A CELEBRATION OF ASHRAM COMING OF AGE Meeting need, transforming outcomes
Stuart Macdonald and James Tickell
A CELEBRATION OF ASHRAM COMING OF AGE MEETING NEED, TRANSFORMING OUTCOMES
CONTENTS Introduction
3
Housing and community: Investment milestones
4
Starting the journey
7
Culturally sensitive pioneers of care: Kaylan Ashram
9
Social justice for hidden crimes: Tackling domestic violence
11
Challenges to growth and the value of joining a group structure
15
From a BME specialist to a mainstream intermediary
17
Cultural shifts: Delivering race equality in mental health
19
Transforming the outcome at the grassroots
23
Community cohesion and integration
27
Socialbreakfast: Young people and civic engagement
31
Employment and economic AddVentures
33
Financial inclusion
35
Thriving opportunities for our youngest customers: Holiday Kitchen
37
Our future
39
James Tickell is a strategic consultant, and the co-founder of housing consultancy Campbell Tickell. He formerly worked at the National Housing Federation, and the Housing Corporation. As a published author, he has written various books on housing themes, and also on the ancient civilisations of Latin America.
Stuart Macdonald is an award-winning journalist and former editor of Inside Housing and Housing Today. He has written extensively on the UK housing, property and construction sectors. Stuart has also worked for the London Evening Standard, The Herald and The Scotsman newspapers. He now runs his own communications business, See Media.
Ashrammoseley
Fostering dignity through a sense of personal belonging has always been a priority
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
INTRODUCTION
Ashram Housing Association has a proud history of addressing the hidden social needs within the dynamic and ever-changing neighbourhoods in which we work. From our start, we have always been more than a bricks and mortar housing provider. This publication looks back on our 21-year history to reflect on our roots and accomplishments, the challenges we have faced and our enduring commitment to social inclusion, innovation and community enterprise. While we have highlighted here our community investment work, in many cases unique within the sector, this work has always aimed to complement our privileged role as a social housing landlord. This primary role has always formed the backbone of our organisation, and has enabled us to act as an asset-based investor in communities. At 21 we have confidently come of age. We operate increasingly in super-diverse, hyper-mobile communities. Traditional infrastructure that once seemed appropriate is under pressure to reconfigure or lose relevance. We have recognised that if we are to grow and thrive going forward, we need to consolidate our strengths and this is best achieved through a robust partnership. Having formally joined together with our long-standing ally Moseley and District Housing Association in October last year, we face the decades ahead as Ashrammoseley and embrace the opportunities of a new socio-economic landscape on a firm footing.
From our start, we have always been more than a bricks and mortar housing provider.
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MILESTONES IN ASHRAM’S 21-YEAR JOURNEY
1994
1995
Ashram Housing Association was formed with 58 homes
Establishes a domestic violence service and Kalyan Ashram
Rapid growth on social justice issues
2008
Award-winning film ‘Land Gold Women’ was released, with the support of Ashram’s domestic violence team
Ashram wins the Housing Corporation’s Gold Award for Community Cohesion
2009 Ribbon Court extracare sheltered housing scheme opens
1998
1996
Socialbreakfast youth engagement digital platform established
Ashram grows to manage/own 509 properties by March 1998
‘Bend It Like Birmingham’ sports inclusion programme is launched
‘Bend it Like Birmingham’ wins the BBC Power of Sport Award
2015
With positive growth projections Ashrammoseley manage 2,264 properties alongside numerous strategic alliances and community investment initiatives.
4
1st October: Ashram join forces with Moseley and District Housing Association to become Ashrammoseley
2014 Ashram hosts a national round-table on holiday challenge
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
2001
Ghulab BME elderly housing scheme comes into Ashram management
2003
Housing Corporation places Ashram under supervision
Ashram joins the Accord Group
2006
2007
Ashram launches the ‘Breaking Silence’ campaign as part of our Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health Care (DRE) contract.
