How we work
We believe in people
Above all else, we believe in people. It's the one thing that acts as a foundation for all our work. It means we focus on the people who use our services and do everything we can to make sure we're giving the best service possible.
When you come to one of our services, we'll make you feel welcome and supported, and we'll always treat you as an individual. We respect and support your choices, so we will work with you to find the right treatment and care options, rather than telling you what to do.
We'll get to know you as a person. We care about everything that's going on with you - your physical health, mental wellbeing, lifestyle and relationships - because they all play a part in helping you reach your goals.
We want the people who use our services to play an active role in shaping how we do things too. If you use our services, you can become a service user rep and give us feedback on what we can do better.
We're a charity
Change Grow Live is a charity. We're funded by councils and local authorities who commission us to provide services, and we sometimes receive donations from the public.
Because we're not a business, we're not looking to make a profit. So we can focus on making sure that everything we do is helping the people who use our services, and the wider public too.
We've been there too
Many of our members of staff have previously used our services. And many of our staff started as front-line workers, volunteers or peer mentors (including our Chief Executive).
We know this is a huge strength. Having that first-hand, frontline experience means our staff are in the perfect position to support the people using our services and our staff on the ground - they've been there, so they get it.
Read stories from staff, volunteers and people who use our services.
We look for evidence
We look at the data, and carry out research and analysis to make sure that everything we recommend is not just safe, but the most effective treatment too. And we'll never stop learning and looking for new evidence either.
We're solid
We've been around since the 1970s, when we started as a small local charity in Sussex. Since then we've grown to have more than 150 services across the UK. Our size gives us stability, because it means we've got a solid infrastructure, systems and process in place. It also means we can learn a lot and make improvements all the time by sharing learnings and best practice between all our services.
Partnership with Bounce Back
We work in partnership with Bounce Back, a Charity that trains and supports people in and out of prison, preparing them for employment on release, either with their own Painting and Decorating Social Enterprise or with partners in the Built Environment. This includes large construction companies and other corporates who recognise the talent in prisons.
Founded in 2011, Bounce Back delivers training and qualifications in construction industry skills including Painting and Decorating, Scaffolding, Dry Lining, CSCS and multiskills in 7 Prisons as well as in the community. They also have a dedicated team of case managers who support candidates through their journey from prison, preparing them for life on release either into further training or work. They have engaged with over 3000 people since they began and operate with a reoffending rate of just 10% against a national average of 50% so what they do works. Their Social Enterprise, which can employ up to 20 people at any one time, undertakes a variety of decorating projects in and around London and provides a direct pathway into employment.
Bounce Back is a charity that believes in giving people a second chance and shares our passion to help people live life to its full potential. This exciting partnership will enable us to work together to share our resources and expertise to do even more for the people who use our services, providing the last stage of the journey into a new life. We want to support Bounce Back to engage and train more people into employment and we hope to learn from their experience and expertise to develop the employment, training and learning offer across all Change Grow Live services.
Together we look forward to giving the people who use our services the best possible experiences and opportunities in life. To find out more please contact us. You can read more about Bounce Back on their website.