25 August 2009
St Mungo's, London's largest homeless charity, has been shortlisted for two national awards in recognition of its outstanding work with clients.
The charity is one of six organisations shortlisted for the "Delivering Better Accountability and Resident Involvement" prize at the 2009 UK Housing Awards for its client representative group, Outside In. The group is an independent body run by clients for clients in partnership with St Mungo's staff and management team.
The UK Housing Awards are organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) and Inside Housing magazine with a final ceremony to be held in London on 11 November.
St Mungo's is also recognised in the category of "Improving Patient Access" in the 2009 Health Service Journal Awards for its LifeWorks Psychotherapy Service, a mental health project tackling social exclusion by offering psychotherapy to homeless men and women.
LifeWorks offers homeless adults in Lambeth, Kensington and Chelsea, Camden and Islington comprehensive access to psychological therapies and is the first of its kind to offer access to fully-qualified psychotherapists, regardless of diagnosis.
The HSJ awards ceremony will be held at Grosvenor House in London on 30 November.
The award nominations come as St Mungo's prepares to host a joint conference with Homeless Link in October. The Getting Clients' Voices Heard conference will look at how best to engage homeless and formerly homeless people in the planning, delivery and evaluation of services.
Andy Williams, Client Involvement Manager at St Mungo's, said: "We're very pleased that our focus on putting clients at the heart of our services has been recognised in both these national awards. As we celebrate our 40th anniversary, it is great that our services and staff continue to gain plaudits for innovation and excellence.
"The October conference with Homeless Link will be an excellent way of sharing sector knowledge about effective client involvement practices from across the country and providing practical examples of how to improve client participation within organisations."
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Notes to editors