Ashram wins UKHA award for culturally sensitive domestic abuse support
2005 Adoption of a mainstream housing provider strategy
2010 Ashram leads in the development and delivery of national training programmes for frontline staff to address risks of extremism within vulnerable residents
122 properties in Alan Marcel Close, Coventry come under Ashram management
2012
BBC televises Socialbreakfast taking young residents and first-time voters to Westminster pre-2010 elections
Establishes Holiday Kitchen to support families in school holidays
Ashram successfully completes its first social return on investment assessment of its jobs and skills service
2013 Launch of Pay Ahead Stay Ahead financial confidence programme
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Ashrammoseley
Community celebrations as we move forward
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
STARTING THE JOURNEY
I can still visualise the day when Raj Patel (co-founder), Jay Chauhan (co-founder and Ashram’s first director) and I sat in what is still the kitchen area at Moseley and District Housing Association making final preparations for the business case for Ashram to the Housing Corporation. This drew on research Birmingham City Council had funded into the accommodation provision for elderly Asians in the city. It indicated there was a clear unmet need. Elderly Asians simply weren’t engaging with the care and support provision that was available, often because they weren’t aware of it, and mainstream housing associations weren’t responding to the needs of people in a culturally sensitive way. There was a desire in mainstream housing associations to change culturally, but something immediate and direct was needed and so there was a need for Ashram. In the lead up to the proposal we had galvanised support from Birmingham City Council, housing associations, most notably the strongest endorsement coming from Moseley and District, but our greatest asset was the local community. That support culminated in a rousing speech at Warwickshire County Cricket Club from Keith Vaz MP. We went into the Housing Corporation offices determined there would only be one outcome. On 15 March, 1994 Ashram Housing Association came into the world. All organisations can point to significant moments that shape the future. The registration with the Housing Corporation, entry into a Group structure with the Accord Group and the adoption of a new strategy in 2004 are three such occasions. In approving the latter step, the Board wanted to ensure a subtle, but nonetheless important shift from being seen as a ‘specialist’ provider to that of a ‘mainstream’ provider, but with inter-cultural capacity to undertake specialist and intermediary roles as well. This decision was pivotal to increase visibility, forge important new relationships with key stakeholders and provide opportunities for growth. By joining the Accord Group, Ashram has found the additional capacity and enjoyed the support to investigate, experiment and embrace a dynamic direction of travel without always thinking that it’s either too risky or we do not have the resources to do so. Akshay Parikh Founding Ashram board member and Deputy Chair of the Accord Group Board
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Ashrammoseley
Our residents have been our greatest teachers
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
CULTURALLY SENSITIVE PIONEERS OF CARE: KALYAN ASHRAM In 1995 Ashram opened its first 24-unit supported accommodation scheme for Asian elders in Birmingham. Kalyan Ashram was one of the first ever schemes of this nature in Britain, and was perceived to be challenging and disrupting cultural traditions of caring for older people. Long-standing Kalyan Ashram scheme manager, Gurbachan Singh Bhara, says, in providing accommodation with communal facilities and support for Asian elders, Ashram was delivering on the promise made by its first chairman, Nagin Parmar, to ‘introduce innovative practices in response to identified needs’. Offering accommodation for elderly Asians beyond the family home was not however, universally popular within the Asian community. Gurbachan recalls: ‘BBC Asian Network approached us to talk about Kalyan Ashram and the issue of why we were challenging the tradition of Asian families caring for their elderly relatives. I saw the opportunity to talk about the benefits to older people – some of whom were sleeping in cramped conditions in downstairs rooms of family homes. The broadcast was very successful for us and we had lots of interest afterwards and a waiting list!’ Over the years Ashram has expanded its extra care offering and today houses 129 elderly people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds across three schemes in Birmingham and Coventry. Former Ashram chairman, Akshay, says this is one of the achievements of which he is most proud. ‘20 years ago it was frowned on in Asian communities to be seen to be sending off your parents to live somewhere else,’ he says. ‘Now, this is much more accepted. There has been a huge shift in attitudes and in the quality of life of many elderly Asians as a result.’
