Building Blocks Solutions Ltd was awarded with the Business Commitment to the Community award at the Chamber Awards 2005 Gala Dinner and Award Ceremony.

Providing choice for people with mental health needs
Building Blocks Solutions Ltd, a member of Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce, provides a range of quality services for adults with enduring mental health needs and emotional difficulties.

As a social enterprise, Building Blocks Solutions aims to offer a range of ‘joined up’ services so that its clients can have a choice regarding their support. In addition to support, Building Blocks also provides accommodation for meetings and a range of training and consultation regarding areas such as staff management, staff supervision and attaining quality standards.

Sector success
The Business Commitment to the Community Award was given to the company that best demonstrated the positive impact that its creative and innovative projects or programmes have had on their local community or environment.

Over the last few years Building Blocks Solutions has worked hard to develop the options open to adults with mental health needs in its area. This has included developing SASS – Support and Sustainment Service – which was launched after being awarded a contract through the Government’s Supporting People programme. This enabled Building Blocks Solutions to recruit 6 members of staff to carry out this support through SASS.

Building Blocks Solutions has also developed its First Steps Service, in order to respond to the need for short term-interventions, and the Senior Steps Service, which helps to support older people with mental health issues in their own homes.

What the award means to Building Blocks Solutions
Gill Gardiner, Director at Building Blocks Solutions, said: “Working with clients in the community often means that you fail to see the bigger picture of the impact of your work. As we support people in making their lives more sustainable, it is all too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day difficulties that people face. Winning this award means that someone external to our organisation has been able to see and acknowledge the positive impact that our services have made on individuals’ lives.”

Future Ambitions after the Chamber Awards
Building Blocks Solutions is keen to consolidate on its initial growth and to continue to develop innovative services. As well as developing its First Steps at Work Service by building on its existing First Steps Service delivery, Building Blocks Solutions aims to make its life coaching services more widely available. In addition it is looking at franchising the First Steps Service, offering specialist consultancy in quality assurance and achieving quality standards for voluntary organisations and social enterprises.

Why Enter the Chamber Awards?
Building Blocks Solutions felt that by entering the awards it would be able to demonstrate its growth over the past 3 years – from extremely humble origins to employing over 20 staff members – and to demonstrate its commitment to providing a range of quality services to individuals with mental health needs and emotional difficulties. Building Blocks also used the awards to try and challenge public misconceptions regarding mental ill health, and raise awareness of how mental illness and mental ill health can affect all individuals.