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The Frontline Interview with Katherine Norman The Frontline Interview with Katherine Norman In this edition, Katherine interviews Sian Williams, Head of National Services at Toynbee Hall. the development of the new financial them to tackle social injustice. Tower health needs assessment and impact Hamlets is characterised by high rates measurement MAP Tool, our financial of child poverty, worklessness, mortality Sian Williams capability and literacy programmes, and and overcrowding. The majority of the our systems thinking work with service 10,000 people we work with each year providers from a wide range of sectors. live on very low incomes, have multiple Q. Can you tell us a little about your I also represent Toynbee Hall at relevant needs, low aspirations or poor health. We work history and how you came to work policy meetings, conferences and good work with them to identify the services at Toynbee Hall? practice events, oversee the development to improve their lives, and provide an of national services, such as our training opportunity for them to take action. and consultancy services, and make A. After studying languages at Durham Our work is themed across four different sure we are contributing to and shaping University, I joined the Foreign and programme areas: Advice, Youth and the financial health policy and practice Commonwealth Office in 1993. In 1997 Community, Financial Inclusion and agenda across the UK. I receive a lot of I was posted to Hong Kong initially and Wellbeing. Our service users are diverse, requests to speak at events and to brief I stayed with the FCO through a posting and include young people, older people, people on the world and work of financial to Beijing and a range of jobs back in new migrants, people who are financially inclusion. London, but in my spare time I constantly excluded or living with debt, people facing talked about and researched microfinance. serious legal issues, as well as people I came across so many examples of from different communities. Our services people in the UK who had insufficient Q.. Toynbee Hall is based in the East End of London; could you tell us about are free of charge, and every year nearly access to financial services that I realised 400 volunteers support us to deliver there was still significant work to be done the organisation’s history, the services provided and the community it serves? services and engage with communities in the UK around financial inclusion. across Tower Hamlets and beyond. I spent a couple of years trying to work out how to get into the sector, making a A. Toynbee Hall was created in 1884 very common mistake of underestimating by Samuel Barnett, a Church of England Q. you mentioned that part of your how transferable my skills were. In 2008 Curate, and his wife Henrietta, in response role is running Transact, can you tell us I finally realised that sometimes you just to a growing realisation that social change more on the national forum and its role? have to make the leap, so I resigned and would not be achieved through the existing started looking for the next opportunity. individualised and piecemeal approaches. Transact began as the Financial I spent six months as a Policy Officer at Their radical vision was to attract budding A. Inclusion Forum in 2006 when the the Community Development Foundation, future leaders to live and work as national conversation about financial gaining valuable experience in the UK’s volunteers in London’s East End, bringing inclusion was in its infancy. Practitioners social policy arena. Whilst at CDF I saw them face to face with poverty, thus giving and researchers across the UK wanted the advert for the Head of Financial them the opportunity to develop practical to share ideas and learning, but there Inclusion at Toynbee Hall. It was my solutions that they could take with them was no infrastructure to support them do dream role; I will be forever grateful to and implement into political life. Many of so, so Toynbee Hall founded the forum my then boss, Mark Allan, for taking a the individuals that came to Toynbee Hall to fill the gap. Over the years Transact chance on me despite my lack of formal as young men and women – including has built up a loyal membership base of experience in the UK third sector. Clement Attlee, William Beveridge and about 1,000 practitioners, managers, Charles Booth – went on to bring about policy-makers, academics and volunteers radical social change throughout the UK Q. Can you tell us more about your who value the information and good and maintain a lifelong connection with role at Toynbee Hall? practice sharing we provide. We also use Toynbee Hall. the forum as an impartial funding and A. Until May this year I was Head of As Toynbee Hall approaches its 130th pilot conduit for government and sector Financial Inclusion, and now I’m Head of anniversary, it is still a community partners, such as the Barclays Community National Services, a new role created to organisation that pioneers ways to reduce Finance Fund for the affordable credit enable us to reach more people through poverty and disadvantage in the East sector. We are also able to represent the scaling up or sharing our tried and tested End of London. We give some of the views of members in consultations and local solutions. I run all our national level country’s most deprived communities policy debates; this can give a voice to programmes, including Transact, the a voice, providing access to free advice smaller organisations who don’t have national forum for financial inclusion, and support services, while working with capacity to respond to consultations, but 18 QuARTERLy ACCOuNT SUMMER 2014 .
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