Local Area Coordination

Overview

We want everyone in South Tyneside to be part of an empowered and thriving community. A place where people feel they can contribute to their own community, are welcomed and supported in their daily life.

To help deliver this vision we have started to introduce a new way of working called Local Area Coordination.

It's a community-based approach that helps people stay strong, safe, and connected. It focuses on building relationships and supporting residents.

Local Area Coordination will:

help people to stay strong and well within their local community
develop welcoming and supportive communities
encourage system change and the transformation of our public services by understanding the challenges and issues people face when they need support

This approach has been developed successfully in other areas of the country. For more details on how this has worked see .

How a Local Area Coordinator can help you

A Local Area Coordinator will simply provide you with the right amount of support that works for you.

As they're based in your local area, coordinators know local people and know what local support is available.

Whatever area of your life you would like support with, they will work with you to recognise your own capabilities, community networks and the practical resources already around you, preventing the need sometimes for more formal support.

If you're facing a challenge in life at the moment, they can also help.

They want to help people avoid reaching a crisis in their life and can help you to recover if a crisis has already happened.

They won't tell you what you must do or do things for you, as we know working this way takes away the opportunities for people to learn new skills, build independence and resilience.

Coordinators will work with you so together you find a solution to make your life better.

What they can help you with

Local Area Coordinators will:

take time to listen and get to know you
help you think about what a good life means for you and how you can work towards that
help you access relevant information and advice
help you think about and discover your strengths, skills, talents and abilities
introduce you to friendly people in your community
help you to stay strong and be heard
aim to help you find practical solutions to issues
support you to become more connected and active in your community

Community support

As well as individuals, coordinators can also help community groups and organisations.

They can help local community groups to keep going and grow by introducing more people and supporting them with things like finding opportunities for funding.

Local Area Coordinators can also support people setting up groups when someone has an idea to start something new.

How it works

Local Area Coordinators cover specific geographical areas.

At the moment, the only criteria to receive support from a Local Area Coordinator is to live in one of the areas where they are based. These are:

Primrose
Whitburn and Marsden
Biddick and All Saints

This is an exciting project, and we hope to introduce it to more areas in the future.

Other than that there's no other criteria. Support is:

free of charge
informal and easy to access - you don't need to have to complete any forms to sign up, simply just get in touch
available for however long you would like - it could be a short chat with someone or it could be ongoing
available even if you're getting support from formal channels, for example from childrens or adults social care or health teams

You have complete choice and control over what we do or don't help you with, and the number of times you meet really depends on what you want to achieve.

We will provide you with just the right amount of support to help you achieve the changes in your life you want to make.

Contact us

If you would like support from a coordinator for yourself, or if you would like to introduce someone you are working with, please get in touch with your local coordinator: