A local solution to a national challenge Review 2011 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk The story so far…
1973 A single volunteer was recruited to run a night shelter to provide accommodation for up to 10 single homeless men each night.
1976 The first paid employee was recruited to manage a team of volunteers. A new night shelter was opened, providing accommodation for 26 homeless men and women.
1984 In order to provide a better standard of accommodation, the night shelter was closed and replaced with five rented properties to offer emergency, medium and long-term accommodation.
1986 Successful fundraising enabled us to purchase our first property.
1987 In order to provide higher standards of support, the provision of services was handed over to a fully paid team of seven.
1988 We employed our first qualified Women’s Worker in response to significant increases in homelessness amongst women.
1989 We employed our first qualified Youth Worker.
1990 Our first property was opened dedicated to providing emergency and short-term accommodation to single women and women with children.
1994 Increases in the level of mental ill-health amongst our users results in fundraising to employ our first qualified Mental Health Nurse.
1998 We were awarded the largest ever National Lottery social sector grant in the West Midlands. This allowed us to start providing Floating Support and Outreach services working with people in their own accommodation or living in temporary accommodation without support.
2001 Further fundraising efforts enabled us to acquire new offices in Far Gosford Street from which we also offer advice services for women.
2001 Our Emergency Accommodation Service received national recognition when it is quoted in a government report as one of the best preventative models in the UK.
2005 A new project providing 24 hour emergency accommodation for young people was introduced.
2008 A merger with Norton House Day Centre enabled us to deliver a more seamless and effective service to homeless people in the city.
2009 We emerged from competitive tendering with our existing contracts and two new contracts for a mediation service for young people and a rough sleepers service.
2010 Successful tenders for new contracts in Warwickshire led to accommodation and resettlement services in Stratford and Nuneaton. A joint review of Day Centre services with the Coventry PCT led to the setting up of a Multiple Needs Service to target homeless people with complex needs.
2011 A successful bid to Crisis saw the opening of a Tenancy Sustainment project in partnership with Coventry Citizens Advice Bureau.
2 We believe that solutions to local homelessnesswww.coventrycyrenians.co.uk are best delivered by locally based agencies with detailed knowledge of the available support network. Coventry Cyrenians has been providing support to homeless and vulnerable people in Coventry and Warwickshire for nearly 40 years. Read on to learn about the services we provide and how you can help us to make an even greater impact at a time when homelessness is starting to increase.
Chairman’s introduction
I have been personally involved with Coventry Cyrenians for over 30 years. In that time the organisation has grown rapidly, in its way a sad reflection of the reality of continuing issues of homelessness in a modern society. The recession of 2008/9 and the painfully slow economic recovery are resulting in cuts in funding to the voluntary sector at a time when services provided by many charities are most needed.
The last couple of years have been challenging and exciting as we came to terms with competitive tendering, a restructuring of many of our services and a move to new offices in Coventry city centre.
We have secured contracts in Nuneaton and Stratford. The service based at Norton House in partnership with Coventry City Council Social Services and Coventry PCT has been remodelled to include a multiple needs service, focussing on clients with a number of issues that have either resulted in their homelessness or created major obstacles to efforts to maintain their accommodation.
The Trustees believe that this review offers a timely reminder that there are still an unacceptably large number of people in Coventry and Warwickshire who are homeless or at real risk of losing their homes.
I would like to take this opportunity, on behalf of the Trustees and staff of Coventry Cyrenians, to thank our supporters and volunteers who have helped build Cyrenians into the organisation it is today. I look forward to your continued support as there is much to be done.
Our new offices at Oakwood House David Oliver FCCA,FCA Chair of Trustees
3 Chief Executive’s review
In a world seemingly obsessed with statistics it is all too easy to forget that the impact of the work done by organisations such as Coventry Cyrenians is best measured by the effect we have on peoples’ lives. We are grateful to the clients who have allowed us to share their experiences in this review.
The increasingly competitive funding climate has given fresh impetus to our new three-year strategy which includes a commitment to increase our external fundraising, develop new and innovative ways of generating income and generally reduce our reliance on local authority funding.
We are currently involved in a number of exciting ventures which include the proposed redevelopment of the ground floor of our former offices in Far Gosford Street into a retail unit and coffee bar. This unique social enterprise project, in partnership with the fashion department at the Coventry University and Trading Standards, will be used to train some of our young service users.
