History of The Lorrimore

A Brief History of The Lorrimore, 1987–2006

In the mid-1980s the turn towards community-based mental health care had already been taken, but actual community-based facilities were few and far between. In 1986 the conference 'Faith in the City' focused attention on the erosion of traditional community structures, and called upon the churches to make full use of their resources to counteract this process. Grahame Shaw, Vicar of St. Paul's Church in Lorrimore Square since 1979, was already aware of the unmet needs of local people living with mental ill-health, and responded by inviting interested parties together to consider practical ways of addressing these issues.

The Steering Group, which evolved into a Management Committee, reflected a commitment to a partnership between statutory providers and the local community. Southwark Social Services were represented, along with both the Maudsley and Guy's Hospitals. There were several members of St. Paul's Church, and other local people working in other self-help groups and voluntary organisations.

Drop-In

The decision was to open the Church Hall for the development of a social centre, in September 1987. From the start this operated on a drop-in basis: there was no referral procedure and the atmosphere was to be unstructured and 'non-clinical'. Initially, staffing was provided by a professional from one of the statutory groups already mentioned, a social worker or a community psychiatric nurse. In early 1988 funding was received from the Department of the Environment which paid for two posts - a part-time Coordinator (Douglas Nicholson), who started in April that year, to further develop the project, and shortly after, in June, a part-time Administrator (Maureen Cooper). Opening times were gradually extended. Over time the professionals moved from providing the basic staffing to offering support and supervision to staff directly employed to run the drop-in. In 1989 the Drop-in introduced a counselling service, utilising volunteer counsellors who needed placements and clinical hours as part of their counselling/psychotherapy training requirements: the contracts were initially free and open-ended.

The Drop-in proved increasingly popular over the years, demonstrating the potential for a 'normalising' environment to engage and support people with complex issues in relation to their health, practical issues such as welfare benefits and housing difficulties, and their emotional needs. It fulfilled its original aim of countering social isolation and has encouraged participation and activism by mental health service users on their own behalf.

Housing & Network Projects

However, from the start the Management Committee and staff could see potential for a much wider contribution. The idea of a range of interlocking services, organised on a 'core and cluster' model, took root. Discussions with the Housing Department, and further funding from the DoE, resulted in the refurbishment of two, two-bed, flats in Lorrimore Square which had previously been squatted.

In 1991 these flats were re-opened as 'Lorrimore House', a project offering a period of supported rehabilitation following discharge from psychiatric hospital, or a period of respite from stressful home circumstances. Like the drop-in, this developed a distinctive philosophy. Residents were to feel as much like ordinary tenants of these flats as possible. While work was undertaken in partnership with statutory providers, and the input of social workers, nurses and others were seen as essential to the success of the project, life at Lorrimore House was to reflect 'ordinary' life rather than institutional care. There was no live-in support, and residents had to manage overnight and weekends on their own. Meals were not provided, rather support was offered in budgeting, shopping and cooking. The same principle was applied across the board, maximising residents' independence and developing their independent living skills.

Since then there has been a dynamic factor fuelling successive periods of growth. Addressing one area of need has revealed others, and each time the Lorrimore's role has been both to raise awareness among local providers, and to develop plans to address that need ourselves. Thus, in 1993 the Lorrimore Network was established, providing flexible support to people isolated from mainstream services, living in their own accommodation. Recognition of this had arisen from the experience of people who had demonstrated sufficient capacity to care for themselves while at Lorrimore House, and who had on the basis of this been offered their own independent tenancies. However, in many cases there was no follow up support at all. Either residents continued to rely upon Lorrimore staff, or in other cases all contact was lost and, over a shorter or longer period, their confidence and their capacity to cope, dwindled away. The Network was aimed at establishing an open-ended relationship within which ongoing social, practical and emotional needs could be addressed, always with the aim of widening the individual's integration into local community networks.

In 1995, through our links with Southwark Social Services, we entered into a partnership arrangement with Hexagon Housing Association to manage the care and support of four male residents in a house in Grosvenor Terrace SE5 - this became known as Sherman House (named in memory of one of the first Drop-in attenders). In the same year we entered into another partnership, this time with Southwark and London Diocesan Housing Association to provide care and support to residents of eight newly built flats in New Kent Road, known as Hannah Chaplin House (named after Charlie Chaplin's mother, who experienced poverty and mental ill-health and lived in the Walworth area). To complement this service, the Lorrimore housing team began operating a Tuesday lunch club (beginning in June 1995) in the St Matthews Church hall attached to Hannah Chaplin House.

