Community Access Service

The Community Access Service at Connect Three regularly benefits over thirty adults with learning disabilities on a weekly basis.  Individuals benefit from the service as they learn new skills, increase in confidence and independence and meet new friends.  Many of the community based activities also encourage individuals to integrate with wider society helping individuals to be fully accepted by others in their community. Those attending the service benefit from the stability of having a familiar setting each week.  Although the Community Access Service attracts a number of individuals that live in residential homes most people who access the service live with their families or independently.  The service provides respite for carers offering a safe environment to leave their child or family member.  Community Access Service is run by a project worker who can therefore provide support to any individuals that may require it.

Community Access Service provides support and facilities required for service users to gain greater access to their local community. This is achieved in various ways:

• Encouraging service users to go out into their community, ideally in a progressively independent way.
• Inviting representatives from various services and agencies to visit the Community Access Service.
• The service users’ occasionally invite their career/family to coffee morning for networking, information and sign posting opportunity.

As a result of the service, members become significantly more able to implement choice in their lives. The Community Access Service activities are user-led with meetings held monthly to decide the monthly activity programme.

The Community Access Service runs at Connect Three in Dartford on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10:30am until 3:30pm. 

From the 5th December 2009 Connect Three will also be open on Saturdays from 11.00am - 1.00pm.

For more information on the Community Access Service contact communityintegration@dgsmyourchoice.org.uk