An important new development in Coventry is the formation of the Here2Help consortium of which we are founder members. This new body has been set up to broaden the range of funding opportunities by encouraging collaborative working between agencies in Coventry and has been welcomed by the city council.
We are also working in partnership with Coventry Citizens Advice Bureau to deliver the “Crisis” private rented sector scheme which seeks to encourage private landlords to make their properties available to people who were previously homeless.
We continue to expand our services in Warwickshire with a new Outreach project in Stratford which complements an existing accommodation service in the town. The hostel in Nuneaton is also proving to be a successful venture, offering accommodation and support to young people with challenging behaviour.
The current climate of austerity presents opportunities as well as threats to the voluntary sector. A robust fundraising strategy is essential if we are to take advantage of those opportunities and continue to make a real impact on homelessness in Coventry and Warwickshire.
Mike Fowler Chief Executive
Mike Fowler with Councillor Marcus Lapsa and representatives from the local community after receiving a donation from Costcutter
4 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Cyrenians Social Enterprise
Plans are well advanced for an exciting new venture in An artist’s impression of the shop fronts partnership with Coventry University and the Trading Standards offices in Coventry and Warwick.
On the site of our former head office in Far Gosford Street, a proposed retail unit and coffee bar, based in the heart of the new FARGO development, would be staffed by a mix of adult volunteers and young service users.
The shop would showcase clothing and accessories designed and produced by the fashion students at Coventry University. A selection of these products was displayed at last year’s Clothes Show at the NEC. The project received widespread media coverage in addition to a commendation for “Innovation and Partnership” from the prestigious Lord Stafford Awards committee.
Recycling and sustainability will be at the heart of the operation. The coffee bar will sell a range of Fairtrade products supplied by a major Fairtrade distributor. The raw Mike Fowler (second left) and Anne Muirhead of Coventry materials for the clothing and accessory range will come University, Dr Mark Payton of Mercia Seed Fund and Lord from seizures of counterfeit garments made by the Trading Stafford, pictured at the Lord Stafford Awards ceremony. Standards officers of Coventry and Warwick which would otherwise be destroyed or sent to landfill.
We believe that this social enterprise, combining environmental objectives, partnership working with the university and Trading Standards, as well as providing training and employment opportunities for young service users, is the first of its kind in the UK.
5 We make a difference…
Rough Sleepers / Multiple Needs Service
In the two years since Coventry City Council first contracted a dedicated rough sleepers service, we have identified and engaged with over 200 people. The majority were found during the early morning walks carried out by our staff.
On average it will take four interventions to ensure a rough sleeper fully engages with our services and comes to our Norton House premises where they are given a breakfast and access to shower and laundry facilities. Once our staff have had the opportunity to talk to the client about their situation, they are usually successful in getting them to fully engage with the service.
The public perception of rough sleepers is of white men, middle aged with an alcohol and/or drug addiction that is the root cause of the resulting homelessness.
The reality is often different, as our case studies show. A tragic combination of circumstances can result in homelessness and trigger a downward spiral leading to a dependency on alcohol and drugs. Furthermore, the average age of our clients in 2010/11 was just 35 with an ever increasing number of men and women in their early twenties.
Recognition of the urgent need to address substance misuse dependencies, often compounded by mental health issues, resulted in a new multiple needs service in partnership with Coventry City Council Social Services and Coventry PCT being established in November 2010. This enables us to work with individuals with a combination of needs, any one of which is a major obstacle to placing them in temporary accommodation let alone anything more permanent.
People entering the service 2010/11 People accessing accommodation 2010/11
100 50
80 40
60 30
40 20
20 10
0 0 Target Result Target Result
6 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Mark
Many of the people who sleep rough and have substance misuse issues do not seek that life but are the victims of circumstances that not everyone is capable of coping with.
As Christmas 2010 approached, everything seemed settled in Mark’s life. He had a happy childhood as part of a loving family. He was living with a partner and they had a son together. On Christmas Day his partner told Mark that she was in a relationship with someone else and asked him to leave the family home. Mark’s life spiralled out of control from that moment.
By the time Mark arrived back in Coventry after several months moving around the country, he was an entrenched rough sleeper with an alcohol dependency, health problems and a real fear of hostels. Our Rough Sleepers team found him during one of their regular early morning walks. They were able to persuade Mark to come into our Norton House premises with a couple of friends he had made on the streets. Regular contact with his new support worker convinced him to try and reduce his dependency on alcohol and accept a place in one of our supported houses.
