Welcome

We are delighted to launch Connect Somerset, to improve early help in the community. Connect Somerset is about all professionals and community groups working together to help families and residents to improve their lives.

Connect Somerset is a partnership between Somerset Council, Somerset NHS, Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprises, Schools, Colleges and Early Years settings.

Connect Somerset Champions

We have appointed Connect Somerset Area Champions who are leaders from their communities to re-shape public services. This removes barriers and blockers so professionals can work more easily and closely together.

Easy access to early help

We want to make it easier for families and residents to access the help they need earlier. It is important for families and residents to be able to access early help when they need it. We have lots of excellent services, online help and community resources but not everyone knows how to access them. It’s only by helping more families access early help when they need it, that we can help them build their resilience and stop their needs escalating.

More support will be delivered from hubs across the county, with services closer to home and rooted in communities. Local delivery is coordinated from 12 Connect Somerset hubs which are linked to neighbourhoods, local community networks, primary care networks and social prescribing.

Improvements to sharing information

We will continue to make improvements to share information across services, so multi-agency professionals and community groups can wrap support around families and residents.

And we will bring together databases of local community resources so that they are easier to search. Professionals can then link our most vulnerable families into what makes them more resilient.

Working together

Overall, Connect Somerset is about how we all work together, wrap support around families and residents, and make sure everyone can access the help they need in the community as early as they need it.