Lifelong Family Links

Who we are

Lifelong Family Links works in partnership with children, young people and adults with a disability, their carers, relatives and community-based service providers to deliver flexible services within the community designed to improve the lives of disabled people. We were established on 1982.

Our key aim is to ensure young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) to live, learn and work within their local community, achieve sustained progression, resulting in better life outcomes disabled people achieve their full potential, to enjoy a rich and full individual and family life, and one in which they engage with, and contribute, to the local community.

This includes accessing voluntary and paid employment. We provide services which challenge the disadvantage and discrimination faced by disabled people, helping them develop skills that ensure a successful transition to adulthood and the maximisation of their personal and educational potential.

Our commitment is to ensure that the views of disabled people remain at the heart of our work and at the heart of others working with disabled people. We will do this by remaining financially strong, by recruiting, retaining and developing excellent staff and by providing strong leadership.

Our activities include running clubs and special sessions for disabled children and young people, including after school and Saturday clubs and holiday playschemes with specialist workshop activities, including music therapy, IT skills, sports and creative play. We provide assisted transport to encourage accessibility and we also work with service users’ families, organising family day trips and outings.

In addition, LFL provides 1:1 linking services and support for young people referred to us by social services. Our Lambeth activities are targeted towards improvements in young people’s wellbeing, developing their life skills and promoting employability. Since 2016, we have been running life and employment skills accreditation courses (ASDAN) and our student achievement levels are excellent. Most of our service users (over 90%) are from black and minority ethnic groups and they are all classifiable as low income families. We are increasingly focusing on supporting vulnerable young people and adults, including developing activities to prevent crime and radicalisation.

​In addition to our main programmes based in Lambeth, we have, since 2012, delivered befriending, mentoring and support services to vulnerable adults and young people in Southwark.

Our culture and values

• We believe that everyone is entitled to an active and fulfilling existence, full human and civil rights and to feel valued as a member of the community.
• We seek to reduce the disadvantage and discrimination experienced by children and adults with a disability
• We support user empowerment and development of services that are responsive to user needs and wishes
• We recognise that family and friends of children and adults with disabilities may experience disadvantage and discrimination because of their caring responsibilities. We seek to support them in their role and not disadvantage them further by our work.  

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

​Lifelong Family Links has a clear, agreed and effective approach to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation and in its own practice. This approach supports good governance and the delivery of the organisation’s charitable purposes.
 
We are committed to promoting equality, valuing diversity and working inclusively across the organisation.
 
We uphold these principles in our behaviours and practices – as an employer, as a service provider and as an organisation.
 
We oppose all forms of discrimination and intolerance in the workplace and service settings. We have a zero tolerance approach to bullying, harassment and victimisation.
 
We work to identify and remove or reduce any barriers and inequalities in the access to our employment opportunities and service provision, through consultation, impact assessment, monitoring, reporting, action planning and review. Our aim is to break down all barriers of discrimination, prejudice, fear or misunderstanding.
 
We use the Equality & Human Rights Commission’s nine protected characteristics to help focus our equality and diversity work and ensure the Code of Practice is followed to inform the procedures and practice standards.
 
We aim to eliminate discrimination, harassment and victimisation and have due regard to advancing equality for the relevant protected characteristics. We will not tolerate discrimination against employees or service users who have one or more of the protected characteristics:
 

1. Age
2. Disability
3. Gender
4. Gender reassignment
5. Marriage and civil partnership
6. Race
7. Religion or belief
8. Sexual orientation
9. Pregnancy and maternity