At Look Ahead we are passionate about findingnew ways to improve thesupport we offer our customers.

Over the past year, we have beenlooking at how we can use technology during our key worksessions and to make the paperworkside of supporting you easier foreveryone.

Currently staff spend a lot of theirtime completing this paperwork

Heads-UpThis customer newsletter is the place to find out what's going on at Look Ahead

which means they have less time tospend with customers. As part ofsupporting you it is important thatour support workers keep track ofthe work they are doing with you,your goals and how and when youare achieving them.

To achieve this, most customers atLook Ahead have an individual support plan which is regularly updated. To help make this processquicker and easier we have beenlooking into different systems thatwill enable staff to fill in supportplans with you using a tablet or

Look Aheadpeople:meet FerdinandPage 8

From theheartyour poemsPage 4

Services update:what’s beengoing on?Page 2

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Finding new ways toimprove support

phone. Working like this will alsohelp make it easier to do important things like measureyour achievements and track yourjourney during your time with us.

This technology is going to affectboth staff and customers so we arelooking for customers who areinterested in helping us find theright tool for the job.

If you would like to be a part of this exciting project please speak to your Support Worker or let us know by emailing oliviagray@lookahead.org.uk.

lookahead.org.uk

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The service provides support to anumber of families with young children, so whilst the adults did thegardening the children painted birdhouses, fairy doors, parrots andbutterflies to hang on the fence.

At the end of March, Divinity, one of our customers at SouthwarkYoung People FloatingSupport performed live atthe Roundhouse Theatrein Camden.

With the help of her SupportWorker Ishita, Divinity recently applied for the OnTrack 2018 project. This is a six-week music and song-writing project, where participants work together to puton a live music performance at theRoundhouse.

What’s been going on in services?Getting ready for summer

Divinity on trackPlay exploresmental health

Divinity successfully passed the interview stage and was excited tobegin the programme. This involvedwriting her own songs, being involved in production and completing intense rehearsals. Before the programme, Divinityhad shared with Ishita that shewas afraid of performing live andwanted the OnTrack Project tohelp her overcome this.

On March 21st, Ishita attended thelive show, developed and producedby all participants, and wasamazed to see how natural andcomfortable Divinity was whilstperforming her three songs.

Customer performs at the Roundhouse Studio Theatre in Camden

Toni, a customer from our MileEnd young people's service haswritten a play called 'Mental'which is being performed at theEtcetera Theatre in Camden inMay.

The play discusses three main mentalillnesses, Anxiety, Depression andSchizophrenia, and explores howsomeone with a mental health needmay act or feel. It is being performed fora week throughout Mental HealthAwareness month.

At the end of March, customers at our Wellesley House service in Berkshire, held aBBQ and gardening event to get the communal garden ready for summer.

At the same time, the adults worked together to build new garden furniture,play equipment and a sandpit. A newvegetable patch, hanging basketsand planters have also been started,ready and waiting for the sunshine.

Mark Jolly (Wellesley House Manager) cooked everyone a BBQ to say thank you.

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I’m Cooler thanNick Clegg

You should be home restingNot feasting with the kingI’m cooler than Nick CleggYou flaky dunderhead.

So, stay in your bed, friend,your tracks will be deadenedFrom Peckham to West End

So try to just test meAs you shift and you shuffle,Your feathers will get ruffled.If you’re looking for troubleThe shuffle will get doubled.Popping a whiskey at work,staring into a bowl and lurchGive this guy a wide berthCause his beginning to burp.You go back to your jobLike nothing was stoppeddown in Canary Wharf.

Your rap book’s a dead endDon’t give up and rage quit,Cause this job’s the shit,It’s ours for the takingAnd soon we’ll be bakingThe dough will be raking,Till the movers and shakers,Think we’re never faking.

Almost giro day,Just waiting to get paid,

counting down the hours from the days.

By Thomas

POVERTYHow beautiful is the love of a mother

her softness, her kindness, her always being there.There is first play time, first new dress, first venture

alone without her.

Remember the first instance when we learn aboutthe world and when we express our desire to know it.

From day to day, the dinner is ready on the table,the toys are ready on the drive,

every celebration is a new experiencewhere the rudiments of life are learnt.

At night when the child is no longer alertthe sun sets and the innocence of sleep falls,

the child is transported to a world of make believewhere fairies soothe away the cares of the day

and total unconscious bliss is reached.

The next day alerts the children who will risein the warmth of the sun.

They are ready to explore, imagine andinvestigate secure in the love of their mama.

By Hazel

How beautiful isthe love of a

mother

The Recovery House

I can’t thank the stafffor all the things thatthey have done for mein the six weeks that Ihave resided at the Recovery House.

I am eternally gratefulfor each and every staffmember for taking meunder their wing andfor allowing me to grow emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally.Most important of allmentally.

Each and every staffmember I havebrought with me to mynew home. I have carried all of the staffmembers at the Recovery House rightin my heart.

Anna Maria

The whole world will be poor. The days of Robin Hood rob from the rich and give to the poor.

The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. What starts wars? Race, creed, colour, religion and when people are poor.

Ever since I’ve been in this country, I’ve felt poor.Back in the day it was penny for the guy.

