Community Connecting

Who we are

The Community Connecting Team is a service for young people and adults with special educational needs and disabilities, including autism. We aim to support our customers to find out more about their local community and how they can independently access some of the following:

• voluntary work
• travel training
• joining clubs
• meeting friends or making new friends
• socialising
• further training and vocational courses

Community Connecting forms part of a wider team called Employment and Community Skills (ECS) which includes:

• Wiltshire Employment Support Team (WEST)
• Wiltshire Supported Internships (WSI)
• Funded Travel Training
• Get Connected (GC)

We can help you

look at community and volunteer opportunities that interest you and how you will get there
identify your skills and strengths, then help you to develop any new skills needed
fill in voluntary work application forms and support any interviews
identify your training needs and signpost you to where you can get help with that
review progress with you and the opportunity

The team apply a person-centred, yet realistic approach, working with you to use your community facilities to do things you enjoy, with the planned aspiration for you to do this independently.

When Community Connecting receives your referral you will be allocated to a community co-ordinator, who will meet with you to register you to our service. Your community co-ordinator will ask you what type of volunteering or leisure interest you wish to pursue.

When found, we then plan with you how you are going to get to your chosen activity/voluntary position and will support you in this for the appropriate length of time. We will review our work with you regularly to ensure you are able to sustain your chosen activity/voluntary position.

There will be responsibilities expected of both you and the community co-ordinator, these will be explained to you and reviewed regularly.

We are always striving to support people on the pathway to adulthood, employment and beyond and will discuss a referral to Wiltshire Employment Support Team (WEST) where appropriate.

Who is eligible?

You can be referred to Community Connecting if you;

live in Wiltshire (local authority boundary area)
are motivated and committed to independence
are not supported by another employment agency *This is in relation to customers seeking voluntary work

It then depends on who is referring you;

In most cases we are funded to provide services via social care or SEND services provided by Wiltshire Council.

If you are 16 to 25 years old, depending on the circumstances, we can, on occasion take a self-referral if you are on the autistic spectrum, including Asperger’s and do not access any services from Wiltshire Council.

This is on a case by case discretionary basis, and not always possible.

Adult Social Care Referrals –

18 years of age and above
Has an assessed eligible need for this service (Care Act 2014)
Identified under the following Reported Health Conditions
- Learning Disability
- Autistic Spectrum – Autism, Asperger’s Syndrome, High functioning Autism
- Physical Impairment Acquired physical injury
- Neurological – Stroke, Parkinson’s, Motor Neurone’s, Acquired brain injury
- Sensory Impairment Visually impaired – Hearing impaired

SEND Service Referrals –

young people 14 to 25 years of age with a My Plan or Statement of Special Education Need (SEN) or previously held a statement.
young people with ASC not meeting the above criteria; (Not Funded Travel Training)
16 to 25 years of age