Important Funding and Service Updates
LSLCS has sadly been subject to a reduction in funding which comes into effect from 1st April. The Management team and Board of Trustees have worked hard to implement the cost-savings with our staff team and visitors, callers and guests in mind. However, as a result of this reduction many of the staff across the organisation have been impacted and there are changes to some service offers.
Please note the following changes from 1st April:
Connect Helpline/Teen Connect – The services remain open 7 nights a week, every night of the year, so there will be no change to our opening hours. However, due to a reduction to staffing hours, there will be an impact on the number of supports we are able to offer each evening. This is incredibly disheartening as we are already significantly oversubscribed each night and staff work incredibly hard to support as many callers as possible. We remain committed to supporting our callers and we do ask for your patience with the staff team, who will be managing the loss of staffing hours alongside demand for the service.
Safe Zone – The service will change from being open three nights a week, to two, though we will be extending the opening times slightly on the remaining nights in an attempt to minimise the impact on the number of supports we can offer. The changes mean the service will be open on Wednesday, at Northpoint and Thursday at Dial House. The extended hours will enable us to be able to offer a social element to visits which is based on positive feedback from visitors around our monthly social night. More details will follow soon. We are very grateful for the continued goodwill of Touchstone for having housed Safe Zone for a number of years and for the generosity of Northpoint in supporting us with the move to Wednesday nights.
Dial House – The number of visits available each night will remain the same, however due to a reduction in staffing hours, the service will now close at 1am.
LSLCS has been delivering empathic, compassionate, emotional support since 1999 and we remain aware of the high need for this and committed to delivering it through this challenging financial climate for our callers, visitors and guests. Although the impact on the above services is visible in terms of the changes, please be mindful that our whole staff team has been impacted by the cuts and are doing their very best to continue delivering high quality emotional support, while also managing the impact that this has on them personally.
We are conscious that some of these changes may affect your experience of seeking support with us. We will do our best to minimise the impact of these changes on our callers, visitors and guests, but please get in touch with the senior management team if you have any questions, queries or feedback on 0113 2609328 or by email at smt@lslcs.org.uk