Social Finance

Huge congratulations to our partners, colleagues and fellow #socialinvestment pioneers Macmillan Cancer Support Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Marie Curie UK Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust Sobell House Hospice for being shortlisted for significant awards by Health Service Journal. At the "glittering" (see pictures!) Independent HealthCare Providers Awards 2025 ceremony last night, the Marie Curie Responsive Emergency Assessment and Community Team (REACT) in Bradford was Highly Commended by the judges in the category Best Contribution to the Improvement of Urgent and Emergency Care. And although we didn't "win" in the category Best Not for Profit Working in Partnership with the NHS, for the Rapid Intervention for Palliative and End-of-Life Care Service (RIPEL) in Oxford - we're still a winning team! Enjoy the photos Diana Howard Amelia F. Mary Walding, Kerri Packwood Franziska Barth Sarah Holmes Annette Weatherley RN, BSc, MSc Dr Clare Rayment Kevin Hunt Frances Mulley Dr Jacob Mushlin Deborah Penfold Dr Natalie Sanderson, Elizabeth Delcore Andrew Wilson-Mouasher Bhavya Mehta We're particularly fond of the one featuring our Social Finance goddesses Liz Egan Suzanne Woodman Katy Saunders Tara Rowe-Smith Bhavya Mehta flanked by what appear to be two "Angels of Health"! Special mention to Prof Bee Wee & Jason Dorsett who couldn't make it, but were much missed. Nadine Smith Caroline Gadd Katy Nex Angus Kerr

A no-brainer and a game-changer! That’s the message to government from Kerry Martin and Emily Burr, experts by lived experience, writing in the Big Issue about our report Independent advocacy for independent lives, funded by The Henry Smith Charity. Kerry and Emily from People First Dorset, an advocacy charity for people with learning disabilities and autistic people, have a regular column in their local paper the Dorset Echo but this is the first time they’ve penned something for a national publication. This is our second article in the Big Issue this week - so a big shout out to Ryan John Butcher their News & Digital Editor. Extracts from the article appear below but to read the full article click on the link in the comments.   “Hello, it’s Kerry Martin and Emily Burr here, sharing our insights about what it’s like for us, living with a learning disability and the importance of being heard.   Last month a very important report was released by the not-for-profit organisation Social Finance, funded by The Henry Smith Charity. They found, after 3 years evaluating 15 organisations giving independent advocacy support for people with learning disabilities and autism, that for every £1 spent on their work, they save £12 from health and social care budgets. That’s a huge deal!   What is independent advocacy? Here in Dorset, it means meeting up with friends at Friendship Club and Speaking Up groups, organised by People First Dorset (PFD), a user-led grassroots charity. In these groups we build friendships, learn about our rights, and gain confidence to speak up for ourselves and share our worries ...   So, being able to speak up is important to us. Even more so when you read the evidence, that we see first-hand, of massive inequalities for people with a learning disability…   Our request to the government is simple. Many brilliant grass roots charities, who would have saved money, have folded as they weren’t valued. Government, please act soon and support those left. We can help you save more money. So, please read the report. Set up a fund. Make it a priority. Appoint a minister. Talk to us. Create simpler systems that work for people. We become more confident, more included and in control of our lives. And save you lots of money. That’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? A no-brainer and a game-changer!” Shiv K. Amy Telford Nadine Smith Department of Health and Social Care Tom Cahill Sue (NHS ENGLAND) Bottomley NDTi - National Development Team for Inclusion ALL WALES PEOPLE FIRST Georgina Duck Jacqui Shurlock Helen Eyers Steve Beyer Elizabeth Tilley William Jacks Jonathan Oppé Carmel McKeogh Laura Kerr Amy Telford Geoff Doncaster Percy Akudo Nadine Smith Caroline Gadd Tom Davies Fergus Hamilton Tanyah Hameed Laura Hughes Freuds+

