the recent publication of the NHS Long Term Plan and in particular the plans for people with learning disabilities and autism.  “The NHS long term plan contains some welcome commitments, the expansion of STOMP an exten)...	2019/01/08
Avenues launches Podcast Tuesday 18 Dec 2018 Avenues recently debuted its first Podcast. The podcast, available though Soundcloud, will be an audio downloadable platform to discuss topical stories and developments around learning disabilities, autism and social care.  The debut Podcast is a res)...	2018/12/18
Founding CEO to retire in 2019 Monday 17 Dec 2018 Steve James has announced he will retire as Chief Executive of Avenues Group on 31 March 2019.  He said: “Having led the charity since it started 25 years ago as Kelsey Care, I feel it’s time for a change, both for me personally and the organisat)...	2018/12/17
Society gets a skewed view of social care - Steve James Thursday 4 Oct 2018 It’s widely understood that our social care system is in ‘crisis’, particularly in terms of its workforce. But many people don’t really know what social care is or, more accurately, they just think it’s about helping older people.  Important though t)...	2018/10/04
The use of restraint on people with learning disability - Avenues response Tuesday 2 Oct 2018 This statement is our response to the news that the use of restraint on adults with learning disabilities in hospital units in England rose by 50% between 2016 and 2017*.  "The real issue here is that mental health units are wholly inappropriate envi)...	2018/10/02
Support teams as extended family Tuesday 11 Sep 2018 Giving someone quality support depends on understanding them as an individual – their specific needs, what they like, what they don’t like, their background and simply how they’re feeling today. Connecting with people’s families is central to this un)...	2018/09/11
'It Takes 2' project's tropical party brings ages, cultures and abilities together Monday 10 Sep 2018 It was another successful event for the Avenues' Lottery-funded 'It Takes 2' (IT2) project recently as they teamed up with Community Centre and Reach Out organisation Mycenae House to host 'Tropic Like It's Hot', their very own carnival party. The c)...	2018/09/10
Kindness and understanding count Friday 7 Sep 2018               Nigel and Mandy Mullett’s daughters, Tori and Emily, have been supported by Avenues for ten years. Nigel shared their insights into the components of great support, and the positive impact it has on their daughters’ lives …  “It’s impor)...	2018/09/07
The effect of respect in support work Thursday 23 Aug 2018 The impact good support has on people’s lives can be extraordinary, and produce results that were never thought possible. The detail of what that really looks like will vary depending on the person, but according to Stephen Hignett, respect is alway)...	2018/08/23
Young people understand learning disability through school games partnership Tuesday 21 Aug 2018   The annual Royal Hospital School (RHS) and Avenues Games in Ipswich, is a chance for those supported by Avenues in the East of England to mix with their local community through adapted sports and activities. It also provides an opportunity for you)...	2018/08/21
Praise for ‘wonderful’ new transition service. Monday 6 Aug 2018    Left: The property in Bexleyheath will offer transition services under the Transforming Care programme.  Right: Area Manager Sarah Harvey with Regional Director Mickey Gray and Oakwood Drive Service Manager Anita Lawrance Commissioners and family )...	2018/08/06
Supporting Charley – a Transforming Care case study Friday 1 Jun 2018 Avenues has supported a young woman with autism to end nine years of medication and depression in a psychiatric hospital and begin a new life in her own home, rediscovering what makes her smile … Charley was admitted to a psychiatric unit when her ch)...	2018/06/01
Video: Supporting Lynda Tuesday 29 May 2018 At Avenues, sometimes because of the complex nature of what we do, we often hear the phrase ‘small steps are giant leaps’. In this short film Avenues staff Judy Kimani and Adenike Okoya reveal how, through a person-centred approach and with consiste)...	2018/05/29
Avenues chosen to run Bromley support services Thursday 26 Nov 2015 Avenues London has been successful in securing a contract to manage five support services in the south east London borough of Bromley. The contract consists of three existing Avenues’ services and two services currently managed by another provider. B)...	2015/11/26
Avenues East service wins award for outstanding end of life care Thursday 5 Feb 2015 Avenues is proud to announce that Hope House, a supported living service in Suffolk, has been commended for outstanding support at this year’s Suffolk GEM Awards. The GEM Awards are aimed at support workers or services that go that extra mile and are)...	2015/02/05
Avenues tender success in borough of Bexley Thursday 21 May 2015 Avenues London has been successful in securing a contract to manage two Learning Disability support services in the London Borough of Bexley, where our headquarters are based. The two services, Fen Grove and Emerton Close, will be transferring to Ave)...	2015/05/21
