celebrating places of change

contents3. INTRODUCTION

6. BHT PHase ONe PROjeCT, sUssex

7. THe BOOTH CeNTRe, MaNCHesTeR

8. eNglIsH CHURCHes HOUsINg gROUP, CaMBRIDge

10. easT POTeNTIal’s FOCUs e15 FOyeR, NewHaM, lONDON

12. DeRBysHIRe HOUsINg aID

13. sIMON HOUse, OxFORD

14. CRewe yMCa

15. CHC, lONDON

16. lessONs leaRNT

18. wHeRe TO FIND OUT MORe

19. aBOUT HOMeless lINk & aCTIvaTINg PlaCes OF CHaNge

PHOTO: Simon House

introDUctionWelcOme TO celebraTing Places Of cHange All services and agencies share a common goal to supporting services users to move forward and rebuild their lives. The range of services available to support homeless people is as varied as the range of circumstances that lead to homelessness.

There are elements that can make a service more effective in supporting their clients to this end, including having welcoming premises, motivated staff, empowering activities and involvement of service users.

Launched in 2005, the Department of Communities and Local Government’s (CLG) three-year £90 million Hostels Capital Improvement Programme (HCIP), aimed to help services become more effective by improving their buildings. Following on the success of HCIP in 2008, the CLG-supported Homes and Communities Agency, with the Drug Intervention Programme at the Home Office, launched a new round of grants totalling £70 million over three years for homelessness services called the Places of Change programme. The programme funds projects which have a specific focus on developing new ways of working with homeless people.

acTivaTing Places Of cHangeAs part of the Places of Change programme, £450,000 of revenue funding was made available to projects that had received capital funding through the HCIP. The vision was to run a small grants programme to support the Places of Change agenda by providing

“Activating Places of Change” (APoC) grants to pay for services to embed the ethos of meaningful activity, routes to employment, training and education and the sense that homelessness services should find ways to inspire and motivate those staying in them.

The rationale behind the APoC programme is that by providing engaging activities boredom is reduced, motivation increases, evictions and exclusions reduce and service users are encouraged to move on with their lives.

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Umbrella homelessness organisation Homeless Link helped distribute the APoC grants to services working with homeless people.

mOving OnProjects funded in 2008/9 are now coming to an end. This booklet tells the stories of eight of the projects that received funding.

As you will read, there are a wide variety of ways for a service to enable change, from formal training programmes to engagement activities such as gardening or music projects. What all these activities do have in common is that they provide the foundations for people to begin to confront bigger, long term problems and move on in their lives.

Homeless Link seek to end homelessness in England. The stories in this booklet show how this change can happen.

“A WELCOmInG bUILDInG, mEAnInGFUL ACTIvITIES AnD mOTIvATIOnAL STAFF – THAT’S A PLACE OF CHAnGE”service User

*Some of the names of the service users featured in this booklet have been changed to protect their identities.

PHOTO: Simon House

PHOTO: Simon House

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Developing confiDencePrOjecT: bHT PHase One PrOjecT’s PrOgramme Of cHange100% of people who completed Sussex-based homeless organisation’s bHT’s Programme of Change life skills training at their brighton hostel said it helped increase their confidence and self-esteem.

Tenants have to remain drug-free and commit to completing the programme, launched with a £9,000 APoC grant, before they can progress on to their own accommodation. The programme covers communication skills, relationship building, motivation, goal setting and future planning, and includes a 12-week work placement. So far, all 50 tenants who have completed it have been given that extra boost of confidence to go on to successfully live on their own. individUal learningEveryone on the course has different training needs as they prepare to move on. Some might spend more time filling in forms, or reading and understanding letters they get, while others will work on developing their IT skills. The grant funding has also paid for a series of Housing, Employment and Learning Packs (H.E.L.P.) that give structure to the variety of learning in the programme.

most of the work is done on a one-to-one basis with bHT staff but there are lots of group activities too. before the funding, there were only two or three activities a week in the hostel with eight people attending. now more than eight tenants attend up to seven activities a week.

inTernal exPerTise The aim is for the programme to be led by people who used to live in the hostel. There are sessions on addressing rights, responsibilities, and influencing skills in order to get tenants more involved in developing and delivering hostel services.