Over the years, Ashram has expanded its extra care offering. Today, it houses 129 elderly people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds across three schemes in Birmingham and Coventry. 9
Ashrammoseley
Recognising our involvement in the Land, Gold, Women production
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
SOCIAL JUSTICE FOR HIDDEN CRIMES: TACKLING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE Alongside providing Asian elders with care and support, early Ashram annual reports also highlight the organisation’s founding commitment to addressing domestic violence and abuse within the Asian community. ‘Tackling domestic violence within Asian communities was very much a priority when we began,’ says Akshay, former Ashram Chair. ‘It was seen as a taboo subject in our communities, but through our advocacy we have changed attitudes as well as helped several thousand women and children affected.’ For Sahdaish Pall, long-standing Children and Family Services Manager at Ashram who first joined the service in 1996: ‘The difference we make is that we save people’s lives. Women and children accessing our services often live very complex lives and are at risk if we don’t intervene. We provide a tailored wraparound service, which helps our clients to safely rebuild their confidence and develop their self-esteem through positive emotional, educational and training support.’ An ambassador for this work is Fozia Ayub. Fozia came to Ashram a decade ago and the support and accommodation she has received since has not only seen her remarry, but she is a now a budding community activist and Ashrammoseley tenant Board member. ‘I was really impressed with the work of Ashram in its domestic violence refuge,’ says the Bordesley Green resident. ‘I am now quite active in the local community – I chair the community centre, am a school governor and I do volunteering to support victims of domestic violence. I wanted to know more about Ashram’s work and when I was approached five years ago to become a Board member, I jumped at the chance.’ Back in the early 2000s, as Ashram’s expertise grew in handling cases of domestic violence, people’s confidence in the service increased and, as a result, more disturbing cases came to light. ‘We’ve had women come to us from the hospital, from the police station, even from abroad,’ says Sahdaish. ‘We now have a very good understanding of forced marriages and honour-based abuse, where issues maybe rooted in cultural traditions.’ In 2007, Ashram’s innovative service excellence was recognised nationally by the Chartered Institute of Housing when Ashram won the UK Housing Award for the Outstanding Delivery of Culturally Sensitive Domestic Violence Support Services.
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Kalvinder Kohli, senior service manager in the People Directorate in Birmingham City Council, has commissioned services from Ashram for many of the past 20 years. She says: ‘Ashram quickly established a reputation for providing various refuges for victims of domestic violence. This reputation for excellent service delivery and innovation has stood them in good stead. If we are testing new ideas we will still approach Ashram if it makes sense to.’ Looking forward, Kalvinder says: ‘As we evolve in the present day to commissioning services through contracts and individual budgets, it is crucial we can work collaboratively with organisations to design good services. We need to be able to have open conversations about how things can improve and that is very much what we get with Ashram.’ Beyond the world of clients and commissioners, Ashram’s knowledge in addressing honour crimes and abuse has been called upon by social justice advocates from as far afield as India. In 2008, the award-winning ‘Land Gold Women’ was released telling the story of a British Indian family in Birmingham where the relationship between the daughter and her white British boyfriend divides the family with tragic consequences. Ms Hari told Inside Housing magazine at the time that Ashram’s domestic violence team had been ‘instrumental’ in helping her research the film. The work of Sahdaish and her colleagues in tackling domestic violence continues, with Ashram helping around 150 female victims of domestic abuse each year and 350 children. This is supported by creative fundraising which often involves clients as part of their rehabilitation. For example, Sahdaish explains: ‘We have fundraised to set up a music studio in one refuge after researching how regular music participation can help vulnerable children and young people. This has recently allowed us to produce our first single called ‘You and Me’ last year, which is available to purchase on iTunes. For the children involved in writing and recording this single, having it on iTunes was absolutely brilliant, and a complete confidence boost.’ Screen-grab from You & Me. The video can be viewed at youtube.com/theaccordgroup
Ashram help around 150 female victims of domestic abuse each year and 350 children 12
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
Supporting children affected by domestic abuse at Christmas
Ashrammoseley
Investing in assets
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