CQC rates Avenues supported living service outstanding in all areas – a first in England Monday 7 Sep 2015 An Avenues supported living service is the first of its kind to be rated outstanding in all five areas inspected by the Care Quality Commission.  Avenues is also the first adult social care provider in the South East to achieve this distinction.  Ave)...	2015/09/07
Avenues exhibits at Challenging Behaviour National Strategy Group Meeting Thursday 22 Oct 2015 Avenues is sharing its experience and learning in Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) at a national event on Thursday 22nd October 2015.  The event is organised by the Challenging Behaviour Foundation’s National Strategy Group, which works to raise awar)...	2015/10/22
Avenues secures Big Lottery grant to launch new project ‘It Takes 2’ Friday 13 Nov 2015 Avenues has been granted £300,000 by the Big Lottery to launch our new project, It Takes 2, which aims to match 100 people with learning disabilities with 100 people from the mainstream community who live locally and share an interest or passion. It )...	2015/11/13
Optua UK name changes to Avenues Monday 1 Feb 2016 Optua UK, the specialist provider of case management and support for people with an acquired brain injury, will now be known as Avenues. Optua UK, which became part of the Avenues group in 2011, has a fantastic track record going back over 20 years.)...	2016/02/01
Common misconceptions about autism Wednesday 23 Mar 2016   To mark World Autism Awareness Day, Regional Director Mickey Gray dispels five false ideas about the condition ... The rainbow-colored infinity symbol represents the diversity of the autism spectrum as well as the greater neurodiversity movement. )...	2016/03/23
Avenues achieves HSCIC compliance Monday 18 Apr 2016 Avenues has recently achieved compliance with the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) Information Governance toolkit (level two). Protecting people’s information is important especially when working with people who may be vulnerable. Av)...	2016/04/18
6 quick ways to practice mindfulness during your day Monday 16 May 2016 Mindfulness is an approach that helps people to manage their thoughts and feelings. Chris Gregory, Learning and Development Manager at Avenues has been delivering a mindfulness programme to staff across the organisation for the last 2 years. To mark )...	2016/05/16
Team from Avenues completes London to Brighton 100km challenge Wednesday 8 Jun 2016 Over the May bank holiday weekend a group of Avenues employees, some people we support, plus friends and family members attempted the London to Brighton 100km challenge. The aim was to raise money for our Active Communities Fund. The fund provides f)...	2016/06/08
Avenues project 'It takes 2' is connecting people based on shared interests Wednesday 22 Jun 2016 It’s Learning Disability Week and this year’s theme is friendship and relationships. We caught up with Carly Halpin and Jim Lord, Project Workers on our new project ‘It takes 2’ which aims to connect people based on shared interests. It takes 2 is an)...	2016/06/22
'It takes 2' update: July Friday 22 Jul 2016 Jim Lord, Community Development Worker, gives us an update on Avenues project 'It takes 2' and how it's going in Bromley so far. As this is my first blog … ever! I thought I would say a little bit about myself. I live in Bromley. I am married and hav)...	2016/07/22
New chair appointed Tuesday 9 Aug 2016 Terry Rich has been appointed Group Board Chair of Avenues Group. As chair, he will be responsible for the overall strategic direction of the group. Terry has unrivaled experience for the position having spent a long and successful career in the hea)...	2016/08/09
Avenues new supported living service in Tunbridge Wells Friday 12 Aug 2016 Over the past two and a half years Chris Crees, Service Manager at one of our supported living services for people with learning disabilities, The Pines, has been working to redevelop the site and get everyone moved in to the new building.   Kent Co)...	2016/08/12
National Citizen Service (NCS) programme comes to Avenues in Sutton Friday 9 Sep 2016 As part of the NCS social action scheme 13 young people came to Avenues in Sutton to help renovate an allotment for the people we support.   The NCS scheme aims to bring together young people aged 15-17, from a wide range of backgrounds to build ski)...	2016/09/09
Avenues’ new supported living service in East Sussex Monday 12 Sep 2016 Earlier this year Avenues was awarded a contract with East Sussex County Council to manage and provide support at two new supported living properties in Seaford for people with learning disabilities. The two services, opening this month, are part of )...	2016/09/12
Squirrel Lodge team praised for outstanding support Monday 26 Sep 2016 Squirrel Lodge is a supported living service where we support six adults aged 18-30 with learning disabilities and/or autism and behaviour that challenges. Over the past eight months the team there have been working with a young man, Ben* to increase)...	2016/09/26
Carly's blog - It Takes Two Tuesday 20 Sep 2016 Carly Halpin, Community Development Worker, updates us on It Takes Two, a project that is building community connections.   Hello from the diverse London borough of Greenwich; a suburb that feels distinctly progressive while being steeped in antiquit)...	2016/09/20