It has become clear that bHT staff themselves, with all their expertise, are the best coaches to get tenants engaged with their local community, learning and into work. Further funding from the European Social Fund, the Learning and Skills Council and the big Lottery is now paying for the bHT programme to continue.

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sUpport in UnexpecteD placesPrOjecT: THe bOOTH cenTre’s sTreeTWise OPera ParTnersHiP

Should you be travelling by bus in manchester, a song from bizet’s opera Carmen might well be the soundtrack to your journey.

Andy, who is homeless in the northern city, can’t stop singing “that Toreador song”.

“When I’m on the bus, I can’t get it out of my head, I’m singing it everywhere!” he says.

Just 12 months ago, Andy says he’d have run a mile if you’d asked him if he wanted to take part in an opera. but he’s one of 55 people to have participated in 10 one-day performance arts workshops at manchester’s booth Centre.

sOmeTHing differenTThe service, a drop in and activity centre for homeless people, used a £4,500 APoC grant to employ arts group Streetwise Opera to run dance and opera workshops. Andy’s 12-strong group put on a final performance at manchester’s Whitworth Art Gallery. “Doing something different helped prevent me from going robbing and drinking,” says Andy. “I’m certain that this is what I would have been doing if I didn’t attend the sessions.”

PUlling TOgeTHernow that booth Centre staff know this activity produces positive results, they’ve built it into the activities they offer. They’ve set up a new partnership with the Royal Exchange Theatre to offer drama workshops leading to a performance at the theatre.

The willingness to try something different, by staff and service users, played a major part in this project’s success.

As another participant Ray concludes: “Everybody’s doing it, you know you’re not there on your own, so you feel more confident and you say, hang on, they can support me.”

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Making things happenPrOjecT: englisH cHUrcHes HOUsing grOUP’s cambridge link-UPHomeless people can overcome their problems. They have skills, creativity, knowledge and experience. They’re homeless, not helpless.

These are three ideas behind the English Churches Housing Group’s (ECHG) Places of Change funded project. In 2007, the organisation used a Places of Change grant to build an eco friendly activity centre in its Cambridge hostel grounds.

The impressive wooden, low impact building was built by hostel residents. All had issues with heroin and/or alcohol which meant the project required lots of intensive staff support and the setting of ground rules: being drunk or high would not be acceptable on site. Working together on the project was excellent for team-building, which ECHG were keen to continue once the building project was complete.

creaTing a HOmeless cOmmUniTyStaff successfully applied for a £20,000 APoC grant to pay for a staff member to work with a homeless people’s committee to decide what activities should take place in the centre. The committee, called Cambridge Link-Up, runs activities which make money for the centre to keep it going. They have a market stall where homeless people sell their crafts, everything from tin can ashtrays to bags made out of recycled plastic yarn. And they have created a CD featuring homeless musicians in Cambridge called both Sides of the Tracks.

All this pays for Link-Ups’ small grants programme to which any homeless person can apply. Grants pay for anything that will help people get involved with an activity or that “brings a smile to their face”. Successful applications have paid for work boots, a dog lead, a guitar and internet access.

feel gOOd facTOrLink-Up’s key aim is to bring current and former homeless people together to “make things happen”. Graham Haynes, Property manager at ECHG, says the feel good factor this motivation has created is fantastic.

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“There’s a positive atmosphere and improved relationships with staff and residents. It enables far better communication and understanding and improved engagement as a result of that for people to be able to address their issues.” graham Haynes, Property manager, ecHg.

PHOTO: ECHG

inspiring yoUng people to create positive fUtUresPrOjecT: THe media sUiTe, easT POTenTial’s fOcUs e15 fOyer The Focus E15 foyer knew that their new media suite had potential for creating real change in the lives of its residents but without anyone properly trained to use the resource, the suite was closed for large periods of time.

