Elmore’s History
Elmore Community Services has a local and national reputation for delivering innovative services and pioneering research. Here are a few highlights from our history.
- Feb 2017 – Elmore is funded by Oxfordshire County Council to provide intensive support for adult survivors of CSE.
- Summer 2015 – Elmore becomes part of the Oxfordshire Mental Health Partnership (see OMHP tab for more information).
- Apr 2015 – Elmore starts working with Turning Point to provide assertive outreach for individuals with complex needs, including substance use.
- Aug 2014 – Elmore starts a Trauma service, funded by the PCC, to work with current victims of exploitation and human trafficking.
- May 2014 – Elmore is awarded a Ministry of Justice grant to look at best ways to support offenders with communication difficulties (including hearing impairments).
- Apr 2014 – Elmore is awarded funding from Thames Valley Probation to work with offenders accessing supervision centres.
- Jan 2014 – Elmore celebrates its 25th birthday!
- Sep 2013 – Elmore is cited in the Bradley Commission BME Briefing (2013) as being “a good example of a team which, through a well-developed person-centred approach, appears to serve all its clients well.” It noted it was “characterised by its flexibility and holistic nature as well as its ability to work with high risk clients.”
- Sep 2013 – Elmore received a Department of Health grant for a project to support homeless adults with complex needs accessing A+E; this was discussed on BBC Radio Oxford.
- Sep 2013 – Elmore received funding to develop pathways of support for sex workers, and also to write an information handbook for sex workers.
- Aug 2013 – Elmore’s CEO takes part in BBC Radio Oxford’s Teenage Parent Week, to highlight the challenges and support needed for vulnerable young parents.
- Jul 2013 – Elmore became involved in the local MEAM (Making Every Adult Matter) initiative.
- Apr 2013 – Elmore was awarded funding from Oxford City Council to undertake an evaluation of local agency knowledge in effective support for sex workers and develop a signposting resource.
- Aug 2012 – Elmore was delighted to recruit its first volunteers, providing vital assistance and support to our administration and reception areas.
- Jul 2012 – The ASB team went county wide.
- May 2012 – Elmore recruited its first two GROW Workers. These trainee posts provide real opportunities of work for individuals who have previously accessed support services.
- Apr 2012 – With funding from Thames Valley Probation, Elmore delivered a yearlong pilot Court Diversion Service for people with mental health, autism and learning difficulties who were coming into contact with the Oxford Magistrate Court.
- Nov 2011 – Elmore ran a workshop at the “Community Safety and Mental Health Conference” on ASB and supporting clients with complex and multiple support needs.
- May 2011 – The Community Parenting Team was hailed as an example of multi-agency working in the Monro Review of Child Protection.
- Mar 2011 – Elmore Community Services was awarded contracts to deliver Mental Health Floating Support to clients across Oxfordshire.
- Mar 2011 – Elmore’s Complex Needs Team went countywide.
- Feb 2011 – The Evaluation Report for the work done by the ASB Team was published.
- Nov 2010 – Elmore received the Guardian Public Service Award, The Full Picture, for the innovative work done by the Anti-Social Behaviour Team.
- Sep 2013 – Elmore ran the local personalisation pilot project which empowered people to maintain and gain accommodation.
- Oct 2009 – The ASB Team was runner up in the Group Award for Exemplary Practice in Resolving Anti-Social Behaviour Incidents at the 2009 Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group Awards.
- Jun 2009 – Elmore received funding for No Place Like Home, an innovative Client Project that trained people with experience of homelessness to provide presentations and training to school children.
- Apr 2009 – Elmore established the Community Parenting Project, a partnership with Children’s Social Care, to support with young parents with complex needs.
- Feb 2009 – Elmore set up the Prisoners’ Support Team, which supported offenders with complex needs who were being released into the Oxford City community.
- Jan 2009 – We were selected as a recommended charity by New Philanthropy Capital.
- Oct 2008 – Members of a Client Project produced a short DVD about the work of our ASB Team.
- Nov 2007 – We set up a pilot service providing intensive support to people with mental health issues who are subject to Anti Social Behaviour legislation.
- Oct 2007 – Elmore user group began its anti stigma and discrimination project.
- Jun 2007 – Elmore increased its work with offenders by implementing a specialist prison post to begin working with people with complex needs prior to their release from custody
- Oct/Nov 2006 – Elmore workers and clients carried out a survey of the needs of rough sleepers in Oxford.
- Summer 2006 – Working with the police, we completed a successful pilot outreach project to engage with sex workers.
- August 2006 – Elmore refined our model and introduced the team approach to make us better equipped to respond in a crisis.
- May 2006 – We completed a six-month evaluation into the needs of prisoners due to be released to ‘no fixed abode’ (NFA) in Oxford City.
- May 2006 – Shelter concluded a 15-month project monitoring our work with rough sleepers. The project is summarised in Catching people who fall through the net.
- May 2005 – Elmore’s User Group started.
- 2001-03 – Funded jointly with Connection and Oxford Night Shelter, we delivered an older homeless people project.
- 1999 – With funding from the Department of Health, we researched and produced Reflections: user and agency perspectives on dual diagnosis in the City of Oxford.
- 1994 – We managed a successful court diversion scheme for mentally disordered people.
- 1991 – The pilot project ended, and several statutory funding bodies agreed to jointly fund the service, which became known as the Elmore Team. The funders remain involved with Elmore today.
- 1990 – We recruited a Continuing Care Worker to work with clients with HIV/AIDS and other physical health problems.
- 1988 – An Oxford research project studied the weaknesses of service provision for people deemed ‘difficult to place’. The result was a three-year pilot project for people who have complex needs. This was the beginning of the Elmore Team.
