Our asset based approach means that we focus on the strengths and abilities of the people and communities that we work with.

We believe that each of us has strengths that have helped us to reach where we are today. Often when we are facing challenges with our mental health we forget about the strength and resources that already posses and have used as well as the adversities that we have already overcome.

We work closely with people and communities to identify strengths and build upon them.

Asset based community development

We apply an asset based approach in all that we do and continue to witness the benefits of this approach on a daily basis. This approach involves focusing on the strengths of the person or their situation, not what might be ‘wrong’.  Our work does not aim to ‘fix’ people, we look to identify what strengths people already have and how these strengths can be harnessed to improve wellbeing.

Assets based approaches offer an alternative to what is offered by traditional health and social care services, which are rooted in a deficit approach. Deficit models focus on people’s problems and the diagnosis of conditions, and trying to fix what is wrong. This has been the case for decades but nothing seems to be getting better, we know that a deficit approach can highlight people’s problems and even keep them trapped in the very system aim’s to help.

An assets based approach can be applied to our work with individuals, as well as when working with communities.

Many organisations are using this approach and research is demonstrating that it is having a lasting and positive impact.

Find out more from these organisations:

Nurture development
Iriss
MayDay Trust