To address this, East Potential secured a £18,500 APoC grant to fund the training of two staff members to use the media equipment. They wanted to make the most of this small training investment by having these staff members pass on their knowledge to foyer residents so that they can use the equipment independently. As a result, there are now 24 accredited users who can book the suite to do their own guided learning. Even more successfully, some of the foyer residents took further training and are now peer mentors.

engaging THe Hard TO reacHbecause the media suite is such an attractive resource for young people, the team at East Potential are finding it easier to engage some of the more difficult-to-reach residents. Those who were not previously taking an active role in foyer life are now attending resident meetings and other learning and skills development activities and are identifying personal progression pathways.

East Potential has seen some real success stories as a result of this increased engagement with the training and advice provided by the foyer.

natasha* was on the verge of eviction until her involvement with a film project also resulted in increased attendance in the foyer’s other programmes. As a result, natasha’s eviction notice was reversed and she continued her media training to become an accredited user of the suite.

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Paul’s confidence increased through training to use the suite and along with his new skills, this enabled him to secure an apprentice opportunity with music producer DJ Wonder. Paul is now running music training sessions at other local youth projects and has ambitions to become a youth work as he wants to help young people as he has been helped.

Residents are not the only ones to have benefitted. members of staff involved have expressed increased satisfaction with their roles and are enthusiastic about getting more young people involved.

fOrWard THinkingStaff at East Potential felt that this project was a success because the training available to the young people became “more relevant”. many more films have been made since and the media suite is an integral part of the services provided at this foyer with residents involved in planning of new media projects.

The small investment in media suite training has proved to be a useful stepping stone to accessing the wider services provided by East Potential, greatly contributing to their ultimate goal of helping their residents achieve long-term independence.

East Potential are passionate about the continuation of this project, having secured approximately £90,000 of funding from a variety of charity and public sector grants and with plans for new media centre in Hackney Wick in preparation for the Olympics in 2012 and this would bring a whole new range of employment opportunities in this area.

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gaining sMartskillsPrOjecT: derbysHire HOUsing aid’s smarTskills PrOgramme One of the first steps out of homelessness is having a somewhere welcoming to go, to keep occupied and busy. Stephen lived on the streets in Derbyshire for two months after leaving prison. “I wanted to stay active to reduce my drug taking,” he says. “I also wanted to get back into a routine.”

This is why homeless hostel provider Derbyshire Housing Aid (DHA) decided to open its night shelter during the day, to provide positive and engaging activities for their clients and the first step to breaking the pattern of homelessness.

develOPing smarTskillsThey successfully applied for an APoC grant for £20,000 to employ someone to run the activities. now residents have the opportunity to take part in a 12-week programme of “SmartSkills” to learn life skills and boost their self-esteem. They then progress to a 16-week course to develop handyperson skills, such as joinery and painting and decorating.

Participants are then supported to use their new skills to set up social enterprises: providing catering for buffets, business lunches etc; refurbishing Derbyshire Housing Aid properties; or providing education and training and employment services for the probation service.

Plan Of acTiOnThe programme has changed Stephen’s life. “I became a regular member of the handy skills scheme,” he said. “After a few sessions, I felt confident enough to mentor other people. now I’m taking a ‘How to influence powerful people’ course and plan to do further learning and work through the hostel.” Each of the 51 participants who have taken part in the scheme now has an individual plan of action for the future. “I want to learn new skills, be part of the community and give something back to those that have helped me,” says Stephen.

MeaningfUl occUpationPrOjecT: simOn HOUse’s ‘life: meeTing and beaTing iT’ cOUrseIt’s not just the premises of Simon House that have had a new lease of life. Service users have re-decorated the reception area and a number of residents’ rooms as part of the “Life: meeting It and beating It” course.

A £17,000 APoC grant allowed Simon House to pay for an experienced tutor to deliver the training programme. 5 service users have completed the course, receiving both the national Open College network (nOCn) Award level 1 in Painting and Decorating and the nOCn Certificate, which represents 150 hours of training.

