VALLEY HOUSE: An Overview
"Valley House believes that given the right opportunities and support, each of us would wish
to develop our potential and take control of the quality and independence of our lives. Valley
House puts these beliefs into action by developing services that meet individual aspirations
through partnership working with individuals, families and their communities." Valley House
Mission Statement.
Opened in 1977, Valley House is a multi-service hub operating from its community campus at
the Navigation Centre in Courthouse Green in the deprived North East part of the city. Its
community and volunteering history continues to be central to the organisation's values and
ethos. It sees itself as based in and serving its local community as well as the city.
Opportunities for local people including employment and volunteering are a continuous
aspect of all its services.
Valley House services include:
1. Supported Accommodation for people who are experiencing personal crisis and are
vulnerable to multiple disadvantage and social exclusion and need a staffed and
supported living situation
2. A Range of Floating and Outreach Support to enable people in their own
accommodation to address the practical and emotional aspects of their lives
3. Support for Children & Families to enable parents and children to feel confident,
valued, optimistic and self-confident members of their community
4. Young People Services offering services to young people including young parents to
develop their confidence, emotional and health, independence and educational and
employability potential
5. Personal Counselling/Pre-counselling to enable individuals to look at the personal
issues that may be affecting their ability to be more fully self-sustaining.
6. Personal and vocational training and education to enable people to recognise and
build upon their existing strengths and develop new skills.
7. Community Services which offers the community a range of facilities, advice and drop
in.
“Your sessions have been really
valuable to (my child) and me in
many ways and it’s been lovely to
get to know you over the years!”
“This is a wonderful place and I
would not change a thing.”
Service User
Parent
Many users of Valley House access a variety of these services simultaneously. The services
work in an integrated way to enable users to feel valued, self-confident and able to develop
their independence and become more fully functioning citizens within their own community.
Valley House have staff specialising in a range of disciplines including Social Work,
Children’s Work, Housing, Training and Education, Counselling, Youth and Community work.
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1 & 2: The Support Accommodation/Floating Support/Outreach services
include:
Single family, single person and Shared supportive accommodation.
Direct Access Emergency accommodation
Support to prepare for and move on to independent accommodation.
Floating (tenancy) Support services for people living in their own accommodation.
Of the above, our Supported Housing resident population is usually 56 adults and 40
children; this being made up of:
 40 domestic violence and abuse victims and families
 16 teenage parents.
24-hour staff cover ensures that service user residents with a wide range of complex needs
and chaotic lives receive a comprehensive planned package of support including immediate
support in crises and maximised opportunities to utilise change.
Our Floating Support service user population is usually 55 adults and 80 - 100 children; this
being made up of:
 25 higher-needs Teenage Parents
 30 Homeless families
Individual case-worker support ensures that each person is enabled both to achieve and
sustain their independence.
“Would like to thank everyone that
myself and my daughter have had
contact with. They have given us a
new life and we are extremely
grateful.”
“The service helped me to sort
out my problems. Someone to
talk to.”
Homeless Families Floating
Support Service User.
Service user, Domestic Violence
and Abuse Supported
Accommodation.
“I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for
my Support Worker.”
Staying Put service user quote
from the Independent
Evaluation Report (Coventry
University) on the service.
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3: Children Services include a comprehensive range of child-&-family-centred services
aimed at enhancing and improving the lives of children, young people and their families.
Sure Start Children’s Centre
Valley House Children’s Centre is the only voluntary sector Sure Start Children’s Centre in
Coventry. Its services include:
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Family Support takes place with families in their own homes. At Valley House we
understand the difficulties and challenges that parents face when bringing up children
and we offer all kinds of support to meet the specific needs of each child and family.
If more specialist help is needed we can help with access to other services including:,
speech and language therapists, social care, local pre and primary schools and
CAMHS and Job Centre Plus etc.