Blessed is the child who has his own - For a growing kid doing milk rounds, paper rounds or washing cars.

I am disillusioned and down hearted.I’ve been down so long the only way is up.

The horse has bolted through the stable, there’s no looking back.

No one knows the future. You can’t predict the future.

Life is full of grief. The older you get, the more grief you get.Uncles and aunties are all dead and gone.

Some men don’t live past 21.

There are people out there who create the peace and keep the faith.The Lord moves in mysterious ways.

By Frank

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If you would be interested in helping us to plan the2018 Customer Celebration let us know by emailingcommunications@lookahead.org.uk.

For many people, the highlight ofthis event is our annual CustomerAwards. Customers are nominatedfor these awards by their supportworkers and we normally have a variety of categories including ‘Lifetime achievement’ and ‘I can and I will’.

These events are always a great opportunity for our customers tolearn new skills in one of our exciting workshops (past activitieshave included mask making, circusskills and seated yoga). As part ofthe day, we also invite customers toshow off their skills with musicalperformances like Kwame (pictured)who rapped at last year’s event.

As this event is all about our customers it’s important that we have customers involved in planning the event and what they would like it to involve. Each year we gather together asmall committee of current andformer customers who help us tochoose a venue, select the menuand decide what activities weshould run on the day.

Every year, we get together to celebrate our customers and their fantasticachievements over the past 12 months at our Customer Celebration.

Help us plan our 2018 Customer Celebration event

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SUDOKUWIN £25 HIGH STREET VOUCHER

Fill in all the squares in the grid so that each row, column and each of the 3x3 squares contains all the digits from 1 to 9. Email the digits in the blue squares to communications@lookahead.org.uk to be entered into the prize draw.

The winner will receive a voucher for £25

Letters may be used only once and the centre letter must be used in each word. No words withcapitals, hyphen or apostrophe, no verb forms ending in ‘s’ and no plurals ending with ‘s’.

R H R I B E S R NW M N H H KZ S R I F W E V NL S Z J M ZI S W O R T H Q JZ T W A N DK G Z O S P Q X US E B I Y AJ Y S N W F M W ME L V M V JT U I H L P D K AF M I Y L FZ M Y A N H W C WA A U N R NF N L C N A A V MA H J L G TM X D K D M F B QZ R S Z S TI O X N D K T Y OU E Z E W RF D N E G B K R WH W W T I HN E N Y S S O U OL O M A H WX U M N J N P K BX T E M C SK D K Y H R S Q XI T D J E ZA S V W E U O W XD X W I F H

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Find the one service listed that is not in the word search and email it to communications@lookahead.org.uk

First correct answer drawn out of the hat will win a £25 high street voucher.

London boroughs to include in the search:

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Win £25high street voucher

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This one is just for fun.

Look Ahead people: Ferdinand

Heads-up is created by andfor Look Ahead customers,and every issue we use thissection to get to know moreabout a staff member or customer. This time we meetVolunteer Officer Ferdinandwho helps to run the volunteering programmeacross Look Ahead.

lookahead.org.ukKings Buildings16 Smith SquareLondon SW1P 3HQ

Tel: 0207 368 4600

Ferdinandused to workas a SupportWorker in ourRichmond Ex-offendersservices andjoined the

Volunteering Department in December 2017.

He has been largely focusing onthe Peer Support Volunteer (PSV)program, which inducts our customers into our services to volunteer alongside our supportstaff. All PSVs attend a six sessioninduction course and are allocateda trained supervisor as part of

their placement. We currentlyhave 54 PSV services with peersupport volunteer commitments.

“I’m really enjoyingmy new role”‘I’m really enjoying my new role -what’s special is that I have a fargreater reach to our customersthan previously when I was supportworking. I’m meeting customersfrom many of our 100 plus servicesthat have entirely differing supportneeds and skills and it’s thrilling tonegotiate suitable opportunitiesfor them and facilitate positivechange for them. 99% of applicantsare so determined and motivatedto do this, it rubs off on you and istruly inspiring’, he says.

‘Increasingly, volunteers can walk away from a volunteering experience with achievementsthat will help them increase futureopportunities and possibilities forthemselves.’ Last year we had twovolunteers that became PSAs withthe organisation.

As well as the PSV program, thevolunteering department also offers Experts by Experience(EBE) training, where candidateswith lived experience, whethercustomer, staff or people fromoutside of Look Ahead, are trainedin the art of training. All applicantsundergo an accredited ‘Train theTrainer’ course, which enablesthem to deliver as well as designinternal training sessions for support staff. We’re always lookingfor new courses to be developed,so please get in touch with ideas.

‘The training is invaluable, as it isan opportunity for those whohave no lived experience, to havefirst hand contact with someonewho has a deep insight into a particular vulnerability,’ Ferdinandexplains. ‘It’s an opportunity toask questions, seek clarificationand gain detailed knowledge fromsomeone with direct experience,that will assist when communicatingwith and assisting our customers.It’s a massive confidence builderfor our support staff.’

Have you done something amazing that you would like to share? Are you involved in your local service?

If you would like to be the person we introduce in the next issue of Heads-up, let us know.

You can either send us an email with your details tocommunications@ lookahead.org.uk or call us on 0207 368 6972.

Do you want to be the next

person we talk to?