Thurrock, Essex
Supported living in Thurrock
Riverside Thurrock is a set of small towns that behave like villages — and people do far better here when they stay in the one they know.
Thurrock is where a lot of our work started. We take referrals from the acute and rehabilitation wards serving south Essex, from Thurrock Council duty teams, and from families who have watched a tenancy in Grays or Tilbury slowly come apart and don't want it to happen again.
The pattern we see here is specific: people discharged into placements out towards Basildon or into London, losing the bus routes, the corner shop and the sister who visits every Sunday, then relapsing within months. Everything we run in Thurrock is designed to avoid exactly that.
Continuity of care is the whole point. The same small staff team, the same care coordinator, the same GP, the same pharmacy on the high street. We don't rotate agency workers through a house because a rota is short — familiar faces are the intervention.
Our homes
What our Thurrock homes are like
Our Thurrock houses are 1930s and post-war family homes on residential streets in and around Grays and South Ockendon. No signage, no reception, nothing that marks them out from the neighbours.
A front door key and a bedroom key
Every tenant has a lockable room they can paint, fill with their own furniture and shut when the house feels loud. It's their home, not a bed.
Kitchens people actually use
A full-size cooker, a big table and staff who cook alongside people rather than for them — most Thurrock tenants are shopping at Grays market within a few months.
Two to four people per house
Small enough that everyone knows everyone, and quiet enough for someone who has come off a busy ward and can't tolerate noise yet.
Gardens and outside space
Most of our Thurrock properties have a garden — somewhere to smoke, sit, grow tomatoes or get five minutes away from other people.
Safe homes
Every Thurrock home is safe, compliant and regularly inspected
Property compliance is a wellbeing issue, not a filing exercise. Here's what that means in practice across our Thurrock homes.
- Fire detection, emergency lighting and extinguishers tested to a documented Thurrock-wide schedule
- Annual gas safety certificates and five-yearly electrical condition reports held for every property
- Legionella risk assessments with monthly water temperature checks
- Waking or sleep-in cover overnight wherever the assessment says it's needed
- Positive-risk plans written with the tenant, in their words, and reviewed after every incident
- Repairs triaged same-day — a broken boiler in January is a mental health risk, not a maintenance ticket
Local care
Care that stays local in Thurrock
People do better when the GP, the pharmacy, the care coordinator and the support team are all within a few miles of the front door.
- Registration with a Grays, Tilbury or Ockendon GP practice within the first week
- Escorting to community mental health appointments across south Essex, including depot clinics
- Weekly medication ordering with a named local pharmacy and clear escalation if doses are missed
- Joint working with the existing care coordinator, CPN and social worker — we don't restart the story
- Relapse plans that name the person's own early signs, plus who to ring at 2am
- Universal Credit, PIP, housing benefit and tenancy paperwork done with the tenant at the table
Local relationships in Thurrock
The reason Thurrock works for us is relationships. Our managers know the ward staff at the units that discharge here, the duty social workers at Thurrock Council, and the housing officers who decide how fast a tenancy is signed. When something goes sideways at 7pm on a Friday, we're ringing someone who knows our name.
Being part of the community
For tenants, community means the ordinary stuff: the c2c into Grays, a walk along the Thames path at Tilbury, swimming at Blackshots, the Saturday market, a mosque or a church, Thurrock's job clubs and college courses. We build a week with other people in it, because isolation is nearly always what comes before readmission.
Who we work with
Thurrock Council adult social care and housing · South Essex NHS mental health services · GP practices and pharmacies in Grays, Tilbury and Ockendon · Thurrock CVS and local voluntary sector groups
Areas we cover in and around Thurrock
We take referrals for supported living and mental health supported accommodation across Thurrock and the surrounding Essex area, including:
- Grays
- Tilbury
- South Ockendon
- Chafford Hundred
- Aveley
- Corringham
- Stanford-le-Hope
- Purfleet
Make a referral
Three ways to refer in Thurrock
Use the referral form
Two minutes, no documents needed to start — tell us you're referring in Thurrock.
Start a referralFrequently asked
Thurrock referrals
How quickly can you assess someone on a ward in south Essex?
We acknowledge the referral the same working day and aim to be on the ward for a face-to-face assessment within 48 hours, including at units outside Thurrock where a Thurrock resident is placed.
Do you take Section 117 aftercare placements in Thurrock?
Yes — Section 117, spot purchase and joint-funded packages with Thurrock Council and NHS commissioners.
Can someone stay near family in Grays or Tilbury?
That's the whole model. We try to place people in the town they already know, near the family, GP and services who know them.
Who is responsible for the tenancy?
Tenants hold their own occupancy agreement. Support is separate from housing, so someone can change their support without losing their home.
Do you accept direct payments?
Yes. We accept local authority and NHS funding, personal budgets and direct payments held through an intermediary or managed account provider.
Discuss a Thurrock placement
Tell us about the person's needs and we'll tell you honestly whether we're the right fit.