CHALLENGES TO GROWTH AND THE VALUE OF JOINING A GROUP STRUCTURE Linked to its social inclusion ethos, Ashram also grew rapidly as a South Asian general needs housing provider in the years following its inception. This growth across a diverse service portfolio was not without its difficulties. In November 2001, the then regulator, the Housing Corporation, placed Ashram under supervision due to concerns over its viability. As they looked more closely they found Ashram, although still delivering a good and valued service, was struggling to adjust to a new business environment. Former Ashram chairman, Akshay, explains: ‘Ashram had grown quickly and, as a result, there were issues to be addressed. At that time a lot of specialist BME housing associations were going through similar challenges with the withdrawal of grant funding by the Housing Corporation, as it switched its emphasis away from supporting BME landlords.’ A new business approach had to be found and this accelerated our drive to be part of a larger organisation. For Ghulam Shabar, Ashram’s immediate past chairman and a Board member at the time of the supervision, once it was clear finding a partner was the best way forward, there was one key issue: Ashram’s identity. ‘There have been mergers when housing associations have been taken over and have lost their identity,’ he says. ‘But Accord seemed to understand what Ashram stood for and that there was a value to the Ashram brand. It was clear there was mutual benefit - Ashram could benefit from Accord’s size and financial stability while there was benefit for Accord from Ashram’s connections in local BME communities and innovative cultural competencies.’ In 2003, Ashram joined the Accord Group. In the years that have followed, a respected symbiotic relationship has grown. Both organisations have in turn become both more resilient and culturally competent. For the Accord Group chief executive, Dr Chris Handy: ‘We were keen to bring Ashram on board as it worked in communities where we wanted to be and Ashram brought Accord credibility in that way,’ he says. ‘Having Ashram transformed our relationship with BME communities due to its great and sensitive community work. It was very important to us that Ashram maintained its identity for all these reasons.’ Chris adds: ‘Ashram leads the way on many issues that really probe and challenge the rest of the Accord Group.’ However, he says: ‘Ashram can only do all of these things as it is in a strong financial position and the basics of its business in housing management and care and support are strong.’ Matt Leach, former Accord Group Board member and chief executive of charity HACT, says this partnership has allowed Ashram to ‘become the innovation arm of the Accord Group’. This is echoed by Lakhbir Jaspal, deputy group chief executive of the Accord Group, who says Ashram’s entry into the Accord Group has allowed Accord to ‘take Ashram ideas, such as to how best engage with young people through sport and, with some tweaks, spread them through the Group and help many more people, ultimately making both Ashram and Accord stronger.’
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Investing in services for the future
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
FROM A BME SPECIALIST TO MAINSTREAM INTERMEDIARY
‘The big story for Ashram is one of almost complete reinvention,’ says Matt Leach, chief executive of charity HACT and former Accord Group board member. ‘It went from being an organisation for Asian elders to very much a broader-based provider. It is a source of innovation, ideas and energy and one that became a real asset to the Accord Group as a whole. Since joining Accord, Ashram has consistently punched above its weight and extended its remit above and beyond what you might expect of other similar sized landlords.’ In the wake of joining the Accord Group, Jas Bains, who joined as chief executive in 2002, turned his attention to ensuring Ashram’s spirit of innovation and quality service delivery continued to thrive. In a time when both Birmingham and the housing sector were changing, the BME business model needed to be revisited. Multiculturalism was beginning to be questioned, as community integration and cohesion emerged as a pressing issue for both housing providers and other agencies across the UK. Jas recognised it was crucial for Ashram to develop a new story to tell to reflect this new reality. The organisation also needed to open up new revenue streams and grow its business. ‘The aim was to convince our stakeholders we were a compelling future partner, not just a survivor,’ says Jas. ‘So in 2005 we decided to re-launch Ashram as a mainstream housing provider with specialist cultural competencies and expertise in areas such as domestic violence and accommodation for elderly Asians. This allowed us to deliver on multiple agendas and was pivotal to Ashram’s future success.’ In the years that followed, Ashram has embraced and championed inter-culturalism as a competency for its sector and beyond. Through work as diverse as housing management, preventing violent extremism and post-natal depression, Ashram has acted as a service intermediary between mainstream statutory providers and a diversity of community interests. This has taken place at the same time the neighbourhoods in which Ashram operate have become younger and ever more super-diverse in their composition. Kalvinder Kohli, describes the move as ‘shrewd’ as she and her Birmingham City Council colleagues began to see Ashram doing ‘the same sorts of things as larger providers’ but ‘across a diversity of need’. She adds: ‘Ashram became more business-orientated and it invested time in developing the relationship with the local authority. This really altered the trust element of our relationship. Ashram became a key partner we could go to.’