“The family support service has helped us
to get support which we did not know was
there. At a bad time in our lives our
support worker came to us and supported
us more than anyone ever has. She didn’t
judge you – she was just there to support
you.””
“I feel fully supported through
my family support worker and
this has given me confidence I
never thought I would have!”
Parent
Parent
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Stay and Play are lively sessions at the children’s centre where parents can come
with their children to play and learn together. Our qualified staff offer a range of
stimulating activities including music and rhyme, story time, puppets, construction and
creative and outdoor play.
 Cooking Groups – where parents can cook affordable, simple recipes with their
children and enjoy them together
 Parenting Groups – all our staff are trained in Triple P parenting techniques and can
offer a wide range of advice around child development and behaviour management in
the early years. Parents are offered the choice of small group work, 1:1 support or a
series of ‘one-off’ seminars about specific issues; for example tantrums, fussy eating,
sleep routines etc
 A Parents Forum with monthly meetings where interested parents are invited to come
together to discuss future plans, share their ideas and contribute to the management
of the Children’s Centre
“The previous times that I have
“The previous times that I have
brought (my daughter) she could
brought (my daughter) she could
not stop talking about it.”
not stop talking about it.”
“(My child) enjoys the stay and play
sessions playing outside in the
sand, I like coming myself as the
(staff) are very friendly.”
Parent
Parent
Parent
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The Nursery at Valley House
Our 54 place Nursery is one of Coventry’s newest independent, quality, pre-school childcare
providers.
It provides a friendly, welcoming, safe and secure environment for your child/children; where
you can be confident they will be well looked-after by experienced and qualified staff, who are
passionate about ensuring your child is given the best opportunities to learn, develop and
HAVE FUN!
The Nursery offers full day-care for pre-school children.
Opening hours are: Monday to Friday, 8.00am until 6.00pm
Funded places are from 9.00am until 12.00pm and 12.30 pm until 3.30pm
4: Youth Services
Valley House’s youth team provide a range of services for young people aged 16-25.
We support young people to learn new skills, make new friends, access positive activities
and to return to education, access training, or find employment. We achieve this through 1:1
sessions, informal group work, telephone contact and through social media.
Employability & Training
Evolution3- employability programme to support young people aged 16-18 years old to
increase their job opportunities. A European Social Funded project in partnership with Right
Steps Careers
Talent Match- an employability programme to support young people aged between 16-24
years old to move closer to the work place. A Big Lottery Funded project in partnership with
Right Steps Careers
Coventry BootCamp- an employability programme to support young people aged 16-18 years
old to gain employment. A Whitefriars Housing, Midland Heart Housing & Orbit Heart of
England Housing funded project. YIPPEE BootCamp also supports young parents to
participate in this programme- A DWP funded project.
Outreach
The Whole Shabang engaging with young people aged between 16-25 years old by
supporting them in their local community
We believe in equality of opportunities and work closely with diverse group of young people
including young parents and their children. We encourage all young people to develop and
work towards their aspirations, encouraging them to work towards reaching their full potential
“Our family is now more happier
than we have been in a long while
as parents we are no longer
struggling which allows us more
time to engage with our children
and as a result we have been able
to see a positive result in our
children also, they are much more
happier.”
Parent
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5: Valley House Counselling & Support Service (VHCSS)
VHCSS offers a multicultural counselling/pre-therapy service to anyone who is 16 years or
over. The service is free to those who are financially disadvantaged.
The number of counselling sessions available to an individual are not limited to short term
interventions. This is because many of our clients have ingrained complex needs.
Counselling is agreed on a weekly basis and to get the most out of sessions we advise the
service is taken-up by individuals who can commit to attending regularly.
For anyone who needs emotional support with more flexibility, we have a pre-therapy support
service. It provides multiple access routes to counselling and be used before, during, after or
instead of counselling. A combination of psychological/therapeutic and practical support
packages are tailored to individual need including
 flexible appointment schedules;
 drop-in surgeries;
 home visits;
 accompaniment options;
 supportive pre-sessions to work on specific issues; and
 online/telephone counselling support.
