A one-stop shop for personal, professional and organisational development

”We have been very impressed with Groundswell’s understanding of the challenges we face and their expertise in finding ways of working which genuinely engage our service users. Groundswell have proved to us their professionalism and ability to deliver. We are happy to recommend them to other service providers looking to improve their approach to service user involvement Mike McCall - St Mungo’s Executive Director of Operations

Involvement works! 

When everyone is meaningfully involved, not only does this create more effective services, but the process also helps people regain their independence.

Client involvement creates better policies and strategies, improves services, helps authorities and agencies meet government guidelines and reduces homelessness.  It requires some thought and good planning to be done well, which is the only way it will reap its potential rewards.  It also means more successful relationships between workers and clients, who in turn gain valuable life skills as an inherent part of the process.

Many people involved in homelessness know something about client involvement but few people know it all, so Groundswell shares its 11 years of experience enabling homeless people to involve themselves in finding solutions to homelessness.  Our expertise enables authorities, agencies and homeless people to work together, involving all stakeholders in discussions, and we provide training so that professionals and homeless people gain the skills, techniques and tools to ensure everyone can contribute their ideas based on their personal experience and knowledge.  Find out more on Groundswell’s training services below.

We also offer a range of capacity building training courses for homeless-led groups. The aim is to equip homeless people with the practical skills required to run successful projects. Our training services are unique in that accredited trainers who have personal experience of homelessness deliver them all.

Consultancy for Organisations Many authorities, networks and service providers understand the importance of client involvement and are at different stages with their ideas.  Groundswell’s consultancy lends our considerable experience to speed up the process of change and offer guidance about the steps towards involving service users in policy and service development.  We can discuss the specific local need and make recommendations, saving customers time researching what client involvement tools are appropriate.  More

Training for Professionals Groundswell helps professionals meet Government guidelines as well as developing more effective homelessness policies and services, ensuring best use of public money. Our bespoke training itinerary ranges from cultural and organisational issues through to practical insight and techniques about client involvement.  Modules meet Supporting People Quality Assurance Framework (QAF) standards.  More

Training for Homeless People Groundswell’s training equips homeless people with practical skills, enabling them to run their own projects and to involve themselves in discussions about solutions to homelessness.  Training has been designed to deliver skills that people can also use in their day-to-day lives and this personal development (along with the process of involvement in itself) helps individuals gain self-esteem and start on the path towards regaining independence.  More