The training programme is not just about certificates. The real goal is to encourage move-on and independent living.

creaTing THe OPPOrTUniTy fOr cHangeby providing a meaningful occupation, these qualifications have been extremely effective in giving participants the opportunity to create change in their lives. All participants in the programme remained abstinent from substances for the duration of the training. Once the programme was completed, three participants have moved out of Simon House into suitable accommodation and three also secured work placements with local builders.

exPanding THe benefiTsThe benefits of the grant have gone further than successes of the first set of participants as Simon House is now recognised as an accredited nOCn training provider and there are plans to extend the programme to general needs tenants. Thanks to the savings made to their internal building maintenance programme, they are able to fund the training for a further 6 months and will be better placed to secure long-term funding.

There are plenty of ideas for expanding on this opportunity for their service users. Simon House plan to set up a not for profit social enterprise to ensure those who take part in this training can apply their skills locally. by establishing partnerships with private sector landlords, they can not only maintain properties but also supply the landlords with suitable tenants. Simon House also hope to be involved in the Places of Change-funded development of the Skylight Café in Oxford.

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bUilDing a fUtUrePrOjecT: creWe ymca fOyer’s bUilding a fUTUre cOUrsereThere’s a new buzz in Crewe YmCA as service users are getting involved in ‘building a Future’. Funded by a £4,600 APoC grant, this course gives them the opportunity to learn construction skills in a meaningful work environment, such as building walls, soundproofing, removing fireplaces, decorating and fitting kitchens and bathrooms. This course is part of ‘moving On’, a project to purchase terraced houses and convert them into move-on flats. This means that there is a real possibility of young people living in flats that they have helped to create.

insPiring mOTivaTiOn and PrideOn one occasion, some minor damage was done to one of the properties by an unknown third party. because the young people had ownership and pride in the project, there was a real sense of injustice about this incident. This demonstrated to staff how attitudes can be changed when someone is given a say in their local environment.

advanTages fOr allThe most hard-to-reach residents who usually struggle with formal education environments responded well to developing skills within a regular working routine. The results speak for themselves - at least half of the participants moved on to successful independence within a year. valuable lessons were learnt about how to prepare clients for work:

1. most homeless people are not ready to work immediately‘building a Future’ allow skills such as timekeeping, numeracy, literacy, or dealing with crisis situations to be developed in a meaningful situation.

2. services can help their clients to adjust to a working routineService-users need to understand the long term investment in starting in a low wage job to build experience. Incentives can help, such as charitable rent subsidies, packed lunches or career mentors.

3. services can help create routes to employment Staff distributed participants’ Cvs to local employers and discusse developing supported employment opportunities. There are also plans for a social enterprise, reinvesting rental income from the ‘moving On’ project, with the goal of Crewe YmCA being self-sustaining in 3-5 years.

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a learning cUrve PrOjecT: cHc’s PersOnal develOPmenT PrOgrammeIt is not necessarily a disaster if thing don’t go to plan. It can be a brilliant learning curve if you’re a dynamic organisation, as CHC has discovered.

Staff at the information and support community centre used a £20,000 APoC grant to fund a five-month personal development course for 12 homeless people under 30 from black and ethnic minority backgrounds.

cHanging aimsIndividuals were supported by four ex-homeless mentors to improve their confidence, motivation, creativity and problem solving. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that no one was going to pass the course. “The demands of the course were too great for some – the written work, for example” says Danny maher, Chief Executive Officer at CHC.

Even though service users were unable to pass, it did not mean that they were not benefitting from the course. Staff noticed that the practical aspects, such as construction and time management skills, were significantly improving the self-esteem and confidence of their clients.

invOlving ParTiciPanTs Staff realised that the problem was that they did not consult clients when they had the idea for the training programme. Danny and his team think that this resulted in participants not feeling fully involved in the project.

The greatest lesson learnt by CHC was to involve service users from the very beginning of training planning and development. Danny says that the programme is now much more successful, because “an ethos of personal responsibility rather than dependency is very visible in how things now operate”.