Home and Dry

Our concern with housing needs took a new turn in 1996 year with the introduction of Home and Dry. Whether as a consequence of illness, or of disrepair, isolation and poverty that so often accompanies it, many people with mental health difficulties live in severely sub-standard living conditions. As well as any additional difficulties that they may have in maintaining their flats, the Housing Department allocates flats in a very basic state, requiring total refurbishment and equipping to create a potential home. The Home and Dry project, initially funded by the Lotteries Board and Bridge House Estates Fund, worked for three years to improve this situation, directly through painting and decorating work and in offering a small repairs service, and indirectly by advocating on behalf of tenants where their landlords (usually the Council) have not fulfilled their obligations. This has been an innovative project which has sparked widespread interest, and which has been the subject of an independent evaluation by the Sainsbury Centre. The Home and Dry team is now funded by the South London and Maudsley Trust and both Lambeth and Southwark Social Services. It also receives funding from the Housing Aid Charitable Trust (HACT) to provide specific services to people aged 60+.

Lorrimore Counselling Service

In 1989 the Lorrimore started providing counselling from the Drop-in, utilising volunteer counsellors who needed placements and clinical hours as part of their counselling/psychotherapy training requirements. The service developed significantly in early 1995 with funding to pay for a part-time Coordinator (Judy Warren), and LCS became more formally established. Its focus is different to other Lorrimore projects in that its activity is not targeted exclusively at those individuals with severe and enduring psychiatric illness. Rather, LCS reflects the belief that mental health and ill health exist on a continuum right across all people in all communities, and that too often the only option offered to local people has been medication or very brief counselling in primary care. LCS initially provided six month contracts of one to one psychodynamic counselling at a fee negotiated on the basis of the client's means (currently between £3 and £20 per session). In 2002 LCS established a weekly analytic group (facilitated by Jud Stone). In mid 2003, LCS entered into a partnership with a North Southwark GP practice (Bermondsey & Lansdowne Medical Mission) who contracted out their free six-session counselling work for us to provide - along with their allocated PCT budget of £6000pa. In developing the service LCS has secured mainstream funding from Southwark Primary Care Trust (PCT) and various supportive grants from organisations such as the Tudor Trust, Peter Minet Trust and Lambeth Endowed Charities Foundation. At the start of 2005, LCS is hopeful of securing a significantly increased level of funding from the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund (NRF) for the current year and for 2005/06. A caveat to this funding is that the amount provided by the NRF will be picked up from 2006/07 by Southwark PCT: this will be negotiated from hereon in.

Aylesbury Centre for Therapy

In November 2001, the Aylesbury Centre for Therapy (ACT) was established by the Lorrimore, with funding secured through the Aylesbury New Deal for Communities Fund. The purpose of this project was to meet the diverse needs of individuals living on the Aylesbury Estate SE17, with a particular focus on creating new and innovative ways of providing therapeutic support to people from black and ethnic minority communities. To this end, ACT has established a range of therapeutic interventions and services, including free counselling (in different languages), complementary therapies, support groups and information sessions, and therapy through music workshops. ACT differs from LCS in that the therapeutic approach underpinning its interventions are not psychodynamic but instead fit more humanistic models, with particular sensitivity to being culturally appropriate to the broad range of individuals utilising the services, ie often one to one counselling is not recognised within certain cultures, and so other ways of engaging and relating are needed

SIMBA

In 2003 The Lorrimore entered into a partnership/mentoring arrangement with SIMBA (a black mental health service user organisation). SIMBA provides a voice, as well as a range of supportive services for patients in Southwark-based psychiatric units. The Lorrimore offered SIMBA office space at our premises in Amelia Street; Management and supervisory support, as well as help with financial administration. As of April 2005, SIMBA officially became a project within The Lorrimore.

Home & Dry's Older People Project

The most recent development within The Lorrimore is Home & Dry's Older People Project (established in April 2006). This materialised out of a successful bid to the Big Lottery who awarded us £225,000 over a three year period, to create a new project within Home & Dry with a specific focus upon people aged 55+.

Last updated 4th June 2007