A newly purpose built on-site counselling suite provides a confidential safe and comfortable
setting where regular one-to-one meetings take place. We also provide services off-site at
agreed locations convenient to service user’s locality.
The service is currently offered to Valley House service users and members of the
community. This includes a wide range of people whose lives are in crisis and/or are
financially disadvantaged and who are vulnerable in their circumstances.
Many people who enter counselling may also be experiencing a multitude of issues such as
Domestic Violence/Abuse, harassment, family breakdown, isolation, loss, anxiety, depression
and other mental health issues.
We also welcome self-referrals, referrals from agencies and GP’s.
While all the above will continue to be provided, the service continues to seek change and
develop new ideas as it learns more of client need and ‘what works’ in answering those
needs.
“They made it ok for me to cry and feel
in a safe environment and to feel low
and then to start to rebuild my
confidence with people I can trust.”
Service user quote from the
Independent Evaluation Report of the
Valley House Staying Put service.
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6. Training Services
Valley House offers a range of learning opportunities. There are on average between 40 and
50 people accessing training.
Services include
 A computer room with supported access to computers and the internet
 Literacy, Numeracy and ESOL courses in partnership with Adult Education
 Personal, Vocational Training and Educational, opportunities to enable people
to recognise and build upon their existing strengths and develop new skills.
Valley House Training Dept has a history of active training partnerships with many other
organisations including, Adult Education, Henley College, Coventry University, The University
Of Warwick and Crisis Skylight. It currently hosts very successful Adult Education classes 5
days a week in its training suites.
“The signposting service has been
very helpful and I am very grateful for
all of the work and the support which
you have given to my family, without
your support I would not be the
woman I am now and to be able to
concentrate on the support my family
thank you.”
Parent
7. Community Services
The Community Wellbeing Project is commissioned by Public Health and delivered by
Valley House in partnership with the Community Empowerment Network and Grapevine.
The aim is to develop the Wellbeing and build up resilience of communities in Coventry.
There are 90 small grants of up to £500 each with the aim to enable communities to deliver
activities to promote Wellbeing. Grassroots Community Groups are encouraged to apply.
The project aims to share and champion the 10 ways to wellbeing by working with local
communities to:
· Promote the 10 ways to wellbeing for Coventry
· Support community groups or active residents to take action on the 10 ways to
wellbeing
· Use the 10 ways to identify community assets (the good things that exist) and
build on these to improve wellbeing across Coventry
Valley House’s Navigation Centre and Campus
These are important local resources. The Centre is used as creatively and effectively as
possible to offer a comprehensive range of services to Valley House’s users and the local
community in general.
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The Centre & Campus contain the UK Online Centre, extensive Children’s Services, a
beautiful community garden (developed in association with Groundwork) a range of training
suites, various community and service user activities, and the Creativity in Children’s Play
centre as well as some of the organisation’s offices.
It is a busy place!
“Motivation! Support Worker gave
me a ‘kick up the bum’, which I
needed.”
Local Links
Teenage Parent Floating
Support Service. In response
to ‘What particular aspects of
the service have you found most
helpful?’
All the above provision allows Valley House to offer an extensive and inter-related range of
services in training, children and families work, supported accommodation, tenancy support,
counselling, workplace experience and/or placements and community activities.
The agency seeks to work closely with all relevant statutory, volunteering and private sector
partners to maximise quality of service to the people of Coventry, especially its more
vulnerable members.
Valley House is involved in regional and local work with regard to the Domestic Violence and
Abuse, Teenage Pregnancy, Children & Families, Homelessness, Public Health, Health
Improvement, H2H and VAC.
Valley House has active links, through both Business in the Community, (BITC) and
Chamber of Commerce, with the corporate sector to further its work.