Mark agreed to take part in an in-house art project making greeting cards for his family as a way of reconnecting with relatives. He did not realise that his mother had registered him as a missing person. She was overjoyed to receive his card and soon after visited him and provided him with a mobile phone so he could keep in touch. Our support worker was even able to arrange for Mark to see his son.
More recently, his earlier health problems reappeared with a vengeance. A fellow resident had been watching television with Mark one evening in early November. He went out for a short period and returned to find him dead on the floor.
Mark was just 31.
In this publication we have included a number of very positive and uplifting case studies. Mark’s family was happy to give their permission for this story to be Mark in happier times with his told as an example of how quickly a life can unravel Support Worker, Karen despite the best efforts of many people.
7 We make a difference…
Young Persons’ Direct Access Hostel
Our Young Persons’ Direct Access (YPDA) hostel on Young people taking up residence at Holyhead Road provides temporary accommodation for YPDA 2010/11 up to 15 young people between the ages of 16 and 24.
Each resident has their own en-suite room. There is a 150 communal lounge and a kitchen from which two meals a 120 day are provided by a part-time cook. 90 The unit is staffed by two people 24 hours a day and referrals are accepted at any time. 60
The average age of the clients coming into the service 30 during 2010/11 was 18, many of whom self referred 0 following a family breakdown situation. Target Result
Our project workers are trained to initiate a mediation process wherever possible as a return to the family Residents moving into supported home is usually considered to be a better option than accommodation 2010/11 the alternatives such as “sofa surfing” with friends and certainly preferable to sleeping rough. 100
The work done with the young people is very intensive of 80 necessity due to a contractual limit of two months on their 60 length of stay. 40 In the event that mediation is unsuccessful, the approach would be to move the client into either one of our own 20 residential properties or larger units such as the Coventry Foyer or YMCA. 0 Target Result Some young people are ready to make the step directly into independent living and they will be assisted by our floating support service. Residents moving back into family home 2010/11 Options are limited, however, because of the difficulties encountered by clients under 18 in accessing their own 50 accommodation. 40 It is an uncomfortable fact that demand significantly exceeds supply with this service, a reflection perhaps of 30 the difficulties facing many young people these days. 20
10
0 Target Result
8 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Laura
When Cyrenians first started supporting Laura, she was at a low point in her life, had various debts and felt her life lacked direction.
When Laura found out she was pregnant, she felt that the opportunities for getting a job and supporting her new baby were even less, and this made her feel increasingly more worried and stressed.
Understandably, once her baby was born, Laura suffered from low mood swings, and when her little girl began to crawl she realised that her accommodation just wasn’t suitable for a family.
She approached Cyrenians and her support worker realised that Laura needed help to apply for all the benefits she was entitled to, and together they sorted out her accommodation, got her to visit the doctor and talk about her health needs, formulated a budget plan and repayment agreements with her creditors, and supported her emotionally through the enormous changes that had to take place in her life in order to get her back on track.
Gradually Laura started to feel in control and began looking at how she could get a job, become more independent and support her daughter. She decided that the best route into employment would be to return to education, taking an NVQ level 2 in childcare.
This led to gaining employment at a pre-school nursery and nursery placement for her daughter on the days she would be working and studying.
With this sorted Laura decided to start saving money in order to secure privately rented accommodation with a garden for her growing child. With Christmas and her daughter’s first birthday approaching, Laura initially decided that she couldn’t possibly save with these two important dates to be celebrated, but after some more thought she made the choice of forgoing any celebration, in order to gain long-term stability and putting the development of her child first.
Laura has saved enough money to move into two-bedroom accommodation, which has its own garden and large lounge, where Laura and her daughter are thriving, and to make matters even better Laura was awarded an Achievement Award from Coventry City Council for her hard work and determination.
Now Laura’s long-term future goals are to undertake a Makaton sign language course, then to gain her NVQ level 3 in childcare and to be a good mum, by showing her daughter that hard work and effort eventually rewards itself. Laura now realises that no one gets every decision right and that she has learned from her mistakes, and can pass on her experience to her daughter.
9 We make a difference…
Residential Services
Our residential services comprise 23 shared houses in Coventry to accommodate single men and women of all ages with a number of these properties dedicated to young people aged 16-24.
