Our team of Bilingual Community Navigators have been offering Social Prescribing casework support to residents of Brighton & Hove since 2018.
Here is a recent example of the brilliant support offered by this service.
Service User D self-referred to SIS. He had been suffering with a severe problem with his spine and his knee ligaments; the pain had been causing him depression and insomnia. His GP had made a referral to Orthopaedics but there was a long waiting list – he was looking for help to try to speed this up.
He also needed help to contact the Home Office as they had misinformed him of the date of an important recent appointment, causing him to miss it. Furthermore, he needed help to seek legal support with his application.
In addition to this, he was looking for help to apply for a National Insurance Number (NIN), to learn English, and for some financial support and help with food access.
Having carefully formulated an action plan together our Bilingual Community Navigator (BCN) supported D with the following:
- Referred on to our Bilingual Advocacy service for help with chasing up the secondary healthcare referrals.
- Contacted the Home Office to arrange a new Asylum seeker application interview.
- Referred to Voices in Exile for some Immigration legal support with his application.
- Helped to apply for the NIN.
- Made a referral for English classes and group activities.
- Referred to a local food bank and community kitchens.
- Provided some day bus passes through our additional Newcomers funding in order to help with access to the above groups.
- Referred to weekly Sanctuary drop-in sessions for refugees and asylum seekers.
D provided the following feedback on the support from his BCN:
“I had been feeling isolated. This is the first time someone has asked me if I need something. I am very grateful as this is the first time, in the year and half since I arrived in the UK, that I have received such great support in such a short space of time. Without your help, I would never know that these services exist in the community.”
Note: We collaborate with Social Prescribers to write these stories but remove the names of the Social Prescribers, the language used and other details to ensure confidentiality for Service Users
