North East

The North East

We're always looking to work in new areas.

Take a look through our existing North East services or use our contact form to get in touch.

Chain Reaction

Contact: Kim Sanders - 07717 894 468 - kimberley.sanders@keyring.org

Chain Reaction is a service that supports older people (55+) to live independently in the community. KeyRing was instrumental in designing it and is one of three partners delivering it across Newcastle.

KeyRing believes that everyone has the right to be respected as full members of their community and to contribute to that community. That right does not diminish as you get older, but you may start to need some support in order to maintain it. We believe that a shrinking social circle is not an inevitable part of ageing and that low level support to maintain connections to friends and to the local community prevents loneliness and poor health.

We will support you to live independently in your community, connect with other people and join local groups and activities. Our community-based support will help you to improve your health and wellbeing and reduces social isolation.

Preventative service

We offer tailored, one-to-one support to help you improve your general health and wellbeing. This includes:

Support to manage housing issues, welfare rights, or other finance issues.
Connecting you with your local community by getting involved in clubs and interest groups.
Connecting you with others who have shared interests or hobbies.
Helping you to make new friends and reconnect with family members or old friends.

Targeted Service

We also offer one-to-one support to address a specific short term need. This involves 12 hours of support delivered over a six-week period. This includes:

An initial meeting to understand your needs and agree an action plan.
Ongoing support over the six-week period. The level of support each week is flexible and tailored.
A final review of support, offered at week six.

One-to-one personalised support

We provide one-to-one support for two to three hours per week. This support is personalised and can include:

Help with budgeting and managing your money.
Support to make phone calls or manage letters.
Support with health-related issues including attending appointments.
Help with domestic skills such as shopping, or making healthy meals.
Preventing isolation by helping people to attend local community groups, connect with friends and family as well as providing a listening ear.

Our preventative support is free to people living in Newcastle and is funded by Newcastle City Council. For more information on the cost of our targeted and one-to one support, please contact Kim Sanders on 07717 894 468 / kimberley.sanders@keyring.org or check our website.

You can also download the Chain Reaction flyer.

A group of older people outdoors, standing on some grass with the sea in the background

Darlington Networks

Manager: Kim Sanders - 07717 894 468 - kimberley.sanders@keyring.org

Get support and connect with local people living in Darlo.

Your support

If you need some help to live your life your way Darlington networks may be the right option for you. You will be part of a group of people called Members who live life their way and support each other. The people we support chose the word ‘Member’ because it made them feel like they are part of KeyRing.

When you become a KeyRing Member you will meet your support worker and develop a plan for your support. It will explore what you want to achieve and what needs to change to help this happen. You’ll tell us what you enjoy doing and what you are good at. You will also talk about what you need help with and how you can get that help. Your support will always fit with you.

You might ask us for help with:

Doing things that matter to you – like getting a job or getting online
Keeping healthy – like making an appointment or planning healthy meals
Keeping safe – like helping you to have healthy relationships or contacting the police to report an incident
Looking after your money – like having a plan to reduce debt or opening a savings account for a holiday
Loving your home – like finding a new place or getting your home repaired
Getting out and about – like making new friends or just having a coffee at a local cafe
Or other things that come up in your support plan. After all it is your support.

Our flexible approach

Your KeyRing support is flexible. This means that some weeks you might be too busy to see us and that’s fine. Other weeks, something might have happened and you’d like extra help. That’s fine too. The other thing about KeyRing support is that it doesn’t all come from a KeyRing worker. You will meet other KeyRing Members. Together you might plan an activity or support each other with problems or celebrations. After all life is about more than waiting to see a support worker.

Having a friend that you can chat things through with is the kind of gloriously ordinary life we think everyone should have.

Your connections

As well as the connections and friendships you will have with other KeyRing Members and the team, you will also explore your local area or community. You’ll look at things that you want to do and what there is locally to help you do it. If you want to be healthier you might explore local walking groups or gyms. If you find noise overwhelming you could approach your local supermarket to find out about quiet times and what facilities they have. You’ll get support from KeyRing to build these connections and to get the most out of where you live.

You’ll also get to know some more about your local area and community by coming along to KeyRing hubs.

man and woman looking at paperwork

Your KeyRing hubs

A KeyRing hub is an opportunity to meet other KeyRing Members and find out about things that are going on in the area. The way that hubs work is based on what you and the other Members ask for.

So one week you might have invited a local police officer talk with you about keeping your home safe and another week you might be planning a trip to Beamish. You might also just go to a hub to have a cup of coffee and be around other people.

At the moment we have a weekly hub every Wednesday. If you're interested in coming along you can get in touch with Kim: kimberley.sanders@keyring.org - 07717 894 468.