Ashram has championed inter-culturalism as a competency for its sector and beyond.
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Ashrammoseley
Good mental health is team work
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
CULTURAL SHIFTS: DELIVERING RACE EQUALITY IN MENTAL HEALTH ‘I had two girls and then I had my son and I had post-natal depression. My husband, my family and my in-laws could not understand why after having a son I had post-natal depression. Why wasn’t I over the moon? Had it been another girl they would have understood...’ (Interview with client from Breaking Silence) Building on work stretching back to 1997 aimed at raising awareness of mental health issues and services among its communities across Birmingham, in 2006 Ashram secured an NHS contract to deliver part of a national programme called Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health. This contract highlighted Ashram’s capacity and expertise to act as a community intermediary as it required it to work with and between an array of statutory health professionals, alongside numerous marginalised men and women from BME backgrounds that statutory services had difficulty reaching. Extending formally into mental health work could also be seen as successful business diversification. As part of this work, Ashram began an inquiry into the perceptions of mental health in Asian communities. The aim of this was to explore reasons behind the poor uptake of mental health services amongst South Asian women in Birmingham. Ashram had found worrying evidence in its communities of widespread ignorance about mental health issues. At best mental health concerns were kept ‘hush, hush’; at worst they were shunned as the result of some sort of ‘black magic’. This meant issues such as post-natal depression were simply ignored or dismissed as someone ‘faking it’. Visiting a GP to raise a concern over any mental health issue was simply off the agenda for many Asian women.
In 2006, Ashram secured an NHS contract to deliver part of a national programme called Delivering Race Equality in Mental Health 19
Ashrammoseley
Ashram produced a DVD to raise awareness of mental health challenges
To address this, Ashram launched a campaign called ‘Breaking Silence’, and turned to residents and service users for their input. This collaborative approach resulted in a variety of initiatives from the more traditional conferences and community consultations, to gardening, textile projects and drama. Ashram also produced a Breaking Silence DVD telling the fictional tale of an unwanted marriage that had a happy ending with the main character receiving support for her mental well-being. The DVD was shown in schools and community groups as well as to faith leaders, mental health and service commissioners in an effort to improve awareness of the need for culturally sensitive services. As a result of Ashram’s work care pathways were designed to improve BME access to mental health services. This included strengthening the cultural competency of staff delivering services and community understandings of mental health itself.
Extending formally into mental health work could also be seen as successful business diversification.
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
Family well-being is recognised as a primary building block
Ashrammoseley
Working with Planning for Real to develop micro-neighbourhood solutions in Bordesley Green
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
TRANSFORMING THE OUTCOME AT THE GRASSROOTS In its early years, Ashram’s tagline was ‘rooted in the community’. Even with the evolution to mainstream landlord, this phrase continues to resonate through all of Ashram’s activities. For the past two decades, Ashram staff have worked hard to maintain close ties to residents in its communities. There is nothing unique in this, but where Ashram has excelled is in its ability to spot trends and act upon them. As Dr Caroline Wolhuter, Head of Social Inclusion at Ashrammoseley, says: ‘We operate in environments of dynamic diversity. There is a culture within Ashram of being both an enterprising and learning organisation. The willingness to explore and innovate our service offer within this environment is very important. It involves taking risks. They don’t always work, but you learn from them. That is why Ashram has been able to engage so effectively in wider neighbourhood and social innovation.’ As a result of this approach, Matt Leach argues that: ‘Ashram has been able to change relationships between housing providers, local authorities and social enterprises in the West Midlands. That is where its focus and main impact has been. It has gone much further than simply being a landlord.’ Natalie Jones, Business Support Manager for Ashrammoseley, explains that Ashram has helped negotiate a new social compact between citizens, communities, statutory, private and third-sector agencies. This has been done by developing and robustly testing new approaches to micro-neighbourhood development. ‘These are rooted in the belief that neighbourhoods form the platform from which people’s strengths and abilities can be built upon,’ says Natalie. ‘Working with local residents we have created opportunities for communities to take responsibility for and contribute to shared prosperity and well-being.’
