Why Growth in Action?
Traditional service models often leave people with overlapping needs unsupported, leading to poor outcomes and increased social costs. Growth in Action (GiA) aims to address these gaps through a collaborative alliance agreement, where providers and commissioners share responsibility, risk, and reward. This approach will ensure seamless access via a ‘No Wrong Door’ principle, reducing hand-offs and enabling continuity of care with a focus on the relationship.
An Overview of Growth in Action
Growth in Action (GiA) is a pioneering alliance commissioned by Torbay Council to improve outcomes for people experiencing multiple disadvantage, including homelessness, problematic substance use, and domestic abuse.
In the past, these areas were commissioned through separate contracts, each with its own referral routes, assessments, and performance measures. This meant that individuals with more than one support need often had to navigate three different pathways, undertake three separate assessments, and work with three separate workers, each following their own support plan. This fragmentation created barriers, slowed progress, and placed additional pressure on people already facing complex challenges.
In an attempt to address these challenges, Torbay Council has brought services together through alliance commissioning. Growth in Action is an alliance between:
- Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT)
- Torbay Council
- Sanctuary Supported Living
This integrated model aims to replace siloed service delivery with a unified, trauma‑informed approach that prioritises relationships, consistency, and person‑led support. By working as one partnership, GiA plans to ensure individuals receive coordinated care that recognises the whole person, reduces duplication, and provides a clearer, more supportive journey through services.
GiA represents a step change in how Torbay supports its most vulnerable residents, putting collaboration, compassion, and continuity at the heart of the system.
Core Principles Guiding The Workforce
GiA is underpinned by values and behaviours that foster trust, transparency, and shared accountability. Key principles include:
- Trauma-Informed Practice: Every interaction recognises the impact of trauma and avoids re-traumatisation.
- Relationship-Centred Care: The therapeutic relationship between worker and individual is the cornerstone of effective support.
- Evidence-Based Learning: Continuous improvement through feedback, reflective practice, and data-driven insights.
- Coproduction: Services shaped by lived experience alongside professional expertise.
The Delivery Model
GIA’s ambition with the workforce, enables professionals to work within a structure designed to maintain consistency and trust with the client:
- Case Holders: Support individuals whose needs fall into one of either homelessness/substance use/domestic abuse
- Complex Lives Navigators (CLNs): Coordinate support for those whose needs require multi-service support. This model ensures that any change in the primary worker is managed collaboratively with the individual, preserving relational continuity.
- Service Specialists: When individuals need additional expertise, such as a non-medical prescriber (NMP), Independent Domestic Violence Advisor (IDVA), or resettlement worker, the service ensures timely access to specialist support that can be activated or withdrawn as required, without additional referrals or losing the relationship with their primary worker.
Workforce Development
GiA invests in building a skilled, resilient workforce. All staff are required to be trained in Trauma-Informed Practice (TIP) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), supported by reflective practice and ongoing continued professional development. The aim is to provide individual and responsive services, specifically tailored to meet the individual’s wants and wishes, whilst minimising referrals, reducing duplication, and maintaining trusted relationships when accessing support.
Learning And Governance
GiA is striving to operate as a learning organisation, embedding real-time feedback loops to adapt services based on what works. Governance is inclusive and transparent, with representation from partners and lived experience voices. Decision-making follows a “high support, high challenge” model to ensure accountability and continuous improvement.
What This Means For Professionals?
Engaging with GiA offers opportunities to:
- Deliver integrated, person-led care aligned with best practice.
- Access training and development in trauma-informed and relationship-centred approaches.
- Contribute to service innovation through coproduction and shared learning.
- Work within a collaborative alliance that values transparency and collective ownership.
Get In Touch
If you would like to find out more information about GiA, referral pathways, and potential training opportunities relevant to your organisation, please contact one of our alliance service managers.
- Katy Fisher (Leonard Stocks Hostel): Email: [email protected] / Phone: 07721 598768
- Hollie Bryant (Torbay Recovery Initiatives / TRI): Email: [email protected] / Phone: 07557861699
- Claudia O’Neill (Torbay Domestic Abuse Service): Email: [email protected] / Phone: 0800 916 1474
Together, we can create a system where hope, choice, and connection are not aspirations but everyday realities.
