Lantern Trust

The Lantern is an independent registered charity that was founded in 1983 to help vulnerable and marginalized people in the Weymouth & Portland area. The Lantern aims to bring a lasting change in people's lives through a dedicated service meeting people's practical, emotional and personal aftercare needs. Our ethos is one of social inclusion and we aim to break cycles of disadvantage and dependency. We operate a number of hubs that act as community support centres where all of our customers support needs are met in a central location. We support with homelessness, mental health, rent deposits, we are a landlord, outreach support to enable our customers to thrive.

A key aspect of The Lanterns success is working closely and professionally with other agencies and we view collaboration as key to achieving the outcomes our beneficiaries require. Our customers approach us with a varied range of personal concerns including mental health problems, offending behaviour, addiction, homelessness and personal crises. We aim to meet these needs through providing a wide range of services including advocacy, crisis response, front line practical assistance, housing and accommodation support, an assisted rent deposit scheme, welfare benefit advice and mental health and wellbeing services. We have developed a unique service delivery model which is based in Crisis, Recovery and Mental Health and Wellbeing Hubs.

We aim to meet these needs through a wide range of services including advocacy, crisis response, front line practical assistance and welfare benefits, housing &accommodation support and help through the Lanterns assisted rent deposit scheme. Our ethos throughout our work is to empower the individual and at all times encourage personal choice and responsibility. The building of lasting, trusting relationships with our customers are the foundation on which all our work is built on, the Lantern continues to be a place where laughter, friendship and hope are very apparent.