Each client has a support worker who works with them for up to twelve months to try and empower the client to be able to live independently in their own accommodation, whether that is in the private rented sector or with a registered social landlord (RSL).
Included in the total are nine properties set aside for low level support for clients considered to be almost ready to make the final transition to independent living.
We believe this is an important element in the process as the move from a shared house to their own tenancy is too big a step for some clients and may be setting them up to fail, with all that would entail for their future prospects. This aspect of the service is self sustaining with no contract or grant funding.
The properties are either owned by ourselves or leased from a combination of RSLs, the city council and private landlords.
All accommodation is fully accredited in accordance with the City Council’s Accredited Property Scheme. Housing management is carried out by our own in-house team.
The properties are furnished to a high standard and great care is taken to achieve the correct balance of clients in each house.
People entering the service 2010/11 Successfully moved on 2010/11
200 200
150 150
100 100
50 50
0 0 Target Result Target Result
10 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Shelby
Shelby is 17 years of age and had experienced a traumatic few years before being referred to Cyrenians.
At 15, Shelby and her younger brother were removed from the family home by Social Services due to their mother’s mental health and alcohol abuse issues. Shelby went to live with an aunt and her brother was placed in foster care.
During the following months, Shelby’s behaviour became increasingly destructive and she was referred to Coventry’s children mental health services for counselling. It became apparent that Shelby’s presence in the house was causing friction between the aunt and her partner.
The counsellor referred Shelby to our Young Persons’ Direct Access hostel where she was immediately allocated a project worker who was able to find an unfurnished flat for her. The worker also successfully obtained a community care grant to help with the furnishings.
With some stability now introduced into her life, Shelby is now studying for her A-levels and hopes to go to university. She is doing temporary work at the Ricoh Arena and has passed her driving test. When she reaches the age of 18, Shelby hopes to be in a position to offer the sort of support to her brother that she received from Cyrenians.
Chamber of Commerce backs Cyrenians fundraising effort
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has agreed to support an appeal to local businesses to make a donation to Cyrenians instead of sending out Christmas cards this year.
In an article appearing in the Chamber’s official magazine, chief executive Louise Bennett said: “The Cyrenians has a tremendous reputation within the charity sector for the work it does, but it doesn’t have a high profile with the general public and the business community and we hope this fundraising campaign backed by the Chamber will help to change that.”
To take part in the Cyrenians Christmas card appeal, simply donate to the charity instead of sending company Christmas cards. As a local charity, donors can be sure that all of the money that is received will go towards tackling local issues of rough sleeping and general homelessness.
11 We make a difference…
Floating Support Service
There is plenty of research that supports statistics such as 25% of new tenancies taken up by formerly homeless people break down in the first year. That figure typically rises to 50% over a two-year period.
A tenancy breakdown will have far reaching implications in terms of the likelihood of obtaining another tenancy and the effect on self-esteem and confidence.
There are a number of factors that contribute to tenancy breakdown. One of these is a clear need for support from experienced staff to overcome the problems associated with what might be a person’s first tenancy.
We provide that help in the form of a Floating Support service for men and women of all ages in addition to a mediation service for young people. Such support often follows a period of residence in one of our own supported housing services in order to maintain the continuity so vital to a successful tenancy.
The most common issues to be addressed include the ability to secure adequate furniture and white goods, debt problems and social isolation. We help with the bureaucratic complexities of securing grants and loans, liaise with landlords and assist with integrating the client into the local community.
We also operate a floating support service for adults with mental health issues, such as schizophrenia, personality disorders and depression. Our qualified staff work closely with mental health charities and health professionals to address these issues at the same time as supporting them in maintaining their tenancies.
People entering the service 2010/11 Success completion of programme of support 2010/11
160 160
140 140
120 120
100 100
80 80
60 60
40 40
20 20
0 0 Target Result Target Result 12 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Nuneaton and Stratford Projects
In 2010 we successfully tendered for accommodation and resettlement contracts in Nuneaton and Stratford, funded by Warwickshire County Council.
The Nuneaton project provides supported accommodation for up to seven young people with 24-hour cover in a property owned by Cyrenians. This is the first project of its type in Nuneaton and the client base has included a number of individuals who have come through the care system.
The work done with these young people includes advice on accessing education and training, living skills such
as cooking, cleaning and budgeting, health, community Stratford Project involvement, accessing accommodation and general emotional support.
