A four-year project to boost support for young disabled people in the Selly Oak constituency by working with community groups, organisations and professionals has launched.
The Younger Adults Neighbourhood Network Scheme is being led by Bournville Village Trust, which has been commissioned by Birmingham City Council to roll out the scheme.
It will support community groups, organisations, and professionals to engage with and support adults with disabilities and/or with additional needs aged 18-49.
This includes younger adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, mental health difficulties, sensory loss or impairment and autism.
The project will work to understand what support is needed by people with disabilities or additional needs, which organisations and places are providing it and the gaps in support.
Angela Richards, Community Development & Involvement Manager at Bournville Village Trust, said: “To understand the needs of young people in the area, we will review the services currently available to see what is missing and develop new initiatives in response.
“We’re looking forward to working with the fantastic range of existing services, groups, organisations and places to plan how these services can be provided to really benefit young people in the Selly Oak area.”
The Younger Adults Neighbourhood Network Scheme will work across the Selly Oak constituency including Billesley, Bournbrook and Selly Park, Bournville and Cotteridge, Brandwood and Kings Heath, Druids Heath and Monyhull, Highters Heath, Kings Norton North, Stirchley and Weoley and Selly Oak.
It has been developed in addition to the Neighbourhood Network Scheme for 50 plus adults across Birmingham which was launched as a pilot in 2021/2022.
If you are an organisation, group or place that is already supporting young people with disabilities and/or additional needs and would like to be involved in the scheme, please call 07936948522 or email SOYANNS@bvt.org.uk
Founded by social reformer and chocolate maker George Cadbury in 1900, Bournville Village Trust is one of the Midlands’ longest-serving independent charitable trusts.
It provides a range of services from estate management and commercial premises to affordable housing and community support services that help people thrive. As a not-for-profit, all its surplus is ploughed back into the homes, facilities and communities it manages.
Bournville Village Trust works within more than a dozen diverse and distinctive communities in Birmingham and Telford and aims to create and sustain communities where people can thrive.