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lessons learnt aPoc funding has allowed the organisations involved to develop their projects to their fullest potential. Here are the most important lessons learned by these organisations in the process.

1) a liTTle fUnding gOes a lOng Way All APoC grants were for under £20,000; most were around £5,000. With planning, careful monitoring and budgeting, what might seem like limited funds can be made to go a long way.

2) invOlve service Users frOm THe sTarTClients are in the best position to know what services they need and will find helpful. APoC funding showed that the most successful projects involve homeless people from the beginning in their conception, design, and implementation.

3) THink abOUT develOPing exisTing PrOjecTsIt’s not always necessary to set up a completely new project when aiming to implement something different. Sometimes, existing projects and resources can be developed, improved and made more effective.

4) dOn’T be afraid TO exPerimenT Projects don’t always turn out as expected. Setting goals and targets is important, but they do not always determine the success of a project. The important thing is to be dynamic, to be prepared to try new things, and if a project doesn’t meet original expectations, understand why, reappraise goals, and learn from the experience.

5) cOnsider WOrking WiTH exTernal agenciesOrganisations not directly involved in the homelessness sector can oftenbring the skills and expertise needed to make a project work. It often makes sense to bring them on board, and can mean the difference between a good project and a really excellent one.

6) bUild ParTnersHiPs many homeless organisations work in isolation. However, there are often other agencies in the local area whose additional expertise and resources could help provide an even better service for homeless people.

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These might be local employment providers, local authorities, or service user groups.

7) THink abOUT PrOjecT sUsTainabiliTy APoC funding is short term. However, all of the projects profiled in this booklet are continuing in some way. most have found funding from other grant making bodies but some have turned their projects into money making ventures using the social enterprise business model, reinvesting the profit made to sustain their growth.

8) be insPired and insPiringDon’t be afraid to be the first to try a new idea – showcasing innovative work will inspire others and show local communities what homeless people can achieve given the right support.

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PHOTO: Derby Housing Aid

Where to finD oUt More:HOmeless linkwww.homelesslink.org.uk

Places Of cHange PrOgrammewww.homesandcommunities.co.uk/places_of_change.htm

fUnderfinderUK charity providing advice, information and support to help voluntary organisations get funding. www.funderfinder.org.uk/index.php

aWards fOr all, englandA Lottery grants scheme funding community-based projects in the UK. www.awardsforall.org.uk/england/index.html

THe vOlUnTary and cOmmUniTy secTOr fUnding POrTalDeveloped by the Directory of Social Change, this website has a searchable database for grants for the voluntary and community sector. www.governmentfunding.org.uk/Default.aspx PrOHelPA national network of over 1,000 professional firms who give their time and expertise for free to local community groups and voluntary organisations. www.bitc.org.uk/community/employee_volunteering/prohelp/

valUe Of arTA Tate modern microsite providing online arts resources for adult community groups. www.tate.org.uk/valueart/

PHOTO: Simon House

aboUtHOmeless linkHomeless Link is the only national charity supporting people and organisations working directly with homeless people in England. We represent homelessness organisations among local, regional and national government. As the national collaborative hub for information and debate on homelessness, we seek to improve services for homeless people and to advocate policy change. Through this work, we aim to end homelessness in England.

We work in the following areas:

improving services for homeless people•changing policy for the better•forum for debate•information for change•practical tools and resources•changing public perceptions •training•

For more information, please visit: www.homelesslink.org.uk

Places Of cHange PrOgrammeThe Homes and Communities Agency is responsible for delivering Places of Change, a three year programme which runs from 2008 to 2011. The programme builds upon the success of the Hostels Capital Improvement Programme, which provided £90 million of funding for hostels and day centres between 2005 and 2008.

Poor physical conditions in hostels and services that don’t engage with and motivate people to address their needs can reinforce the cycle of homelessness. Places of Change supports hostels and other services for homeless people to provide positive opportunities that help people to move forward into work and a settled home. The programme aims to improve the services available to rough sleepers, to help them make the transition into a settled home, training or employment.

For more information, please visit:www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/places_of_change

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