A COUNTY OVERVIEW
We have been working in partnership with Somerset County Council since April 2006. We are proud to help deliver, support and shape a range of services to the citizens of Somerset, including:
• Disability Advocacy Service
• Independent Living Fund Service
• Self Directed Support Service (Direct Payments)
• Payroll Service
• Short Break Service
We operate across the breadth of the county, and our individual clients remain at the heart of everything we do, in order to ensure “choice and empowerment”.
Disability Advocacy Service
Advocacy can be defined as “taking action to help people say what they want, secure their rights, represent their interests and obtain services they need”.
Advocacy is about helping a person to be heard. Most people can act as advocates and use advocacy daily, for example parents listen to the needs and wishes of their children; managers respond to the views of their staff; friends stand by each other and offer support.
Sometimes more formal methods of advocacy are required and this is often referred to as Independent advocacy. Such an Advocacy service is delivered by A4e in our Somerset branch. Advocacy is a tool that can be used in a variety of ways to ensure that minority and disadvantaged groups in society have a means to know about, and gain, the same life opportunities as others. Click here to find out more
Independent Living Fund Service
The Fund is set up as a national resource and its primary aim is to help people with severe disabilities to live independently, in their own homes, rather than a care setting and have greater opportunities for choice and control in their individual care arrangements. We work in partnership with the client, their Social Worker and the National Independent Living Fund assessors to ensure that applications to the fund and management of the scheme run as smoothly as possible. We will provide home visits offering advice and support throughout the whole process. Click here to find out more
Self Directed Support Service (Direct Payment)
Direct Payments are money paid to people with assessed care needs so that they can choose, arrange and pay for their own care services.
Direct Payments make it possible for people to have more choice about, and control of the type of help and support they have to meet their care needs. Direct Payments can be given instead of community care services when care needs have been agreed after an assessment.
You can also have a Direct Payment to pay for some of your care and ask Social Services to arrange the rest. This is a good way to see if a Direct Payment is really what you want. Click here to find out more
Payroll Bureau Service
Lack of support with payroll and employment issues are the most frequently stated obstacles to using Direct payments. We can provide support to help you with the responsibilities of being an employer, including help with Statutory Sick Pay and redundancy payments etc. We can also act on your behalf, if you have authorised us to do so, so there's no need for you to worry about inspection visits, HM Revenue & Customs liaison, or dealing with payroll-related correspondence and paperwork. Click here to find out more
Short Breaks
Short Breaks is now the preferred term to Respite Care.
It is acknowledged that it provides a vital role in supporting disabled adults and their carers to maintain both a balanced and positive “care” environment and offer continued choice and control in accessing a mixture of shared and individual life experiences outside of the traditional home care environment and routine.
Our Short Break service (subject to eligibility criteria) provides a free, tailored individual service that will work with the person to consider anything from specialist transport, accommodation and access, alternative care arrangements, equipment, financial planning and much more. Click here to find out more
Meet the A4e Team in Somerset
Disability Advocates Team
Bridget Brown – Taunton Deane
Jackie Churchill – Somerset Coast
Louise Richardson – Mendip
Richard Lees – South Somerset/Taunton Deane
Short Break Service Developer
Rhys Davies - Somerset
Independent Living Fund Service Developer
Bridget Brown – Somerset
Self Direct Support (Direct Payments) Team
Alice Davies – Self Direct Support Advisor -Taunton
David Gray – Self Directed Support Advisor - Mendip
Diane Morris – Self Directed Support Advisor - Somerset Coast
Peter St Clair – Self Directed Support Advisor – South Somerset
Payroll Bureau
Ruth Boden – Payroll Team Leader
Laura Anderson – Payroll Officer
Telephone 01642 245439
Fax 01642 230147
Emailpayrollmiddlesbrough@a4e.co.uk
Office Administrator
Jen Fleming
Business Manager
Gary Newton
Contact us
A4e
2nd Floor
Victoria House
Victoria Street
Taunton
TA1 3FA
Telephone 01823 339494
Fax 01823 339492
Email tauntonenquiries@a4e.co.uk