Transforming Care for Children and Young People: Mindfulness, Positive Behaviour Support and Active Support training for parents. Thursday 6 Oct 2016 Earlier this year, Avenues was awarded a Transforming Care grant by NHS England. The grant funded project in Greenwich worked with parents/carers who have children or young people with learning disabilities and/or autism and significant behaviour tha)...	2016/10/06
Running the London Marathon for Avenues Thursday 27 Oct 2016 Katrina Copping, talks about why she’s running the London Marathon next April for Avenues and how she plans to reach her £1000 target.   I previously worked at Avenues as a fundraiser and I still help out from time to time. I’ve seen loads of people )...	2016/10/27
Thomas Road holds Macmillan Coffee morning with Great British Bake Off finalist Thursday 3 Nov 2016 After fundraising by completing the ‘Bridge the Gap’ walk in Cambridge, Laura*, one of the people we support at Thomas Road, decided she wanted to hold a Macmillan coffee morning. Avenues supports three people at Thomas Road, a residential service ne)...	2016/11/03
Welmede and Avenues have merged Tuesday 8 Nov 2016 Avenues Group and Welmede announce today that they have merged. Welmede has become an operating subsidiary of Avenues Group. Our organisations share similar visions and values, making them an excellent fit.  By combining our resources and expertise, )...	2016/11/08
James's blog: 'To plant a garden, is to believe in tomorrow' Monday 14 Nov 2016 James*, who lives at Evelyn Fison Mews, talks about planting a garden in his new home and how it gives him hope for the future. Avenues support nine people at Evelyn Fison Mews, a supported living service for people with acquired brain injury in Sto)...	2016/11/14
Aisha's blog: getting to know people we support at a new service Friday 25 Nov 2016 Aisha Byamugisha, Service Manager at Amplio House talks about getting to know the tenants at her new service and why she thinks it’s an important part of being a manager. Avenues support five people at Amplio House, a supported living service in Bec)...	2016/11/25
Jim's blog: It Takes 2 Monday 12 Dec 2016 Jim Lord, Community Development Worker, updates us on It Takes 2, a project that is building community connections. As we move slightly further down the road on our journey with ‘It Takes 2’ I am starting to experience some of the emotions of being i)...	2016/12/12
‘It takes 2’ wins Community Cohesion Award in Greenwich Monday 19 Dec 2016 In October, Avenues project, ‘It takes 2’, won the Greenwich Action for Voluntary Service (GAVS) Community Cohesion Award in recognition of their work in the area. ‘It takes 2’ in Greenwich aims to connect 50 people with learning disabilities with 5)...	2016/12/19
Settling into our new service in Seaford Tuesday 20 Dec 2016 Earlier this year Avenues opened two new supported living services in Seaford for people with learning disabilities. We caught up with the people we support there to find out how they are settling in, how their lives have changed and what their plans)...	2016/12/20
My placement at Avenues Thursday 26 Jan 2017 Jazzmin Robinson, trainee police officer, blogs about her placement at one of our residential services in Kent. As part of my police officer training, I was given a placement at Avenues. I didn’t know what to expect as I hadn’t had experience in an )...	2017/01/26
Using systematic desensitisation with people we support Thursday 9 Mar 2017 Sarah Kean, Practice Development Lead at Avenues talks about systematic desensitisation and its value when working with people with learning disabilities and/or autism. So what is systematic desensitisation? It’s a type of behavioural therapy. It wo)...	2017/03/09
How we support people moving out of long-stay hospitals Wednesday 22 Mar 2017 Andrea Wiggins, New Project Director at Avenues talks about how we work with people moving out of long-stay hospitals, and support them in the community. Avenues started in 1993 supporting people moving out of long stay hospitals in Kent who had oft)...	2017/03/22
Sophie's blog: It Takes 2 Thursday 11 May 2017 Sophie, ambassador for Avenues project It Takes 2, blogs about her experience of the project and what she enjoys about being a part of the steering group.  I met Carly last year. We met in the Tasty Café in Eltham. We got to know each other very well)...	2017/05/11
A positive behaviour support approach to vision Thursday 25 May 2017 Avenues Practice Development team are working in collaboration with The National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) to raise awareness and deliver 'Vision Champion' training at Avenues around how visual impairments may link to behaviour that challenges)...	2017/05/25
Luke's Story Thursday 13 Jul 2017 When Luke* first came to Avenues East he was suffering from depression and did not want to leave the security of his bedroom. He now has a full-time job, and the end goal of working for B.T. In January 2016 Luke was signposted to Avenues East with a)...	2017/07/13
John Taylor, Avenues Trustee, commended for work in the community Tuesday 25 Jul 2017 John Taylor, Avenues Trustee received a commendation at Sevenoaks District Council’s Making it Happen Awards. Martin Chittell, Practice Development Lead for community at Avenues, nominated John for the Individual Community Champion award, which was p)...	2017/07/25
