Caerphilly Cares

What is ‘Caerphilly Cares’?

The ‘Caerphilly Cares’ team, a team of established Caerphilly County Borough Council staff, will offer a new centralised coordination and response triage service for those county borough residents in need of support for issues such as food poverty, debt or rent arrears, isolation or loneliness.

‘Caerphilly Cares’ aims to offer the individual a single point of contact with the team, who will assist that individual in getting to the root cause of their issue, meaning they will only need to explain their situation once.

The team will then link up with existing services, both within Caerphilly County Borough Council and with partners, including the voluntary sector and local community groups, supporting that individual through their journey with those various services, from end to end.

What types of support can Caerphilly Cares offer?

This is a long term model for offering holistic support to Caerphilly county borough residents, but the Caerphilly Cares team’s initial focus will be on supporting residents & communities with the following:

  • Financial support – debt support, benefits and maximising income
  • Tackling food poverty – including referrals to Foodbanks, grants for community groups
  • Supporting individuals to access employment support programmes
  • Tackling isolation and loneliness - via links with local groups and/or the volunteering programme known as the ‘Buddy’ scheme
  • Practical support for individuals requiring support linked to Covid 19
  • Early intervention – such as mental health support and social prescribing
  • Building on partnerships with community groups

What is Caerphilly Cares NOT?

While the remit of support the Caerphilly Cares team can provide is broad, there are a few things that Caerphilly Cares is not.

It is not:

  • A call centre or a switchboard – any referrals made to the team need to be very specific to the remits of Caerphilly Cares
  • A ‘catch all’ for council service requests
  • A replacement for other services

The Caerphilly Cares team are a dedicated and passionate, yet very small team and need to prioritise taking referrals specific to the remits of what Caerphilly Cares can offer.

Some case study examples of Caerphilly Cares in action

Case study 1 – Resident A

The Caerphilly Cares team received an initial referral for a foodbank parcel for resident A. The resident explained they were experiencing financial difficulty and other personal circumstances.

The initial request (foodbank parcel) was fulfilled but as well as this, the Caerphilly Homes Rents team carried out a welfare benefits check and assisted resident A in claiming various benefits they didn’t realise they were entitled to.

Caerphilly Homes Tenancy Support Officers supported the resident in applying to the Help U scheme to help reduce water rates, and in applying for free school meals.

The Caerphilly Cares team also made referrals to The Parent Network, Families First programme and a local community group for additional support for resident A.

The result?

Holistic support provided from numerous departments, having been referred through a single point of contact. The individual is better off financially and able to live more independently.

Case study 2 – Resident H

The referral came to the team via the council’s IAA (Social Services) team.  Resident H needed support having moved to the local community from a refuge during lockdown.

The resident was referred to the local volunteer led Fare Share scheme to receive a weekly bag of food.  Referrals were also made to Flying Start and The Parent Network to support Resident H and their children to make new friends due to them not being from the area.

The resident was also supported to access a school uniform bank ready for children to start school, as they had been unable to purchase items due to lockdown and the cost.

The team also referred the resident to Caerphilly Homes to carry out a benefits eligibility check and referred to the local Pobl support worker.

The result?

Again, a package of support provided from numerous departments and organisations, having been referred through to the Caerphilly Cares team by IAA. The individual only had to ‘tell their story’ once and received end to end support through their journey.

What else does Caerphilly Cares aim to do?

The Caerphilly Cares model is underpinned by the principles within the Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.

The team will continue to work alongside the voluntary sector and community groups, building on the success of the COVID community response which saw a significant out-pouring of community spirit.

This community centred approach aims to:

  • Build on the success of the Covid community response
  • Facilitate the council, voluntary sector and communities working together in partnership
  • Mobilise assets in communities – making best use of the skills, knowledge and social networks available in communities
  • Link to community groups and activities
  • Harness and expend the community resilience demonstrated across the borough

How can I access support from Caerphilly Cares?

As highlighted above, the initial focus for Caerphilly Cares is to support individuals & communities with:

  • Financial support – debt support, benefits and maximising income
  • Tackling food poverty – including referrals to Foodbanks, grants for community groups
  • Supporting individuals to access employment support programmes
  • Tackling isolation and loneliness – via links with local groups and/or the volunteering programme known as the ‘Buddy’ scheme 
  • Practical support for individuals requiring support linked to Covid 19
  • Early intervention – such as mental health support and social prescribing
  • Building on partnerships with community groups
 

If you live, or are supporting someone, in Caerphilly county borough experiencing one or more of these issues – the Caerphilly Cares team would like to hear from you.

The Caerphilly Cares team are available during office hours – Monday-Thursday (8.30am-5pm) and Friday (8.30am – 4.30pm).

For general queries or service requests to Caerphilly County Borough Council, please continue to use the main switchboard number.

Contact us