The below is a message from the team at our Fulfilling Lives South East project which closes today, leaving an incredible legacy behind it.
Thank you and farewell from FLSE
Here we are, at the end of the eight year Fulfilling Lives South East Project, and what an incredible journey it’s been. The project has involved many people and we have learned and achieved so much. We have forged new partnerships and connected with like-minded people right across Brighton & Hove and East Sussex. We have developed innovative projects, forged a model of co-production that others wish to emulate, we have influenced national policy, informed new governance arrangements locally, and advocated so that individuals experiencing multiple disadvantage have been recognised locally as a strategic priority.
We have hosted learning events and conferences, engaged in national debates, participated in local partnerships, facilitated new networks, used data to shine a spotlight on people’s needs and case studies to celebrate their achievements but most of all we have ensured that individuals facing multiple disadvantage are not ignored, othered, labelled or given up on.
Although we have achieved a lot the work is not over. There is still much to do. Still shocking inequalities experienced, individuals let down by services and facing early death, stigma and discrimination. The next chapter for multiple disadvantage has already started with the government’s Changing Futures programme, which arguably would not have come about had it not been for the work of Fulfilling Lives.
Thank you to everyone who has been with us on this journey. To our host organisation BHT Sussex, who have trusted the project to act with autonomy yet offered ongoing support and stable leadership. To every single person who has worked or volunteered on the project since 2014. To our clients who bravely shared their stories and inspired us to continue this work, even on the tough days.
Thanks to our partner agencies and delivery partners who helped us to shape best practice, model trauma-informed, assertive yet compassionate case coordination and crush the myth of ‘non engagement’. To our national partners across the country, sources of peer support and inspiration. Finally, to our great colleagues at the National Lottery Community Fund, without whom none of this would have been possible. To be trusted to try new things without fear of failure has been a rare gift which has been cherished.
From 1st July 2022, Fulfilling Lives South East as a project will cease to exist, as team members join past colleagues in moving onto other roles and opportunities. The team has evolved over the years and people have joined and left along the way but what has remained has been a consistent thread of collaboration, compassion and hope that we can make a difference and that things can change for the better. We sincerely hope that Fulfilling Lives as an ethos and repository of ideas will live on. You can find all the learning resources we have developed on the BHT Sussex website here.
From Fulfilling Lives, this is thank you and good bye, and please remember you can be the change you wish to see.
