What we do – Help on Your Doorstep

What we do

Help on Your Doorstep aims to improve the health and wellbeing of people in Islington, especially those who are vulnerable and isolated.

Read our mission

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What we do

Working with residents we seek to find solutions to the issues which make life difficult, strengthen communities to do more for themselves and enable people to improve their life chances.

By identifying people who may be at risk, we provide early support to prevent the need for later crisis interventions. We work in partnership with other voluntary and public services working in Islington and aim to connect people to the help that is available to them.

Our Connect Service provides information and referrals to specialist advice organisations and services. We also work to improve the lives of people in communities throughout Islington through our Good Neighbours Schemes and our health and wellbeing work. We are also working with Islington GP surgeries to offer a social prescribing service. From time to time, when commissioned by partners we carry out community based research aimed at improving welfare and health services to Islington residents.

Our mission

Help on Your Doorstep aims to make a visible difference to the health and wellbeing of the communities it serves by empowering individuals to overcome the barriers they face and improve their lives. We do this through engagement with local people, providing information, advice and guidance and working in partnership with local service providers.

"At Help on Your Doorstep we are committed to supporting local residents to overcome disadvantage and achieve positive futures. Our services are all built on strong, effective relationships with individuals, communities, and partner services, which we use to improve health and wellbeing in neighbourhoods across the borough of Islington.”

Ken Kanu, Director

Why Islington?

The London Borough of Islington is an inner London borough with a population of 216,500. It is one of the most deprived areas in the UK, with poverty which can be hidden by a more visible minority of wealthy residents.

Islington is the 6th most deprived borough in London and has the 4th highest levels of poverty affecting older people in London. The rate of poverty (34%) in Islington is well above the London average of 28%

Relative to London overall, for Islington the average neighbourhood in the borough was 1.58 times as income-deprived than the average in London

Residents in out-of-work benefits comprise 13.2% in Islington, compared to all London Boroughs average (12.7%)

13.5% of residents were estimated to be earning below the Living Wage in 2021.

Over 1/3 of children in the borough live in households with an income of less than 60% of UK median after housing costs have been subtracted (2020/21)

31% of 19-year-olds are without level 3 qualifications compared to 24.4% for all London Boroughs

Premature mortality, Deaths of <75-year-olds per 100,000 is 364, compared to all London Boroughs average of 316

Around 30,100 households (31%) live in privately rented accommodation.

40% of households live in social rented housing

The number and proportion of residents who are living with a disability has increased since 2011 - Islington has the highest proportion of people living with disabilities who are 'limited a lot' in London

Our values

We are

professional in the way we deliver services.
empowering in our approach to working with individuals.
rooted in the communities we serve, so that we are informed and responsive.
committed to quality, underpinning our provision of information, advice and referrals. equally accessible, through being approachable and non-judgemental.
informed, as a result of our commitment to the continuous review of the needs of communities.