In Stratford we are providing residential accommodation for up to eight adults together with an Outreach service which receives additional support from the Stratford Town Trust.
The Outreach programme includes a support network for rough sleepers and builds on our success in this area within Coventry.
Residents in Nuneaton
Young Accommodation Project in Nuneaton
People entering the service 2010/11 Successfully moved on 2010/11
40 40
30 30
20 20
10 10
0 0 Target Result Target Result 13 Cyrenians Christmas
The Christmas Day dinner for homeless and vulnerable people has been running for over 30 years. In 2010, the Central Methodist Hall in Coventry city centre once again acted as hosts to over 200 people who took advantage of the food and gifts generously donated by a wide range of organisations and members of the public.
We would like to thank everyone who contributed to what Finham Park School has become an institution in Coventry, including over 50 volunteers who gave up much of their Christmas Day to help ensure everything ran as smoothly as ever.
We welcome any contribution in the form of money, food, clothing and toiletries all through the year. These donations are particularly useful, however, over the Christmas period when the despair of homelessness is even more keenly felt.
Every year a number of schools contribute to the Christmas dinner event. These include:
• Stoke Park School recently did a project on homelessness which urged the pupils to donate something at Christmas.
• Pupils from President Kennedy School have donated presents to Cyrenians for the past four years which are Stoke Park School then given out at Christmas.
• Finham Park School has been donating hampers for the past two years.
We have also received donations from Bablake School, Tile Hill Wood School and Woodfield School together with many churches in the Coventry and Warwickshire area.
We fully expect numbers this Christmas to exceed anything we have seen before and, once again, we will be relying on the generosity and goodwill of the people of Coventry and Central Methodist Hall on Christmas Day 2010 Warwickshire.
President Kennedy School
14 www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
Financial Summary
WHERE IT COMES FROM
Statutory Contracts and Grants 61.4% Income from Residential Properties 33.5% Donations and Sundry Income 5.1%
WHERE IT GOES 4% 5% 5% 11% 6% Residential Services 50.3% Floating Support Services 29.1% Rough Sleepers/Multiple Needs Services 19.5% 15% Governance Costs 1.1% 22% 41%
WHO IT GOES TO 69%
22% Age of clients Gender of clients
9% 4% 5% 5% 11% 16-24 6% Male 26% 25-34 Female 35-44 15% 4% 5% 5% 40% 22% 11% 45-54 6% 41% 38% 55+ 60% 15%
22% 69% 27% 41% 22%
69%
22% 9% Ethnicity of clients Primary need 26%
4% 5% 5% 11% 6% 40% 9% 26% 38% 60%15%
22% 40% 41% 27% 38% 60%
69% 27% 22%
White British Black African Mental Health Alcohol Asian 9% Black Caribbean Drugs Physical Health 26% Other
15 40%
38% 60%
27% You make a difference…
Making a donation will directly help someone to change their life. Every year we help hundreds of people change theirs and we could not do that without your support.
As a medium sized local charity you can be sure that your donation will go towards helping homeless and vulnerable people in your local area.
Make a regular gift or a one-off donation
Support Coventry Cyrenians in your workplace, school or place of worship
Take part in or organise a fundraising event
Make a gift “in kind”
Volunteer your time and skills
Remember Coventry Cyrenians in your will For nearly 40 years Coventry Cyrenians has been helping homeless and vulnerable people in Coventry and Warwickshire. You can help us to develop our services to meet the ever increasing demand by leaving a legacy in your will.
Free Codicil In the event that you already have a will and would like to amend it to include a legacy to Coventry Cyrenians, we have joined forces with the legal firm, Keelys Solicitors in Lichfield, to offer a free codicil service. All you have to do is contact us with details of the proposed legacy and we will do the rest.
Leaving a legacy will cost you nothing today, but will make a difference to lives in the future.
There are a number of ways in which you can donate to Cyrenians…
Should you wish to send a cheque, please make it payable to Coventry Cyrenians Ltd and send it to: Coventry Cyrenians Ltd, Oakwood House, Cheylesmore, Coventry, CV1 2HL.
You could donate by making a regular direct debit payment on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. You can download the direct debit form from our website www.coventrycyrenians.co.uk
If you would like more information on how you can contribute to the work of Coventry Cyrenians, please contact Phil Bragg on 024 7622 8099 or email at [email protected]