1. Community Connect is about promoting independence and improving people’s lives by working with our communities - harnessing the skills and expertise of a huge range of organisations and volunteers. It’s problem-solving close to home by understanding what matters to the people we work with and knowing what’s going on in their local area
Community Connect is an approach… a WAY of doing things…
This is HOW we make our strategy real… we do this by adopting the following principles:
Person centred and strength based practice
Partnership working and collaboration
Finding sustainable community based solutions
Focusing on outcomes that improve and enhance wellbeing

2. Community Connect a new way of thinking, a new way of working
We have developed Community Connect Talking Cafés and a new Community Connect online directory - so people have access to local information, advice and support (helping to move our focus to prevention and enabling self management).
We have changed our conversations from “what is the matter” to “what matters to you?” and focus on identifying solutions that promote independence. This conversation starts where ever someone gets in touch be that at the Community Connect Talking Cafés or via Somerset Direct and continues throughout any social care involvement.
Community focus - we have integrated Community Agents into our social care teams to help us identify and connect people to local resources that enable people to live as long as possible in their own home and community

3. Get involved
Find out where your Local Community Connect Talking Café is and drop in to find out how you and your organisation can get involved
Log in to the Somerset Community Connect Website,
register your organisation or activity
share the website with friends , family and colleagues
Get in touch and let us know what you think (click on “feedback” on the banner at the bottom of each page)

4. https://somersetrcc. org

5. Connecting you… A new way to plug-in to Somerset’s growing Community Connect movement is now available…
The Somerset Community Connect website is full of information and advice that can help you and the individuals you work with, to  make local links that will help make life better.
It’s a new way to be part of Community Connect which is all about promoting independence and improving people’s lives by working with our communities - harnessing the skills and expertise of a huge range of organisations and volunteers. It’s problem-solving close to home by understanding what matters to the people you work with and knowing what’s going on in their local area.
Some of the key things you’ll find on the site include:
Information and advice relating to your local village agent
A directory of Micro-Providers - the growing network of small-scale, often single-person, care providers who can help with care at  home.
A list of drop-in events being run by a huge range of community and voluntary organisations in your local area
Information about support for carers
Help to access equipment through the county’s two Independence and Advice Centres
A directory of registered home care and care home providers.
The new Somerset Community Connect Website went live on Monday 8th July providing the public with information, advice and access to community solutions. We have brought together the Adults Somerset Choices information and the local Community Connect directory into one website. This means that all provision large and small is now in one place improving the experience for people and for staff. It also includes a portal for people to register as a micro provider and log their training and DBS credentials so that we can manage the network in one place and reduce administration while also giving assurance that micro providers listed on the site are only listed publicly when they have signed the Somerset Standard and completed the checks.
The new site was designed and developed in partnership with Somerset Direct and the Community sector as well as practitioners. We will be gathering public and staff feedback over the ongoing months to ensure that we continue to develop and enhance the site.