People with learning disabilities and/or autistic people are continuously being failed in adulthood. The Big Issue has an article today highlighting our report Independent advocacy for independent lives (see link in comments) and our open letter to government signed by The Henry Smith Charity and 15 advocacy charities across the UK, asking for increased investment in advocacy services for people with learning disabilities and autistic people. Without the specialist support (including friendship!) offered by services such as People First Dorset Brighton and Hove Speak Out SPEAKUP SELF ADVOCACY LIMITED SWINDON ADVOCACY MOVEMENT Coram Voice Advocacy Alliance DARLINGTON ASSOCIATION ON DISABILITY too often people end up in hospital for extended periods. Today the BBC reported on the shocking case of an autistic woman with a learning disability who in their words was "wrongly locked up in a mental health hospital for 45 years, starting when she was just seven years old". And we heard similar very moving stories at the launch of our report at the Houses of Parliament last month. The government has pledged to shift care from hospital to community and reduce the numbers of people with learning disabilities and autistic people in hospital and we welcome this. We urge health ministers to read the piece in The Big Issue magazine that offers a solution with the help of the non statutory advocacy sector. Let's stop the endless scandal of inappropriate in-patient care for people with learning disabilities. We want government to succeed here and we have a solution that works and even saves the NHS money. Department of Health and Social Care Tom Cahill Sue (NHS ENGLAND) Bottomley NDTi - National Development Team for Inclusion ALL WALES PEOPLE FIRST Georgina Duck Jacqui Shurlock Helen Eyers Steve Beyer Elizabeth Tilley William Jacks Jonathan Oppé Carmel McKeogh Laura Kerr Amy Telford Geoff Doncaster Percy Akudo Nadine Smith Caroline Gadd Tom Davies Fergus Hamilton Tanyah Hameed Sarah Gordon Laura Hughes

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We're delighted that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has seen and responded to our report, Independent advocacy for independent lives, on how access to specialist advocacy services supports people with learning disabilities and autistic people to live the lives they want to live. Thanks to BBC Woman's for covering the issue on today's programme and to Laura Kerr for her straight forward explanation of how advocacy services like People First Dorset not only transform lives, but also prevent people with learning disabilities and autistic people reaching crisis point - resulting in A&E admissions, extended stays in hospital, and other costly interventions. Laura's charity and 14 other specialist advocacy services across the UK received grants from The Henry Smith Charity Advocacy Fund, with Social Finance working alongside them as a learning partner. The final report based on 2 and half years of research by Social Finance, found that not only does access to specialist advocacy services support people with learning disabilities and autistic people to speak up about their needs and ask for the things they want - it also saves money. An independently verified financial analysis carried out for the report demonstrated that every £1 invested in advocacy services saved £12 (£7 for NHS & £5 for local authorities). When asked for a comment by Woman's Hour the DHSC said that they are “committed to championing the rights of disabled people, and we work with them so that their voices are at the heart of everything we do”. They also said that they’re “launching an independent commission into adult social care that will start a national conversation into what working aged disabled people and older people and their families should expect” In her interview, Laura said “I’ve been in the sector for 25 years, there’s been one review after another. … but our members - people with learning disabilities - tell it best about the difference that what we do makes to their lives... And I know Social Finance have put forward a case for an Advocacy Fund for the next spending review in March, and we’ve got a government who say they are really committed to a preventative and partnership agenda with civil society and charities. And this is it! This is what we’re doing. If you want a quick win this is how you can do this. The biggest message is we’re not going to be here if we don’t get that funding” Listen to the whole interview with Laura and her colleague Jo White, whose son is non-verbal and at 17 is about to transition into adult social care, on BBC i-player. The interview starts approx. 40 minutes into the programme. Find the link to our report in the comments. Nadine Smith Tanyah Hameed Fergus Hamilton Freuds+ William Jacks Jonathan Oppé Sara Jones Naomi Madden Tom Snell Helen Beevers catherine mundy Tom Davies Madeline Cooper

