Author: Toni Sword

Sponsor Mick’s Skydive for Homelessness

Posted on

In August, new dad, Michael (Mick) Wright, plans to jump out of a plane at 10,000ft to thank Glasgow’s Housing First programme for supporting him as moves on with his life after experiencing homelessness a couple of years ago.

Mick is due to take part in a sponsored skydive to raise money for the Salvation Army.

Glasgow’s Housing First programme provides normal settled tenancies to people with some of the hardest experiences of homelessness, and the Salvation Army undertakes wrap around support to help maintain tenancies and let people get on with building and living their lives.

With underlying health issues including diabetes, Mick experienced homelessness two years ago. He lost his job as a chef after experiencing some additional health issues. “I was really low. I was too proud to go back to my mum and dad’s,” says Mick. “I wanted to try to get a house of my own but I couldn’t afford the rent. I found myself just walking about and I ended up going to homelessness services.”

In September 2018, Mick secured a one-bedroom Housing First flat in Hillington and, since then, hasn’t looked back. Five months after moving into his new home, he met his new partner and they went on to have a baby boy, Freddie, in December 2019. He has also passed his driving test and hopes to find work supporting other homeless people.

Michael said: “Housing First has been amazing for me. It was magic when I got my one-bed flat and I would not have got to where I am now without the help of my Salvation Army case worker. We have moved to a wee house big enough for the baby and I want to get back into work when my health improves hopefully.”

“My life has turned around 360 degrees. I feel better physically and mentally. I’m in a good place now and I couldn’t be happier. My life is full of positive things. I have my two boys, an amazing partner and a new addition to the family. Hopefully now I can drive it will open more doors for me.

“A skydive is something I’ve always wanted to do and I want to give something back to the people who helped me. I will be jumping out of a (perfectly good) plane from over 10,000ft and free-falling at a speed of up to 120mph. Please help me raise funds to fight homelessness.”

Anyone who would like to sponsor Mick can do so at http://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/mick-wright84

Deciding how to help might be ignoring the obvious

Posted on

Homeless Network Scotland recently made over 1,000 cash payments of £100 to people affected by homelessness, thanks to the Scottish Government’s Wellbeing Fund, supported by SCVO and the Hunter Foundation. The one-off payment was available to households in temporary homelessness accommodation, or people who have recently taken on a Housing First tenancy. Martin Gavin, Head of External Relations at Homeless Network Scotland, explains how it came about.

The coronavirus crisis is helping to shift the concept of direct cash transfers to people who need money away from the fringes of charity fundraising and into the mainstream, both in the UK and abroad. Schemes operating worldwide have enabled people to buy equipment to start a business or repair their homes, or simply supporting them to get by. 

The Staying In Fund came about through a grant of £100K provided as part of the Scottish Government’s emergency response measures. The award of the grant to Homeless Network Scotland permitted us to use the money in the most effective way possible, and in this case simply providing cash or vouchers to people who need it was the preferred option. There is no good time to be short of money, but during this pandemic has been an especially stressful time and we wanted to help ease some money worries or allow people to clear money owed.

There is robust, well-researched evidence that providing money directly to people who need it is an effective response. American non-profit organisation, Give Directly, has been pioneering direct cash transfers for the past decade, according to its website delivering more than $160 million in cash directly to 170,000 families in different parts of the world. The organisation received funding from Silicon Valley tech companies and investors as the pandemic began to take hold in April. Research indicates that receiving a cash transfer has advantages beyond the initial payment, with some people who receive a payment experiencing a growth in income over time, with additional benefits relating to wellbeing and positive health outcomes also recorded.

Here in Scotland, people in temporary accommodation or a Housing First tenancy were able to apply with many applications coming through support providers such as Salvation Army, which delivers services across Scotland including Housing First support.

Kelly Storm, Service Manager at Salvation Army, said: “On a practical level people have been able to buy things like clothes, which they would not normally buy for themselves, items for their tenancies to help make their house feel more like home and also forms of entertainment, such as phones and DVDs, which have helped combat isolation during the lockdown period. We have been able to encourage people to shop in their local stores and supermarkets as well which has helped them connect with their communities. The fund has had an incredibly positive impact on all. For those really feeling the effects of increased isolation and boredom, the receipt of the voucher was a huge pick me up and really lifted their spirits.”

This round of our staying in fund is now closed but testing this method of providing support has demonstrated the value of direct cash grants for people who may have limited access to financial assistance, from friends or family members for example. For us, this confirmed that deciding how best to assist someone might be as simple as enabling them to decide for themselves.

