We provide social and emotional support and as such our work is to prevent needs from escalating. Lite-waves Therapeutic Education (Lite-Waves) started its journey in 2007. We specialise in working with children, young people, and their parents from an African and Caribbean background. And from other communities perceived to be culturally, economically, or geographically disadvantaged. We know that negative experiences have shaped our user group’s view of officials’ and support organisations, they have a natural fear of services born out of these struggles. We truly understand the experience of seemingly unending struggles. Lite-Waves staff have all overcome adverse circumstances as individuals or collectively as an organisation so fully understand the experience of our client group. As an early intervention and primary prevention organisation, we consider ourselves to be an organisation that works with ‘vulnerabilities’. As such our priority is to support the process of emotional healing, to prevent needs from escalating and to rebuild trust and hope in communities where negative life experiences have stripped it away. We help people to get back up again and our interventions are bespoke. As a small organisation, we have greater flexibility to make changes quickly based on our continuous needs’ assessment. We are a transportable service and work in spaces or premises that our service users are comfortable or familiar with.Q&AQuestion: What do you do?Answer: We ‘raise aspirations’ and ‘change behaviour’. Question: How do you do this?Answer: We provide social and emotional provision through our ‘universal’ support services. Question: What does this look like?Answer: This involves perceptual support through a fluid-like structure that we call the Re-Connect Programme. Question: I don’t fully understand; tell me more?Answer: Yes of course, we have many services integrated within this system including the provision of a drop-in service, whenever possible - where participants can make informal visits (vulnerabilities and need can present itself randomly). We provide individual casework, small group sessions, mentoring, advocacy, counselling and celebration events that celebrate achievements with individuals or groups that have accessed the programme. Whatever the issue we are there to support and if we can't then we work with individuals or organisations that can. We are here to support your vulnerabilityQuestion: Fab!!, can you expand on this?Answer: In short, the notion is to walk individuals and groups closely through their circumstances so they feel safe and secure to continue walking until an acceptable conclusion is reached. Our work is centred around the young person and the people who love them. We prepare them to access internal or external specialist support through other agencies should they need it. Our work takes place mainly in schools and community organisations and/or wherever young people meet. This is our model for all users of our services. Additionally: We train users of our services if they desire to become peer mentors or facilitators of our programme.
