On Friday, November 17th, Slough’s voluntary sector was honoured in a special award ceremony at Baylis House called the #OneSlough Awards. The awards were put together by Slough Council for Voluntary Services. Together As One (Aik Saath) received a nomination from Inspector Kelly Reed of the Thames Valley Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) in the Public Sector Partnerships category – and we emerged victorious! The award was specifically for our Hospital Navigator Project, which we implement on behalf of the VRU at Wexham Park Hospital.
The Hospital Navigators project supports young people aged between 11 and 25 who present at the Emergency Department due to violence, substance misuse or poor mental health. Navigators stationed at the hospital at ‘peak hours’ for when those impacted by violence typically arrive. The project also accepts out-of-hours referrals. 193 young people were referred onto the scheme last year with over half being successfully referred onto a positive pathway. 37% of those who engaged, have done so for over three months, underlining the staff and volunteers’ determination to ‘walk with’ the young people until they are in a better place.
To find out more about the Hospital Navigators project, please contact Romaan: [email protected]