Community Access Westminster (CAW) consists of four-day services that provides support to people with moderate to substantial learning disabilities or/and Autism, some with complex needs, behaviours of concern, or/and mild to substantial physical disabilities. 

CAW works with service users, family members and carers to develop person-centred goals that improve the quality of life for people we support , and which supports them to be the best they can be.  This includes enabling social inclusion, developing communication skills, improving physical and emotional wellbeing, increasing autonomy, choice and control,  building life skills, and cognitive development.  This is achieved through the creation of innovative sessions and activities that support the person to achieve their agreed goals.  Where appropriate the achievement of these goals are supported with the use of assistive and augmentative technology such as Eye Gaze and GRID 3. 

CAW also support people to reduce behaviours of concern that create risk for themselves and others, and which can lead to social inclusion.  By reducing these behaviours levels of risk are minimised and greater social integration with others is enabled.  The team members are highly trained in many areas including Positive Behavioural Support, Person-Centred Active Support, the use and minimisation of physical interventions, and in a range of communication strategies including intensive interaction, Makaton, and Imprint 3.

Community Access Westminster Operations Manager:

Rebecca Driver
(My pronouns are She / Her)  
215 Lisson Grove, London NW8 8LW
Tel: 07971 092 549

My name is Rebecca Driver and I am the Operations & Service Manager of Community Access Westminster.  I have been in post for just over 12 years and continue to find it fulfilling and enriching.  I am passionate about supporting people to have the highest quality of life they can, and believe in working with people to help them achieve their aspirations by enabling them to have improved skills, and as much autonomy as possible.  I am keen to celebrate diversity and strongly believe that by uniting over our differences we can make the world a more harmonious, rich and interesting place, that fuels innovation and success.  One of my proudest achievements in my work to date for CAW are that services work towards person-centred goals for service users and successfully enable them to develop in ways that lead to an enhanced quality of life.  My other proudest achievement is the positive, collaborative and supportive culture within CAW, underpinned by a highly creative and capable staff team, which has made it a happy, wonderful and inspiring place to work.

The Droop Street Hub:

Joe Taylor - Service Manager
Angella Mofondo - Droop Street Hub Team Leader
Robert Sharples - Droop Street Hub Team Leader - 07971920596

“At the Droop Street Hub (DSH), we pride ourselves in offering highly individualised person-centred support to some of Westminster’s most vulnerable residents.

We are a Learning Disability service that does not see our service users’ disability - we see their ability! And it is this focus that motivates us as a team to enable our service users to live their lives as independently as they possibly can. We offer a mixture of both building based and community support to enable our service users to achieve their personal goals and outcomes. Championing the idea that every moment has potential.

We provide support to residents of the borough with a Learning Disability and/or Autism. Our largest group of service users are those of whom are wheelchair users and have Profound & Multiple Learning Disabilities (PMLD).

As a service, our specialist area is working with our wheelchair users who require mobility and sensory support in many areas of their daily lives. We recognise the importance of physiotherapy and postural care for this group of individuals. It is by having this in mind that all of our wheelchair users receive a bespoke physiotherapy plan that is developed in collaboration with the service user and their families and/or carers, the Triborough Learning Disability Physiotherapy Service, and our team of dedicated support workers here at the Droop Street Hub. We are mindful that we are Support Workers, and not physiotherapists. Which is why we have formed a strong relationship with the Tri-borough physiotherapy team. Their qualified physiotherapists advise and train our team to be able to follow individualised physiotherapy plans so as to deliver the essential postural care support a person needs. This relationship has helped us as a team to become more confident and capable to meet this most important of care and support needs. This is one of the many areas of support we offer here at the Droop Street Hub that we am extremely proud of.

We also focus on both individual and group sessions that can support our service users to achieve a personal goal, a desired outcome, and to feel included. We promote meaningful activities and relationships to facilitate engagement.

We promote visibility in the local community and have forged meaningful relationships with the Westminster Library Services and The Royal Parks (and we are always on the lookout for more – so please do get in touch!). The aim of these relationships is to promote awareness of our service user groups needs, and accessibility. The overall goal is social inclusion and for the value of each service user to be appreciated across Westminster."

The Flexible Response Service:

131-133 Droop Street
London W10 4DB

Sam Bridge - Service Manager
Liz Galashan - Flexible Response Service Team Leader

At the Flexible Response Service (FRS), we support individuals with learning disabilities and/or Autism, who may have complex needs and display behaviours of concern.

We support individuals using a person-centred approach that promotes choice and control, supporting people to be active participants in their lives. We strive for positive outcomes to build resilience and positive behavioural change.

We believe that all behaviours of concern are a communication of a want, or a need, and we aim to give our residents the tools and confidence to better express these. This in turn creates a better understanding between the individual and other people, enabling them to access activities, environments and opportunities they have not before.

Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) underpins all the work we do. This gives clear guidance on behavioural triggers for individuals, and the proactive support we offer to the person during times of distress or anxiety.  We also support people with difficult transitions. For example, moving from home into a residential setting, attending a new college or respite setting, or supporting people into voluntary or paid employment, with the support of the Westminster Employment Team.    

Our experienced team work collaboratively with professionals such as Speech and language therapists, psychologists, and occupational therapists, to create a bespoke service that benefits each individual we support. Our aim is to prevent placement breakdown and provide guidance and support where there is a need. 

The Lisson Grove Hub:

215 Lisson Grove
London NW8 8LW

Adewale Kuye - Service Manager
Pani Aristotelous - Lisson Grove Hub Team Leader - 07813403348

The Lisson Grove Hub (LGH) is a learning disability provider service located within Westminster City Council building of 215 Lisson Grove based just off Edgware Road. The service provides support for people with complex needs, physical disability, learning disability, autistic spectrum disorder and behaviours of concern.

Service Users are supported by their own support worker, but may be progressed gradually to small group of activities as well. We also offer 2:1 support particularly for customers with behaviors of concern. Our activities are wide ranging and comprise both building based and community-oriented models to meet the service users’ need using a person-centered approach. We strive to promote the service users’ independence and wellbeing by providing an enabling environment to learn new skills and enhance existing ones.  In addition we support people to communicate their needs, access college, have opportunity for both work experience or paid employment as well achieve their aspiration.  We also aim to improve the quality of lives of individuals by working to reduce the levels of behaviours of concern.

Our service users are involved in a wide range of community and in-house based activities such as;

• Shopping (to promote independence and inclusion)
• Music (music therapy, turn taking and choice making)
• Gardening (empowerment and employment opportunity),
• Art & Mosaic (self- expression, social inclusion)
• Relaxation & SCEE (physiotherapy and physical wellbeing)
• Work Experience/paid work (interaction, engaging with others, personal fulfillment)
• Dance and Movement (improve fitness and co-ordination, fun and social inclusion)
• Multimedia (learn or improve computer skills, learn some self- help skills)
• Outings (Various Locations: socialize and have opportunity for inclusion)
• Smoothie Making, Baking & Cooking (teaching and promoting healthy choices)
• Communication (self- confidence, self-expression, improve communication, ability to make choices
• Gym (in-door/outdoor – promote well- being, exercise, keep fit, socialize)
• Sports (to promote physical and mental wellness)
• Bag books (Improved communication)

These sessions and activities are tailored specifically to meet the needs of individual service users either individually or as a group.

Facilities in the LGH include a kitchen/dinning, two large communal areas, a sensory/quiet room, a well-equipped art room, and a gym.

CAW Multimedia Service:

Muller Bekele
Multimedia Service Manager
Ground Floor,
215 Lisson Grove
London NW8 8LW

The Multimedia Service is part of the Community Access Westminster and provides a person-centred service to develop communication, enhance cognitive abilities and motor skills for people with disabilities, leading to greater autonomy, choice and control.

We have been working on delivering Multimedia and Assistive Technology based services to service users across the Community Access Westminster for over 10 years.

Most non-verbal service users do understand significant amounts in their environment and

we offer a Grid 3 software that is a communication solution which enables people to have a voice, control their environment and live more independently.

Service users with limited hand coordination use Eye Gaze equipment that enables individuals to navigate and control the cursor on the computer screen by ‘tracking’ their eye movements.

Those that have high cognitive abilities, but have challenges communicating due to physical disabilities, can move from being a recipient of communication to an equal in conversation. The work we do also enables people to learn about cause-and-effect and develop their cognitive abilities.

As the person progresses, we learn more about them and create more advanced programmes that challenge them and support them to learn new things.

We have an Assistive Technology Living Skills room where people can learn how to control their environment, such as using a computer, turning on a TV set and select their favourite program including from YouTube channels, open curtains, turning a light on and off by using a mixture of hardware and software designed to enable them to do this.  Service Users can also learn to play games, make video calls, and use social media platforms.

The Multimedia Service team work closely with individuals, their families, carers, partner agencies and clinicians to ensure our support have a collective input. We do closely work in collaboration with Westminster Employment team when we create personalised Grid sets that help identified individuals to prepare and fully understand their job role.

What make us so unique is that we assess service users with their cognitive abilities and hand-to-eye coordination skills using various educational software and hardware equipment and regularly create personalised Grid programs with measuring their understanding in mind.  We deliver direct support and assist the rest of CAW in delivering planned Multimedia sessions. We support families and carers with a variety of multimedia related matters and share good practice to enable them support identified service users outside of the Community Access Westminster support hours.