Kingston Centre for Independent Living

Who we are

KINGSTON CENTRE FOR INDEPENDENT LIVING

Empowering disabled people

Our Vision Statement

To ensure that all disabled people across

the local areas we serve,

live as independently as they choose

Our Mission Statement

To provide information, advice and support

to disabled people living in the Royal Borough of Kingston

and the surrounding area and to empower

 them to have a voice, take control of their lives, and be treated equally

Disabled people in Kingston upon Thames have been at the forefront of the Disability Rights Movement since the 1960s, and for over 50 years Kingston Centre for Independent Living (KCIL) has worked to ensure that all disabled people across the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames live as independently as they choose.

Kingston Centre for Independent Living is a user-led organisation with a mission to provide information, advice and support to all disabled people living in the Royal Borough of Kingston and the surrounding areas. To empower them to have a voice, take control of their lives, and be treated equally. We also provide disability-related advice and information to other interested individuals or organisations.

Our Services

We offer a range of services including supporting individuals with accessing Direct Payments and Personal Budgets. Direct Payments are designed to give people who need social care and support more choice and control. They can help people achieve the things that are most important to them in life.

The benefit of having a Direct Payments allows for allocated money to be paid directly to the individual by the Council, enabling them to decide the type of support they need, who will provide it and when and how they will provide it. Kingston Centre for Independent Living supports people throughout the process, from setting up their direct payment to recruiting Personal Assistants and monitoring their expenditure. Alongside this Kingston Centre for Independent Living offers support to Personal Assistants who are interested in recruitment opportunities and Skills for Care Training courses.

Kingston Centre for Independent Living also supports individuals to set up and manage Personal Health Budgets. The aim of Personal Health Budgets is to enable people with complex medical conditions requiring a lot of care, support and/or highly specialised nursing support to have greater choice, flexibility and control in their lives.  Kingston Centre for Independent Living offers support to people to develop their own personalised care and support plan. The plan describes the things that are most important to the individual in their daily life, what is working well and what needs to change. Once a Personal Health Budget is set up KCIL can also help manage and monitor the expenditure as well as offering support to recruit and manage Personal Assistants.

Kingston Centre for Independent Living has a SEND support Brokerage service to support children, young people and families set up a personal budget to manage support for Special Educational Needs & Disabilities. These Personal Budgets are made up of funding currently paid to meet the social care needs of the child or young person with SEND, meet their continuing care health needs, and meet their educational needs.