Official opening of new supported housing service

15 November 2007

The latest addition to St Christopher’s range of supported housing services in Milton Keynes was officially opened by Councillor Irene Henderson on Tuesday 6 November 2007.

The new service is designed to house up to seven young people aged 16–21 who have moved on from higher-support services. This will be their last step towards fully independent living.

As area manager Karen Jackson said, “It’s just amazing to see the transformation in these young people, whose lives had been devastated by drug problems and other issues when they first came to St Christopher’s … and now, when they leave this centre, they can live alone in their own flats without any support.”

Young people can stay at the new centre for up to two years, but the average stay is reckoned to be more like six to nine months. Since St Christopher’s began managing the low-needs service in May this year, we have already had six positive move-ons (in which all the targets of a service user’s support plan are met and the service user is ready to live independently).

After cutting the ribbon to officially open the centre, Councillor Henderson made a very supportive speech in praise of St Christopher’s staff and service users. She was joined in her praise and celebration of the new centre by representatives from

• the Women’s Institute (who have been supporting this service from the beginning)
• Milton Keynes Council
• Milton Keynes Police.

Finally, and most importantly, neighbours and other local residents also attended. Many of them had not been initially enthusiastic about this service opening in their neighbourhood. The fact that they are now strong supporters of the service speaks volumes about the hard work and dedication of our staff, as well as the exemplary behaviour of our service users.