The Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition – formed of the national charities Clinks, Homeless Link and Mind – has today welcomed £2.78 million in new funding from the Big Lottery Fund to significantly expand support for people with multiple needs across England over the next five years.
People with multiple needs face a combination of problems including homelessness, substance misuse, contact with the criminal justice system and mental ill health. Working together, the MEAM coalition charities support local areas across England to develop effective, coordinated approaches to multiple needs that can increase wellbeing, reduce costs to public services and improve people’s lives.
This is achieved using the MEAM Approach, a framework to help local areas better coordinate services for people facing multiple needs, and by providing support to local areas that are part of the Big Lottery Fund’s Fulfilling Lives: Supporting people with multiple needs programme.
The new grant will enable MEAM to:
- Significantly expand the number of areas that it is supporting
- Bring together data from MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives areas to make a strong case to government about the impact of local interventions for people with multiple needs
- Share good practice across the MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives networks
- Ensure that more individuals are empowered to tackle their problems, reach their full potential and contribute to their communities.
MEAM will work closely with people with lived experience of multiple needs to deliver this programme, and to ensure that they are involved in the plans developed by local areas.
Recruitment for new staff across the coalition charities has been launched alongside a ‘register your interest’ process for areas wishing to use the MEAM Approach and benefit from the support made possible by the new funding.
Oliver Hilbery, Director of the MEAM coalition, said:
“We are delighted to be working with the Big Lottery Fund and all the local partners on this new phase of our work. Together we want to build on the wealth of expertise that exists in current MEAM Approach and Fulfilling Lives areas and draw this learning together into a powerful case for national change. For too long, people with multiple needs have received a poor response from local services that are designed to deal with one problem at a time. We are committed to working with local areas and with government at all levels to change that for good.”
Baroness Claire Tyler, Chair of the MEAM coalition, said:
“We strongly welcome the support from the Big Lottery Fund for this expansion of our work. We know that by using the MEAM Approach local areas can improve the lives of some of the most disadvantaged people in our society. I’m very excited that more areas will now be able to develop joined-up services that respond to individuals’ needs and aspirations. This new funding will significantly extend the reach and impact of the MEAM coalition and allow us to ensure that learning from local areas is used to shape national policy responses.”
James Harcourt, Big Lottery Fund Deputy Director of Responsive Programmes, said:
“We are very pleased to have made this award to the Making Every Adult Matter (MEAM) coalition. Through their previous work with the Fulfilling Lives programme and their own network of MEAM Approach areas they have shown themselves to be committed to changing the way that people with multiple needs are supported in local areas. This new funding will allow us to bring together the two networks and reach even more people”
ENDS
You can learn more about the MEAM Approach by watching our new video about local areas’ experiences.