May 2021 Issue 3 Haringey Local Area Coordination Newsletter

The monthly update from Haringey’s Local Area Coordination team—telling you what we’ve been up to, what we’re planning, and highlighting the unique way we work with residents and community groups to make Haringey a more welcoming place.

The value of Values May has been a very busy month for Haringey’s Local Area Coor- dination team. With easing of restrictions LACs have been out Haringey Local and about in their patches (see list of Hubs on page…) meeting residents and enjoying the opportunity to get back out into the Living Rooms community. Samson has been joined by volunteers from Good Gym to clear Where will the next Lo- up the garden at Osborne Grove (page…); Keesha’s menopause cal living Rooms be? champions have graduated and are going on to destigmatise and talk all things menopause (page…); Stella has been hard at work with Children’s Centre to bring Haringey’s big- A little helping hand: gest children’s clothing and toy bank (page…); Andrea and David, Broadwater Farm Children’s along with team members from Connected Communities, have clothing and toy bank been considering what our team values look like, developing these into the first Connected Communities Team Charter (page 2); and Alice has found her voice and continues to be joined by a Lets Celebrate: M-word group sharing in the love of shared reading. champions graduate Read on to find out more and any thoughts or questions please do get in touch. Green transformation: Osborne Grove garden make Haringey’s Local Area Coordination Team over May 2021 Issue 3

When you think about your job, what is your first thought? What you do? Or how you do it? A quick internet search for the term ‘values’ has 5,150,000,000 The value of Values results but do we ever stop to consider what actually are the values that drive us?

The work of Local Area Coordinators across the country (and indeed globally) is driven by a set of explicit, unambigu- ous values, known as principles. These principles underpin not only what we do but mainly how we do it. Values such as working in ways that are strengths-based and person-centred, and that thrive on collaboration and understanding of people and places. The UK Local Area Coordination Network lists the 10 principles like this:

- Community - Contribution - Information - Lifelong Learning - Relationships - Citizenship - Natural Authority - Working Together - Choice & Control - Complementary Nature of Services

10 principles may seem a lot but as people reading this newsletter – people who aren’t local area coordinators but whose job or voluntary roles put you in a position of helping others – it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about the values that drive you. Values are the things that are important to us, the characteristics and behaviours that motivate us and guide our deci- sions. They are at the core of everything we do. Therefore, whether the most important thing is earning a profit, being accessible to people who might need help, starting up your own projects or building on what’s already there --- claim it and use it as a strength. Maybe it’s not one thing or the other, but a mixture of many things. Understanding what you want to achieve is the first step to thinking about the values you can use to achieve it. Our starting point when consid- ering values is ‘what’s really important to me?’ And it’s not just individuals who have a core set of values, but organisations too. These values help to shape organisa- tional culture, create a purpose, improve team cohesion and happiness, and create a sense of commitment in the workplace. By taking the time to consider organisational values which focus not just on outcomes but on the work- force, we can see how our own values are reflected in the place we work – and hopefully they will be compatible with our personal values. Once values have been crystalised, we can then go about embedding them in ways that help us and our colleagues May 2021 Issue 3

live these principles every day. The value of Values cont’d... We’ve recently finished a piece of collaborative work in the Connect- ed Communities team where together we proposed, discussed, and drafted a Team Charter so that our values can be easily understood and shared. These values are now beginning to form the basis of our internal feedback and apprais- al processes, our new starter induction, and our comms messages. We want these Values to be equally applicable to the way we work with all people - residents, colleagues in other teams/organisations, and with each other. It’s im- portant to remember our criteria when it came to pinning down our Values:

• keep our language phrased positively (“we are” rather than “we won’t….” statements) • keep our language simple and easy to understand without jargon or buzzwords. • avoid referring to people as “them”, using “you” if possible, so that there is a more inclusive feel. • condense a lot of very complicated and nuanced ideas into a few sentences! • talk about how we want to do things rather than what things we do. • keep it to 10 or fewer. And this is what we came up with…

• We treat you as an equal partner and we build relationships of trust. We will speak up for you or help you to speak up for yourself. • • We listen to you without making assumptions about what we think you want. • • We value you, supporting you to achieve your aims.

• We are visible in our communities, accessible to all people, and transparent in our interactions.

• We use clear language and words that don’t label people.

• We treat people with respect, preserve dignity, and are mindful of our boundaries.

• We try our hardest to help people and go the extra mile, and we give balanced advice.

• We are open to learning and continuously improving, and value feedback, evaluations and training.

• We help people to access the support needed and we use everyone’s experiences to influence how the council and other organisations work.

If you would like to find out more about what these principles mean to the work of Local Area Coordinators, check out the Network website here: Local Area Coordination (lacnetwork.org)

May 2021 Issue 3

The month of May saw 4 of the 6 planned local living rooms Haringey Local Living Rooms take place: Central Neighbourhood Health Centre (26th April), The Grove Café in Park (20th May), Os- borne Grove (25th May) and Selby Centre (1st June). Look out for the t-shirts: Despite the weather making its best effort to stop the LLRs from happening Haringey LACs were out chatting with local people. So far as well as conversa- tions we have been serenaded, drank lots of tea, met some cute dogs and even spotted a celebrity! Thank you to those who came out to join their LLR and we look forward to meeting many more of you in the future. For those of you who are unfamiliar the Local Living Room concept, it is sim- ple: LACs pop up at covid safe spaces, these have predominantly been outside and attached to a café, to meet people from the community. We make sure that everyone joining us gets a cuppa is invited talk with other people from our local community. Its not about fixing problems, talking to professionals or referrals to services, they use the two principles of friendship and purpose, reminding us all that we’re not alone in fac- ing problems. So why not join us for the next Local Living room near you. No need to book or call ahead - just turn up and have a coffee or a cuppa on us.