Ashram has excelled is in its ability to spot trends and act upon them.
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Ashram neighbourhood development work in Bordesley Green and Balsall Heath, Birmingham are two such examples of the success of this intensive approach. Natalie says: ‘By working with a range of people including residents, councillors, community leaders and schools we have supported the identification of neighbourhood priorities and the development of relevant community offers. Ashram has facilitated numerous joint working projects such as developing a local community website, a community co-working space and a Time Bank.’ Another tangible example of Ashram’s neighbourhood development can be found in Bosworth Community Centre in Solihull. Initially, Ashram was contracted to meet the needs of elderly BME residents in the area. However, it quickly became apparent that there are very few BME communities in the locality and Ashram renegotiated its contract with Solihull Council to engage with residents to establish what they really wanted from the facility. ‘We faced a range of concerns as the community felt it had been consulted several times before on plans, little of which had been delivered,’ says Jasvinder Sandhu, the centre manager. It emerged that, due to funding cuts, elderly residents were no longer receiving the support they had been and there was a desire for somewhere that provided hot meals and to simply meet other residents. Due to a lack of trust and competing interests of community groups, Jasvinder admits ‘it took a number of years to build up momentum and trust’. Today, the centre supports around 150 people a week, and hosts various health and well-being activities and works with the aid of a team of local volunteers on pathways into paid employment. The centre also provides local young people with the opportunity to co-produce and publish an online magazine. According to Ashram chief executive, Jas, Bosworth Community Centre is ‘the most successful centre in Solihull’ and is recognised as flagship community model within the Accord Group.
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
Bosworth Drive’s Big Lunch
Ashrammoseley
Supporting inclusion across our services
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
COMMUNITY COHESION AND INTEGRATION
Addressing social cohesion is nothing new for Ashram. It has been highlighting the need for greater awareness of the cultures and needs of minority communities from day one. Ashram’s approach, however, started to gain national prominence through its work to integrate community cohesion throughout all its work. The value of this approach to the housing sector was recognised by the then sector regulator, the Housing Corporation, which awarded Ashram the coveted Gold Award for Excellence in delivering community cohesion in 2008. The Gold Award sought to identify and reward excellent practice and innovation in social housing. The prize of £50,000 was to pay for Ashram to share good practice and go out on a roadshow around England to spread the word about lessons it had learned in fostering stronger communities. One notable project Ashram used to illustrate its commitment to community cohesion was ‘Bend it like Birmingham’, a sports social inclusion project aimed at tackling what may be called the ‘cohesion gap’. Bend it like Birmingham was launched in November 2007, with the ambitious aim of ‘promoting equality, diversity, mutual respect and tolerance in East Birmingham communities through the vehicle of sport’. The project was developed to address the fact there were sharp divisions and very little mixing between young white, black and Asian adults in neighbouring areas across East Birmingham. The project focused on bringing people together and sharing experiences. The solution, on the face of it, seemed straightforward. Ed Evans, Ashram’s former Head of Enterprise, says: ‘If, for instance, there was a basketball court in one community, but people in another community wanted to play, we worked to ensure the conversation was no longer about ‘why can’t we have our own basketball court?’ We encouraged people to mix and share existing facilities.’
Mainstream housing associations weren’t responding to the needs of people in a culturally sensitive way.