IiP recognises Avenues as great employer Wednesday 26 Jul 2017 Avenues has been awarded a silver accreditation against the Investors in People Standard demonstrating our commitment to high performance through good people management. Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said: "We'd like to congratulate Avenue)...	2017/07/26
Jim's blog: It Takes 2 - ‘All That Jazz’ Tuesday 1 Aug 2017 As part of my list of ‘things to do’ in 2017 I rashly decided to sign up for a weekly Jazz School at Bromley Youth Music Trust. I filled in the application form, wrote out a cheque (old fashioned I know) and sent it off. Soon I got an email welcoming)...	2017/08/01
Evaluation of equality and diversity training demonstrates value at Avenues Wednesday 2 Aug 2017 New data, taken from managers’ feedback on our equality and diversity training demonstrates the value and positive impact it has had across the organisation. Our equality and diversity training launched in 2015, and in 2016 a more advanced course was)...	2017/08/02
Rob's Blog: My trip to see Man U Tuesday 15 Aug 2017 Rob, who is supported by Avenues, talks about his recent trip to Manchester, and how it gave him the chance to do something he had always wanted to. ‘In April I went to Manchester with my Keyworker from Avenues, Jakki. The plan all started when me a)...	2017/08/15
Avenues well installed in Africa Monday 30 Oct 2017 We have invested in an AquAid Water Cooler for our staff to help keep them hydrated throughout the day.   We chose AquAid, because with each purchase an automatic donation is made to the Africa Trust. These funds are used to build ‘Elephant Pumps’)...	2017/10/30
Praise for development of complex service Monday 6 Nov 2017 (Pictured: Avenues Director Jayne Kilgallen, Executive Assistant Beverley Laurance, Deputy Chief Executive Jo Land with Ralph Michel from NHS England) Our newly-developed property at Amis Avenue opened its doors to partners from Surrey County Coun)...	2017/11/06
Jim's blog: It Takes 2 - ‘Every Contact Leaves a Trace’ Friday 17 Nov 2017 I’m famous - I’ve had a book written about me! Well, I was mentioned in a book … once .. and not by name.  I guess I’m not really famous after all. A former colleague of mine from my policing days has recently written a book (Blue A Memoir by John S)...	2017/11/17
CQC praises staff for consistently outstanding work Thursday 23 Nov 2017 The outstanding supported living services provided by Avenues have once again led the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to award us its top rating. The South East team, which works across Kent, Surrey, Sussex and Essex, was the first Supported Living so)...	2017/11/23
More recognition for outstanding support services Friday 24 Nov 2017 The Group’s outstanding outreach services in Surrey have won a prestigious Surrey Care Award. The recognition follows a CQQ inspection of the services delivered by the Welmede team earlier this year.  The watchdog carried out a wide ranging review of)...	2017/11/24
Supporting Personal Relationships guide launched Monday 4 Dec 2017 Avenues believes that supporting choice around personal relationships is essential for a fulfilling and meaningful life. Area Manager Malcolm Mitchell developed and leads the organisation’s training on relationships, sex and sexuality for people with)...	2017/12/04
Avenues training endorsed by Skills for Care Thursday 7 Dec 2017 Skills for Care has confirmed that Avenues is now one of its Endorsed Training Providers, after a rigorous evaluation of the charity’s training and processes. The endorsement framework embeds the Common Inspection Framework, National Occupational Sta)...	2017/12/07
Richard's Story Friday 9 Feb 2018 When Richard first moved into Glebe House, our residential service for people with mental illness, he was suffering from severe depression and had as a result attempted suicide. Service Manager Abdul Mursal describes how, with understanding and consi)...	2018/02/09
Sight training making an impact Tuesday 13 Feb 2018 Avenues is working with The National Institute for Blind People (RNIB) to raise awareness and deliver 'Vision Champion' training, which is centred on how visual impairments link to behaviour that challenges and positive behaviour support (PBS). Avenu)...	2018/02/13
New funding for sight loss project Thursday 8 Mar 2018 Avenues has been awarded new funding to continue its work to address sight loss among the people it supports. The grant from Health Education England follows the evaluation of a pilot project run with the Royal National Institute of Blind People )...	2018/03/08
Gender Pay Gap Data Thursday 22 Mar 2018 Avenues is a not-for profit organisation which works with people with autism, learning disability, and multiple or complex needs. Our mission is to reduce the disadvantage people face through their disability, illness or injury, and we are opposed to)...	2018/03/22
Award-winning Avenues project continues to inspire and motivate Tuesday 24 Apr 2018 ‘Increased confidence’ and ‘being more connected in the community’ are just some of the participants comments reported in second year of the ‘It Takes 2’ (IT2) project. Findings from Lottery-funded IT2, which supports those with a learning disabilit)...	2018/04/24