Leaving you with the question… who is best? David Bowie or Elton John? May 2021 Issue 3

Where will the next Local living Rooms be?

Selby Centre

Selby Rd, , Crescent Road N17 8JL open space, (opposite Sweet every other Tues- Tree bakery), day 14:30-16:30 N22 7RS th every other Tues- starting 6 July day 12:30-14:00 2021 starting 15th June (dry weather only) Tottenham Green (Opposite Marcus Garvey Library) The Grove Café, Philip Ln, Alexandra Palace Tottenham, N15 Way, N22 7AY 4JA

Alternate every other Thursdays 12:00- Thursday 12:30- 14:00 14:30 from 24th Hornsey Central Neighbourhood starting 17th June Osborne Grove June Health Centre Extra date: Friday (dry weather 16-18 Upper Tollington Road, th only) Stroud Green, N4 3EL 11 June 151 Park Rd, , N8 8JD (dry weather every Monday 14:00-16:00 every Monday 10:00-12:00 starting 7th only) starting th7 June June for 4 weeks (dry weather only)

A little helping hand: Broadwater Farm Children’s clothing and toy bank launching

Stella Sumah, Local Area Coordinator for , Tottenham Green and West Green is very excited to announce the launch of Broadwater Farm children’s clothes and toy bank this Summer.

In cooperation with the Cherri Fox at the Broadwater Farm Children’s Centre, Stella, and Lynn (Connected Communities) have been working on setting up a bank to provide Haringey families who have children of nursery and primary school age to access free items of clothing, school uniform and toys.

Using sustainable ways of working which will involve volunteers taking part in running the bank while receiving community-based incentives. It will be one of a range of different services in operation at the Children’s Centre.

Initially the bank will be open twice a week and one Saturday a month. Appointments will not be necessary, and families will be welcome to just drop by on the days it is open.

Donations of everyday clothing and toys have been flowing in so far however we are running low on school uniform donations. If you would like to donate generic items of school uniform such as plain shirts, skirts, dresses and trousers, black shoes, socks and tights etc they will be more than welcomed and appreciated. Please contact Stella Sumah if you wish to donate.

We welcome volunteers from all backgrounds and experiences and in return we will help volunteers to develop skills in customer service, con- necting and engaging with the community as well as building confidence and increasing sense of purpose.

If you are interested in volunteering opportunities with the children’s bank which will mainly consist of welcoming families, receiving and or- ganising the donated clothing and toys then please contact Stella Sumah [email protected]. Watch this space as the launch date and operating times will be announce in upcoming newsletters.

We can’t wait to see it up and running! May 2021 Issue 3

Lets Celebrate: M-word champions graduate To register:

May saw the completion of the five week M-word: Menopause https://www.webenrol.com/hals/? Support and Training course. page=list&cat=45&provider=&

The course is designed to provide a space for people to connect and talk about topics including peri-menopause and menopause, Using the QR Code : and a space where they can learn about symptoms and how to get support. Menopause looks and feels different for each wom- an but there are some commonalities and through the course we attendees are supported to understand the signs . The course was led by trained professionals: Charm Elakil, Herbal Medicine and Nutritional Practitioner and Jacquie Da Costa, Occupational Therapist and Menopause Educator in partnership with Haringey Adult Learning service (HALS). The course looked a little different to previous years with all elements being delivered online via Zoom including a graduation for the M-word champions who [email protected] for more information. completed the course.

The course had participants from a variety of backgrounds com- Quotes from some of the menopause champions who attended ing together through a shared desire to learn more about meno- the training: pause for themselves, loved ones or people they work with. Be- • “Thank you all for providing such in-depth training; I truly coming a menopause champion is more than just a title, it is a enjoyed being a participant and learnt so much. I look for- thought process combined with practical action which can make ward to continuing working with you” things better for people struggling to understand and cope with their symptoms and changes taking place. Since April ten new • “What a lovely group of people we have on the course” menopause champions have graduated and committed to hav- • ”It’s essential for people to understand what is happening ing open conversations and promoting awareness in their own to them , so they can have more control of their life and communities and work environments. The June course is now symptoms” full but there is still time to sign up to the next course, starting in September.

Samson Odubanjo, LAC for Harringey, St Ann’s, Seven Sisters Green transformation: Osborne and Stroud Green shares the exciting garden transformation Grove garden make over Good Gym volunteers made happen at Osborne Grove, a sup- ported housing project for people in Haringey affected by home- lessness. When Samson started working at Osborne Grove with Alison Charles, Green Rooms they saw that the garden had been left to grow wild. As a green-fingered person himself Samson could not bear to see this wonder piece of green space go to waste. In collaboration with Alison, they set about trying to encourage the residents to support them to transform the space into somewhere that residents could use—to sit, to garden or even to have a BBQ. It became immediately apparent however that the garden was too much for Samson and a handful of residents so he contacted Good Gym (https://www.goodgym.org/) a community of runners that combine getting fit with doing good. On 19/05/2021 Samson and 16 volunteers—all local residents— set about clearing, pruning and planting. Over a total of 1.5 hours the volunteers, returned the garden to use and created a space to engage with the residents and encourage them to gen- erate an interest in gardening as a therapeutic way of expressing themselves, to make the grounds beautiful for residents use and to show that others are willing to collaborate in their support of the residents. Anyone who wishes to donate plants, tools, time to continue supporting Osborne Grove’s gardening project please contact Samson on [email protected]. May 2021 Issue 3

If you have any questions about anything in this newsletter just email us using the format [email protected]