Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service
Charities Evaluation Service Learning and Innovation Prize
Mental health charity Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service has won its fifth prestigious national award.
The prize, from the Charities Evaluation Service, recognises organisations which have used monitoring and evaluation to improve their services. Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service won the 2011 small charity award. Winners were described as inspiring examples of the difference which monitoring and evaluation can make.
Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Service provides out of hours services to people in acute mental health crisis, which are an alternative to psychiatric hospital admission and statutory services. They provide a helpline Connect, and at Dial House, a place of sanctuary and support.
Their entry described the journey from almost having funding withdrawn in 2005, due to our services being under used. After consultation with mental health service users they changed their opening hours which led to a 400% increase in the use of services between 2005 and 2006. They developed a range of ways for collecting information from visitors and callers. Through monitoring, the Crisis Service realised that loneliness and isolation were high presenting issues. They set up a group to provide social and peer support, and now have a thriving programme of four groups, run entirely by visitors and callers.
As well as improving services, the information collected enables Leeds Survivor Led crisis Service to disseminate good practice and promote alternative, non medical approaches to acute mental health crisis. It supports them to champion being a survivor led, person centred service in the voluntary sector.
With commissioning increasingly dominated by the need to demonstrate outcomes, they are delighted to have an award which recognises their work in this area. In previous years, they have won awards for service delivery:
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Guardian Public Service Award 2006, for Customer Service
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Guardian Public Service Award 2007, for Complex Needs
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Community Care Excellence Award, 2008, for Service User Involvement in Mental Health
