Touchpoint Peer Support

About Touchpoint

When you are experiencing any form of disability, it can be very hard to access the services and resources you need to help you live the life you want to live.

This is where our FREE Touchpoint service comes in.

We offer one-to-one support for disabled people to help you achieve your individual goals.

Welcome to Touchpoint

Who we work with

Touchpoint could be the right service for you if:

  • You feel yourself to be disabled because of a physical or sensory impairment, mental health issues, deafness, learning disabilities, neurodivergence and/or long-term conditions, and
  • You live, study or work in the borough of Barnet, and
  • You are finding it hard to access the support or resources you need to live the life you want to live.

If you’re not sure what type of support you need, please feel free to get in touch and we’ll be very happy to discuss this with you.

What we do

Our aim is to work with you to:

  1. Understand the goals you’d like to achieve
  2. Identify the local services and/or community resources that could help you achieve those goals
  3. Overcome the barriers you’re facing to accessing those services and resources so you feel able to confidently access them independently.

When we talk about barriers, we simply mean anything that is getting in the way of you accessing what you want to access. Barriers are often different for different people and can include anything from a lack of wheelchair access or appropriate materials, to challenges with communication or confidence.

At Touchpoint, all our staff have their own experience of living with disability, so whilst they are experts in understanding the barriers you might be facing, we recognise that everybody’s personal experiences are different. Our job is to work with you to overcome them.

Support Options

Short-term support

  • Up to two weeks of support
  • Addressing immediate barriers
  • Examples: accessing the local food bank, making contact with medical services, exploring what activities are in your area

Long-term support

  • Up to twelve weeks of support
  • Addressing more complex barriers
  • Examples: reducing social isolation, accessing support equipment, support to engage with services

Contact us

If this sounds like the right service for you or someone you know, please complete our referral form by clicking on the button at the bottom of this page. We accept self-referrals and professional referrals.

If you have any questions at all about the service, or have any issues completing the referral form, please do call us on 0203 475 1306 or e-mail us at touchpoint@inclusionbarnet.org.uk.

Want to know more?

Have a look at our short video, explaining what Touchpoint is and how we might be able to help.

What to expect from our service

Dedicated peer worker

Once you reach the top of the waiting list you will be allocated to a dedicated peer worker who will work with you one-to one. Wherever possible we try to match you with a peer worker who has similar lived experience, though we cannot guarantee this as we are a small team.

Initial assessment

Your allocated peer worker will then carry out an initial assessment. This is where we get to know you a bit better and understand what your needs are, including any reasonable adjustments. Together we will agree whether you need short or long-term support.

We will have a friendly chat with you on the phone (or alternative) for approximately an hour. You do not need to bring anything to this appointment but we will need you to complete some consent forms. We also carry out a standard risk assessment for all people using our services.

If you have any concerns or questions about using our services you can use the assessment time to discuss these.

Waiting times

We are a small charity with limited resources so our waiting times fluctuate according to demand.

Please feel free to contact us if you would like an update on your application.

What we don’t provide

We are not a medical, clinical or emergency service.

Please see our crisis and urgent support advice page for a list of these services.

Touchpoint during Covid-19 pandemic

What has changed?

We’re currently only providing face-to-face appointments in specific cases. However, we’ve found that we can still effectively provide our service via phone, video-call, WhatsApp, text messaging and email for the time being.

Referral form

How we work with you

Most of our staff have their own lived experience of disability, so we understand many of the frustrations you may be experiencing. It can be disheartening to have to wait a long time for our services or to find out something hasn’t worked out in your favour.

Inclusion Barnet believes that customers and members of the public have the right to express their views and ask questions about our services and does not view behaviour as unacceptable simply because someone is reasonably forceful or determined in their approach. Unfortunately, on occasion, some customers may choose to behave in a manner towards employees and/or place demands on our services that are unacceptable.

With this in mind, we ask that all of our customers please be respectful and patient with our staff, as they’re trying their best to help you and all our other customers, often with limited resources.

Sadly, sometimes a small number of our customers treat staff in a way that is unacceptable and a makes it difficult to provide a service. We therefore have an ‘unacceptable customer behaviour policy’ which sets out Inclusion Barnet’s approach to the minority of our customers whose behaviour is assessed as being unacceptable. It also sets out the various actions we may take in order to manage any instances of such behaviour. You can download and read our Unacceptable Customer Behaviour Policy here.

Benefits Advice Service

As well as Touchpoint, we also have a Benefits Advice Service that supports disabled people with a range of financial concerns.

We can help you find out what benefits you’re eligible for and apply for benefits or Mandatory Reconsiderations with you.

Please see our Benefits Advice website page.

Help in a crisis

Touchpoint is not an emergency service.

If you feel that there is an immediate risk to yours, or someone else’s safety then please contact 999 or visit your local Accident and Emergency.

Getting help

If there isn’t immediate risk, but you feel you need urgent support please consider contacting one of the following organisations.

Physical & mental health

NHS mental health crisis service:

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, you can contact the local NHS mental health crisis service on: 0800 151 0023.  This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

The Samaritans:

If you feel you are in experiencing feelings of despair and would like someone to talk to, contact the Samaritans on 116 123 (this is a free number from any phone).

General medical help – dial 111

NHS 111 can book patients into be seen at their local A&E or Urgent treatment centre, emergency dental services, pharmacy or other more appropriate local service as well as send an ambulance should the patients condition be serious or life threatening. This service is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week. More information is available by clicking here

Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS)

The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can give you confidential advice and support on your health. Below are your local PALS contacts, and you can read more about PALS here.

Royal Free Hospital

Royal Free London

Phone: 020 7472 6446

Email: rf.pals@nhs.net

Barnet Hospital

Phone: 020 8216 4924

Email: bcfpals@nhs.net

Chase Farm hospital

Chase Farm

Phone: 020 8375 1328

Email: rf-tr.crhpals@nhs.net

Homelessness or risk of homelessness

Barnet Council

If you are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless you should contact Barnet Homes (the property managment company for Barnet Council) as soon as possible on 020 8610 3539. Or for more information visit their website by clicking here.

Homeless action in Barnet

Provide a helping hand for people in need, in particular: People who are vulnerably housed or at risk of homelessness ;people who are experiencing homelessness, including sofa surfing etc; People who have recently secured housing but who might appreciate some support with their health and wellbeing, for example. budgeting/job hunting. For more information visit their website by clicking here:  or call them on 020 8446 8400.

Food and other essentials

Food banks

There are a number of food banks across Barnet you can find your nearest one by clicking here.

Touchpoint funders

Touchpoint is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and Barnet Council.

We are very grateful for their support.

National Lottery Community Fund logo
Barnet Council logo

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