Your home

Most people in KeyRing have their own home already or are asking us to help them move to somewhere they love.

Can I get KeyRing support?

Some of the people who ask KeyRing for support have learning disabilities or physical disabilities. Some have mental health issues or need help because something happened in their life. We are happy to have a chat with anyone to see if KeyRing support is the right option for you or someone you know.

Most of our support is paid for by Darlington Council but you can also talk with us about all of the different ways of accessing and funding our support including using a personal budget (direct payment or individual service fund) or through self funding.

Connect with KeyRing

If you would like to find out more about us in Darlington then please contact Kim:

kimberley.sanders@keyring.org - 07717 894 468

Gateshead Networks

Contact: Kim Sanders - 07717 894 468 - kimberley.sanders@keyring.org

Your support your way in Gateshead.

Live in the East of Gateshead and need a bit of support to live the life you want? We can help.

We’ve been supporting people in Gateshead for around 20 years and we would love to welcome new people to join our networks. Our support is aimed at people with autism and/or a learning disability but you do not need to have a diagnosis.

You can get support with things like:

Looking after your home and paying your bills
Making the most of your money and understanding the benefits system
Finding interesting things to do with your time like learn a new skill, visit new places or maybe get a job
Making new friends and getting to know the people and places in your local area
Keeping well
Getting to appointments
Living a life that is about more than waiting for a support worker to call in.

All of our support is paid for by Gateshead council and local health funders so you will not need to worry about paying for it.

The good thing about KeyRing support is that we connect you with other people that we support. You’ll be invited to local meet ups near you so you can learn new things and have a cuppa and a chat.

People get lots of support from each other and often do things together like planning trips or meeting up to go shopping. We’re here to help that happen if you need us to.

If you’re interested you can ask someone you know to get in touch with us or you can do it yourself. Kim is our local manager and she will happily chat with you about whether this is the right option for you or someone you know.

Call Kim Sanders on 07717 894 468 or email kimberley.sanders@keyring.org .

Group of people in countryside

Nick

"I was a bit scared about having a mobile phone but my KeyRing support worker helped me to feel confident".

A photo of Nick proudly holding up his smartphone

I use it every day and I could not manage without it. I think that it is really important that everyone is able to have access to the internet. We seem to need to have access to the internet more and more these days.

I think that mobile phones keep us safe as well, and that is the main reason that I have mine. I have autism and I can sometimes feel anxious. I love going out on public transport and exploring new places, and my mobile phone means that I am safe doing that.

I like to keep in touch with my KeyRing support team throughout the week. I do this by texting and phoning. It is important to me that I can retain contact with my support workers as they help me as things come up over the week.

I live alone and when problems arise, I can feel overwhelmed – it is important that I have people who can help me deal with things. I go to a Learning Day Centre.

At my centre, I use my smartphone to take photos etc. I use these photos when I do projects. I love taking photos and being able to do so with my phone makes a big difference to my life.

Newcastle Networks

Contact: Kim Sanders - 07717 894 468 - kimberley.sanders@keyring.org

Our networks in Newcastle started long ago in 2001 so we've been around for a long time in the North East!

We have two Newcastle networks, situated in East and West of the city. These are traditional networks offering support to people to be part of their community and make connections with other KeyRing Members (people we support). The networks are funded by the local authority of Newcastle.

We also support people via the learning disability and autism framework in Newcastle. This is a personalised service tailored to your needs and wishes. We always encourage you to be independent and develop your skills. Support is structured around you, and we focus on three areas:

What support you need to live well independently
How can we connect you to your community
How we can connect you with other Members of KeyRing to widen your social connections and develop relationships.

We regularly hold drop in hubs at a central venue which everyone we support can attend. We focus on things that matter to you, and we invite specialists to come and meet us where necessary. We look at things like digital inclusion, sexual health and planning social events. We have a focus on the 5 Ways to Wellbeing and we try to link the things we do to this structure. The hub is a really positive way of bringing people together and offers you the opportunity to share ideas, learn new things and build friendships.

For more information or to refer to us, please contact Kim Sanders on 07717 894 468 or email kimberley.sanders@keyring.org.

You can speak with us about all of the different ways of accessing and funding our support including using a personal budget (direct payment or individual service fund) or through self funding.

Group outing on miniature railway

“We have worked alongside KeyRing for the last 18 months and during the COVID pandemic to ensure the local people who were isolated received support. We have developed great relationships with the KeyRing team, pooling resources to reach over 60 people in the Walker and Byker communities each week delivering activity packs, food and emotional support. In the past few weeks, together we have brought people safely back to the community centre to meet up socially and focus on isolation. We all feel that working in partnership together has been hugely successful and long may it continue. ”

Linda McKie, YMCA Newcastle