Formed as a social enterprise and community interest company in 2014, You First Support Services, based in Martock, has grown exponentially and is now officially recognised as one of the leading providers for people with significant and complex needs across Somerset and surrounding areas.

Formed as a social enterprise and as a Community Interest Company, You First was established from scratch with a desire to help build and grow the lives of people with autism, learning disabilities and mental illness, in ways that made sense to them and establish a workforce that felt connected and valued.

Over the last seven years, You First employs more than 70 people and delivers more than 1,700 hours of support each week to some of the most vulnerable people in and outside Somerset.

You First has secured hundreds of success stories over the years, enabling people to enjoy a significant range of outcomes including:

• Enabling young mothers with learning disabilities and/or mental illness retain custody of their children and enjoy their basic human right to a family life.
• Supporting an individual with agoraphobia, who had not been outside his home for many years, and who has an overwhelming and debilitating fear of hospitals, attend an appointment at Yeovil District Hospital and undergo an invasive and painful procedure under local anaesthetic.
• Enabling a 50-year-old woman with significant autism, sensory processing disorder and bi-polar condition, who had experienced institutional abuse in another setting, rebuild her life, regain trust in people, reclaim old skills and learn new ones and become a respected member of her community.
• Building the confidence of a young man who had been told he would not succeed at life to a point where he took and passed his driving test and found employment and who now no longer requires support.
• Facilitating the move from long stay mental health hospitals to real community settings and seeing people flourish and build lives of value, worth and meaning
• Building micro-teams around people who had been labelled as ‘challenging’ or ‘difficult’ and seeing people engage in college, voluntary activity, building relationships, grow as individuals and not only enjoy their community but make meaningful contributions towards it.
• Being aspirational for people and seeing people gain awards linked to their hobbies and interests and become proficient in key areas, for example, exhibiting photographic art Andy Robinson of You First said: “We deliver much of its support via Personal Budgets, meaning that people remain in control of their lives by retaining absolute control of their support. Many people supported require us to be with them 24 hours a day, others engage with us for just a few hours a week, but in all cases the ethos remains the same – we exist to enable people to live their best lives according to their own world view and according to their own values.

“There are many, many more positive stories, stories of real people, leading real lives. This is not about You First success, it’s about people being given the space to become who they are and achieve success for themselves.”

You can find out more about You First at youfirstsupportservices.org.uk on Facebook at youfirst supportservices, at or ring 0300 111 9999.

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