People in temporary accommodation or Housing First were able to apply for the grant, including Lenny from Refrewshire, pictured, who received £100 of shopping vouchers in June.

Housing and homelessness strategic partnership

Posted on

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and Homeless Network Scotland (HNS) have today (Thursday 16 July) announced they will be forming a strategic partnership, with the aim of strengthening the social housing sector’s role in tackling homelessness.

This will include:

  • joint lobbying on mutual areas of interest
  • test-of-change projects to scope new approaches to tackling homelessness
  • SFHA involvement in the design and delivery of a new national framework by HNS, to startup, scale up and integrate Housing First to tackle multiple disadvantage
  • post-Covid support guidance, options and tools to help test new ideas that preventhomelessness and create housing capacity and choice
  • HNS quarterly homelessness policy and practice briefings for SFHA members.

As part of the arrangement, SFHA members will have automatic access to the benefits of Homeless Network Scotland’s full membership category.

Sally Thomas, SFHA Chief Executive, said:

“We are delighted to be working more closely with Homeless Network Scotland. Scotland’s housing associations and co-operatives already play a key role in tackling and preventing homelessness by providing affordable housing, tenancy sustainment support, and financial and welfare rights services.

“Through this partnership, we can ensure that social housing providers further strengthen the work they do, in order to achieve the shared ambition of ending homelessness in Scotland.”

Maggie Brünjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland, said:

“This strategic partnership with SFHA is very important to us. Our organisations share common values and approaches which overlap with a shared objective to resolve homelessness.

“The timing is also right to formalise this partnership. Housing ends homelessness, and a housing-led recovery will help us move forward from current emergency measures to mitigate against the worst impacts of the pandemic on homelessness in Scotland.

“No one wants to see people return to unsuitable temporary accommodation or rough sleeping. This will need us all to do more. While it will need a shift in homeless systems and provision, it also needs more social and affordable housing, especially in parts of Scotland where supply does not meet demand. I know this formal partnership between our organisations can help further that aim.”

Wisdom from the System – re-designing an inclusive and adaptable alternative system

Posted on

On July 14 over 40 people with experience of the social care, criminal justice, mental health and homelessness sectors in Scotland came together as part of a UK wide conversation, Wisdom from the System.

Participants acknowledged overlapping issues and how outdated, broken systems are failing individuals – where people have to navigate multiple different services, rather than focussing on their strengths and capabilities.

Wisdom from the System is intended to enable learning from the changes made during the pandemic, and to see a more connected, less competitive model adopted to ensure needs are met and that no-one is left behind.  

Pulling together key themes from these conversations, and using these to decide what’s next, we are hoping this to be the beginning of a powerful movement towards redesigning a system created to support – but is too often failing – people going through difficult times.

For more information and for the opportunity to submit your wisdom online please visit: https://wisdom.maydaytrust.org.uk/

HARSAG recommendations and next steps

Posted on

In a statement released today (Wed 15 July 2020) the Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning, Kevin Stewart MSP, approved in principle all 105 recommendations from the Homelessness & Rough Sleeping Action Group. 

The Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Action group (HARSAG) was reconvened in response to the pandemic. The group was originally established following renewed commitments to tackle homelessness in the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government in 2017 and subsequently submitted a set of ground-breaking recommendations, adopted in full.

The final report takes both an immediate and a longer-term view, addressing what it will take to protect progress made in the past four months, especially to prevent a return to previous levels of rough sleeping. It also considers how we can build on all that was achieved by local and national partners in the year before the pandemic – the first year of the transition toward a new, rapid rehousing approach. It includes stronger recommendations to assist urgent developments going forward, such as preventing homelessness, accelerating Housing First, increasing housing supply and ending destitution among people with no recourse to public funds. 

Maggie Brunjes, Chief Executive of Homeless Network Scotland and member of the HARSAG, said: 

“The Minister’s statement confirms the resolute intention of the Scottish Government to resolve homelessness over the next phase. Our warm appreciation goes to the Minister for reconvening this group and for accepting all of our recommendations.

“While Scotland was already heading in the right direction to resolve homelessness, the pandemic has forced the pace and taught us important lessons about urgency, collaboration, what’s possible – and what really matters. 

“Through cross-sector consultation, HARSAG has built from the early objectives identified by the Everyone Home Collective and from priorities of the Change Team, bringing lived and frontline experience. Going forward, these structures – connecting directly with our public sector, health and housing partners – will be vital to support implementation of these recommendations on the ground.”