“My confidence has really improved I wouldn’t
have dreamed of coming here and meeting
you for this interview a few months ago. I was
like a mouse, but I don’t think twice about
coming because they have been so good to
me.”
Staying Put Service Users speaking to
researchers of the Independent Evaluation
Report on the service by Coventry
University.
Valley House Specialisms
Valley House has developed a reputation for support work with families, especially the more
isolated and disengaged. It specialises in work with victims of domestic violence and abuse,
teenage parents, children and families, homelessness, young people and the more
vulnerable members of the community whose issues will include
 Complex needs
 Being disadvantaged and disengaged from mainstream services
 Not in education, Employment or Training (NEETS)
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Not making appropriate use of health and/or social care or education purposes
Economically and socially excluded
Parenting
Learning difficulties
Workless households
Alcohol/Substance misuse
Mental ill health
Special educational needs (SEN)
Vulnerable adults
No recourse to public funds
Black, minority ethnic and new and emerging communities
Working Practices
Valley House’s mission statement says, “Valley House believes that, given the right support
and opportunities, each of us would wish to develop our potential and take control of the
quality and independence of our lives,” and everyone involved in enabling Valley House to
fulfil its aims and objectives is expected to work in an empowering, enabling and nonstigmatising manner.
The working practices that spring from this belief and value base can be more fully expressed
in the following 6 ways:
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A commitment to promoting people’s rights to choice, privacy, confidentiality and
protection, while recognising and addressing the complexities of competing rights and
demands
An ability to assist people to increase control of and improve the quality of their lives
A commitment and an ability to respect and value uniqueness and diversity and to
enable people to build on their strengths
A commitment to and an ability to practice in a manner that does not stigmatise or
disadvantage either individuals, groups or communities
An ability to identify and question own values and prejudices and their implications for
one’s own working practices
An ability to identify, analyse and take action to counter discrimination, racism,
disadvantage, inequality and injustice, using appropriate strategies.
Valley House values its staff and prides itself on offering quality supervision, individual
training packages and professional developments and opportunities.
Prevention is Better than Cure
Prevention and Early Intervention can mean that people’s lives are enabled sooner, they are
more likely to fulfil their potential, and less likely to continue to need special support or other
services
Valley House services seek to enable service users’ confidence, independence, access to
mainstream services and sustainment of independent lives as well as addressing local and
national agendas and contributing to citywide priorities, all of which can lead to:
 Lower Social Care caseloads
 Lower numbers of children being taken into care
 Increased take up of Health Services
 Encouraging Healthy Lifestyles and Personal Wellbeing
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Close working with Police to provide places of safety for victims (and victim’s children).
Co-ordination of services to people with multiple &/or complex needs
Parental support with school attendance
Enabling children and young people to achieve their potential
Higher access to CAF provision
Higher tenancy sustainment
Lower repeat homelessness
Lower levels of mental health
Lower levels of anti social behaviour
Higher take up of educational and training opportunities
Increased City awareness of vulnerable individuals/families levels of need.
Valley House is all about:
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Identifying Emerging Vulnerabilities
“Support Worker has helped
me to get a house and then
Early Intervention
make a go of it, couldn’t have
Prevention
done it on my own. I have
only good things to say about
Helping People Help Themselves
the service.”
Health & Well Being
Homeless Families Floating
Comprehensive Integrated Services
Support Service User.
Safe and Sustainable Communities
Community Relations and Mediation
Responding to Complex Needs
Identifying Unmet Needs
Linking People to and Working in Partnership with the Statutory Services as
appropriate
Enabling people to develop their potential
Supporting people in becoming more active in their communities
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How to Find Us
Please find a map below to show where you can find Valley House
Any enquiries please contact:
Valley House
55 - 57 Bell Green Road
Courthouse Green
Coventry
CV6 7GQ
Tel:
Fax:
02476 266280
02476 266291
Email: info@valleyhouseassociation.org
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