About Us

Golden Key was a partnership between statutory services, commissioners, the voluntary sector and people with lived experience across Bristol. We worked together to improve services for Bristol citizens with the most complex needs..

Our work focused on those who are faced with multiple disadvantage. All our clients experienced a challenging mix of homelessness, long term mental health problems, dependency on drugs/alcohol and interactions with the criminal justice system.

By working closely with these clients, we were able to see the system through their eyes and pinpoint areas where it was not working. We used this information to identify the changes services need to make for the better, both strategically and operationally.

We were an eight-year project funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. Our work was continuously and independently evaluated. This was so lessons could be learnt about how services could be improved for the most vulnerable – not just here in Bristol but across the whole of the UK.

We brought about change at every level – from the way we structure services, to the way we run the city.