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Just a year after launching, 300 young people had participated in a ‘Bend it like Birmingham’ course and mixing between communities was increasing. In the years that followed, this project successfully demonstrated how a housing association could create conditions for individual and neighbourhood success and equip them to build stronger neighbourhoods through sport. In 2009, ‘Bend it like Birmingham’ was awarded the BBC Power of Sport Award for its achievements. ‘Bend it Like Birmingham’ was a great success, but it also helped Ashram to become more trusted in these communities and people began to come forward to ask for our help on other issues,’ says Ed. Some residents raised concerns about the perceived negative media stereotypes of people from the Asian communities in East Birmingham which was a particular concern following the 7/7 attacks in London. Ashram’s response to this worrying trend was to put forward a proposal to the Department for Communities and Local Government to build on its expertise in housing and community cohesion to deliver training for frontline housing workers. The Home Office and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) invested in expanding the training into an accredited product that was delivered nationally to a variety of relevant professions, including housing, the police, social workers and UKBA staff. ‘This work really raised our profile with Government and we began to be seen much more as a ‘community think tank’,’ says Ed. ‘Ashram was subsequently invited to sit on Birmingham City Council’s Prevent Board to help advise on how to support Birmingham’s communities to tackle extremism. Its expertise in areas such as this led the organisation to win contracts outside the housing and supporting people sphere, to address social issues including employment and training.’
Bend it Like Birmingham receives BBC Power of Sport Award, 2009
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
Promoting healthy lifestyles and positive attitudes for all through sport
Social Breakfast delivers a message from young people to No 10 in the 2010 Coalition’s first 100 days
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
SOCIALBREAKFAST: YOUNG PEOPLE AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT ‘Accord and Ashram have been very fast to spot emerging movements – for instance civic engagement – and they haven’t been afraid to dive in,’ says Matt Leach. In 2009 youth unemployment was disproportionately high in Birmingham and problems associated with youth disadvantage such as gangs, youth crime, drugs, anti-social behaviour, poor educational attainment and extremism were not uncommon in Ashram’s poorest neighbourhoods. With a commitment to social inclusion, the need to support the civic engagement of young people most marginalised from mainstream participation became a growing concern for Ashram. This came about through the continuing community development work with young people and coincided with the work Ashram was delivering through its role in the Prevent programme. ‘We learned that many young people in the communities where we worked felt politically marginalised,’ says Ed Evans, former Head of Enterprise at Ashram. To help increase engagement in local political issues, Ashram drew on digital media. It created a website and digital environment that allowed young people from across Ashram’s communities to mix with each other and discuss issues on which they felt strongly. It called this initiative Socialbreakfast. ‘Socialbreakfast has been very successful,’ says Ed. ‘It has helped Ashram to work with young people on what their aspirations are and to support people to engage in issues they really care about.’ Through this work we have better understood that, when positively embraced, conflict can power meaningful dialogue that not only reduces violence, but improves everyone’s sense of security and identity. Socialbreakfast has gone on to support dialogue and debate across an array of issues over the last six years and notably led the Nominet-funded campaign ‘We are the One Mil’. Led by young people the campaign used multiple on and offline engagement methods to examine identity and integration for Birmingham’s young people.
With a commitment to social inclusion, the need to support the civic engagement of young people became a growing concern for Ashram. 31
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Young people visit the Netherlands as part of an European Leonardo study programme
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIC ADDVENTURES
In a region facing poor economic growth, high unemployment and a changing political climate, generating sustainable employment has been a growing concern. In 2009 figures showed that only 22 per cent of Ashram’s tenants were economically active. Something beyond community engagement was necessary and so Ashram appointed the Accord Group’s first dedicated employment and skills coaches. In July 2012, Ashram decided to measure the effectiveness and impact of its employment and skills service by conducting its own internal Social Return On Investment (SROI) study that was independently accredited by the SROI Network. The study found that the service had been highly effective and created social value for each of its stakeholder groups estimating a Social Return on Investment of ££5.19 of social benefit for every £1 invested. One beneficiary is Fatima, a victim of domestic violence who was lacking in confidence and struggling with her spoken English. Fatima was keen to work but held no previous UK work experience and felt cleaning jobs were her only viable option of employment. The coach worked with Fatima to produce a personal action plan highlighting the support that she needed and supported Fatima to apply for a placement with ‘Ready for Work’, a Marks and Spencer programme. Fatima has grown in confidence and ambition since successfully completing her placement. Around this time, Ashram championed a further Accord Group-wide initiative called ‘AddVentures’. Dr Chris Handy, Chief Executive of the Accord Group, explains that AddVentures was adapted from a successful idea from an American charity. ‘The aim is to aid (new) ventures by supporting people in your communities to make their business ideas a reality,’ he says. AddVentures has supported a total of 60 new businesses to date. Accord deputy chief executive, Lakhbir Jaspal, says the business incubator approach has also proved successful when rolled out ‘using Ashram’s expertise’ to other landlords in the Group, such as Caldmore Accord in Walsall.
