Friends and Places Together was conceived by our founder and current CEO, Denise Nygate, who was discussing with parents whose children attended special schools in the local area about who their friendship groups were.
Most parents did not know, as they were taken to school via minibus or taxi and did not get that interaction with other parents. This was concerning for parents whose children were moving on to college and they didn’t want friendships to be lost.
There was clearly a gap in the market for a service that focused on friendships. Using funding from Southend Borough Council a pilot scheme (2011) was put in place to allow young people to meet up with their friends outside the school or home environment. Evaluation of that pilot scheme clearly showed a need for a service that facilitates friendships for young people in Southend.
In 2014 we officially became a charity and have been going from strength to strength ever since. We have supported over 150 young people to experience the social life they deserve.
Our goal is to always help those who are struggling. Forming friendships is hard for a lot of people. We want to create a warm and safe environment for everyone to feel free to express themselves and make true connections with others.
Our staff as well as being DBS checked, are trained to help build friendships by being fully committed to helping others. They are patient and open-minded and endeavour to cater to everyone’s hobbies and interests. The staff we employ are young to reflect the ages of those we support and so everyone feels comfortable to be themselves, while still being supervised. Above all they are empathetic and caring and will always be there to listen to someone’s problems.
The building of friends and connections can be a long-term process. We therefore have Personal Development Plan for all our service users to reflect their personal journey with our charity. It is a great tool to see all the vast improvements people have made. It can outline all the new friendships made, the greater independence gained, the more confidence felt and so much more.
Seeing the amazing changes that our service users go through after accessing our support is amazing. Many arrive, low on confidence, lacking friends and wanting to do more but not knowing what to do or where to start.
After support with us, we see lifelong friendships develop and the change in mood and outlook on life is incredibly rewarding. To see someone really struggling and witnessing them turn it all around and knowing you helped with that, there is nothing better.
We are almost most proud when service users no longer need us anymore. They have built their connections and learnt the social skills and have matured into confident and amazing friends and have their social needs met outside of our support.