We're delighted that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has seen and responded to our report, Independent advocacy for independent lives, on how access to specialist advocacy services supports people with learning disabilities and autistic people to live the lives they want to live. Thanks to BBC Woman's for covering the issue on today's programme and to Laura Kerr for her straight forward explanation of how advocacy services like People First Dorset not only transform lives, but also prevent people with learning disabilities and autistic people reaching crisis point - resulting in A&E admissions, extended stays in hospital, and other costly interventions. Laura's charity and 14 other specialist advocacy services across the UK received grants from The Henry Smith Charity Advocacy Fund, with Social Finance working alongside them as a learning partner. The final report based on 2 and half years of research by Social Finance, found that not only does access to specialist advocacy services support people with learning disabilities and autistic people to speak up about their needs and ask for the things they want - it also saves money. An independently verified financial analysis carried out for the report demonstrated that every £1 invested in advocacy services saved £12 (£7 for NHS & £5 for local authorities). When asked for a comment by Woman's Hour the DHSC said that they are “committed to championing the rights of disabled people, and we work with them so that their voices are at the heart of everything we do”. They also said that they’re “launching an independent commission into adult social care that will start a national conversation into what working aged disabled people and older people and their families should expect” In her interview, Laura said “I’ve been in the sector for 25 years, there’s been one review after another. … but our members - people with learning disabilities - tell it best about the difference that what we do makes to their lives... And I know Social Finance have put forward a case for an Advocacy Fund for the next spending review in March, and we’ve got a government who say they are really committed to a preventative and partnership agenda with civil society and charities. And this is it! This is what we’re doing. If you want a quick win this is how you can do this. The biggest message is we’re not going to be here if we don’t get that funding” Listen to the whole interview with Laura and her colleague Jo White, whose son is non-verbal and at 17 is about to transition into adult social care, on BBC i-player. The interview starts approx. 40 minutes into the programme. Find the link to our report in the comments. Nadine Smith Tanyah Hameed Fergus Hamilton Freuds+ William Jacks Jonathan Oppé Sara Jones Naomi Madden Tom Snell Helen Beevers catherine mundy Tom Davies Madeline Cooper

People with learning disabilities and autistic people need access to specialist advocacy services if they are to live the lives they want. That was the clear message from our event at the Houses of Parliament last week. More than 50 people, many of them experts by lived experience, joined us from across the UK to launch our new report Independent advocacy for independent lives on Thursday. It was a truly inspirational experience for us at Social Finance, The Henry Smith Charity, and for everyone who was there. We want to say a special thank you to people who shared their personal stories with us and gave us the benefit of their expertise. Simone Aspis, Kerry Martin, From People First Dorset, Marshall Wilson and Amy Telford from Speakup - you are amazing! We need every MP and decision maker to listen to what you have to say. And thank you to everyone in the audience who asked a question or made a comment. Also thank you to Liam Conlon MP for Beckenham and Penge for hosting us. We'll have news of some exciting developments throughout the week, but in the meantime we wanted to share some photographs of the day. Percy Akudo Caribbean & African Health Network (CAHN) Nadine Smith Tanyah Hameed Fergus Hamilton Emily Barratt Brighton and Hove Speak Out William Jacks Sara Jones Laura Kerr Madeline Cooper Georgina Duck Jacqui Shurlock Helen Eyers Helen Beevers Hilary Paxton Tom Davies Naomi Madden Shout out to Maya Ziyu Ou Roberts for photography. #learningdisabilities #Advocacy #nothingaboutuswithoutus

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With record numbers in Temporary Accommodation the UK urgently needs more affordable rent #socialhousing. However, social housing development has always depended on government support, and worsening economic conditions mean the subsidy required per home has doubled in the past three years. A few years ago, 30% grant funding per home was viable, but today, 50-70% is required. With public finances stretched, new funding solutions are essential. Social Finance, with support from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) , is proposing a new funding model: the Affordable Homes Acquisition Scheme (AHAS). This approach would raise long-term (30-year) institutional investment at a modest premium over the gilt rate, with debt repayments structured to match the long-term cash flow of affordable rent housing. Initially low and rising over time, this structure makes housing investment more financially sustainable. For more detail on how AHAS works, and how it could help to increase the supply of more affordable rent social housing, scan the QR Code to read the briefing paper by David Fletcher Jonathan Flory & William Damazer. Caroline Gadd Susan McDonald, CFA Nadine Smith Homes England Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)