AddVentures has supported a total of 60 new businesses to date.
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Engaging young residents in the PASA financial inclusion programme
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
FINANCIAL INCLUSION
Alongside low levels of employment, social housing tenants experience disproportionately lower levels of financial inclusion. In 2012, recognising the challenges this poses to sustaining a tenancy, particularly for young people, Ashram led the way in mobilising Birmingham’s social housing sector to get behind Birmingham’s one million BIG Lottery grant. This funding helped support the successful ‘Pay Ahead, Stay Ahead’ (PASA) programme on improving financial confidence for younger people in the city. The principal aim of the project is to improve the financial well-being of 6,000 social housing tenants so they are better able to sustain their housing tenancy. PASA has a particular focus on young people due to the worrying level of tenancy failure amongst 16-24 year olds. As part of the research underpinning its funding bid, Ashram found that 70-80 per cent of 16-24-year-olds living in social housing said they were experiencing financial difficulties. ‘We knew from the start that it would be difficult getting young people to talk about money and finances, but we didn’t realise just how difficult!’ says Emma Wright, PASA programme manager at Ashram. ‘We found that youth engagement is the key challenge. It is very difficult. It is always ‘No. I’m fine’, ‘No, I don’t need that’ – even though they might be aged 16 and already in debt.’ Emma and her team tackled this problem in a variety of eye-catching ways including a play about loan sharks written by young people and a street-based game of ‘The Price is Right’ aimed at raising awareness of the need to scrutinise credit deals before signing up to them. Socialbreakfast also plays a key role in supporting PASA outcomes. These efforts are paying off with 1,011 16-24-year-olds registered with the programme, of whom 96 per cent say they now feel much more confident managing their money and 80 per cent would look at alternatives to credit before signing-up.
The principal aim of the project is to improve the financial well-being of 6,000 social housing tenants so they are better able to sustain their housing tenancy. 35
Ashrammoseley
Creative play is part of holiday fun
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
THRIVING OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR YOUNGEST CUSTOMERS: HOLIDAY KITCHEN The most recent key strand of Ashram’s work in meeting need and transforming community outcomes is linked to our child poverty commitments during school holidays. For many families school holidays mean the disappearance of free school meals, regular social contact and play opportunities. This can result in financial, emotional, nutritional, safeguarding, educational and/or social challenges that have longer-term impacts. In 2013, with support from Children in Need, Ashram took action in response to residents’ calls and launched Holiday Kitchen. This collaborative partnership programme is a simple formula of holiday learning, food and play for families who need it. As such it combines worthwhile activities for children with a free, healthy lunch. For Kathy Lee-Cole, Ashrammoseley board member and child poverty champion, ‘this is the biggest thing we are doing at the moment’. She adds: ‘For most families, when the school summer holidays start normal life stops and you do activities with your children – swimming, drama, etc. All of these cost money, even if it’s only the cost of getting to the venue. On limited funds families can end up stuck indoors all day, every day. Families also need to pay for additional food when children get Free School Meals during term time. ‘There is evidence that suggests children in these circumstances can fall a long way behind academically compared to children in other families who have had more holiday opportunities,’ she adds. Over the last two summers Holiday Kitchen has provided 5,250 activity days and meals to 800 beneficiaries. In addition to BBC Children in Need sponsorship, we have benefited from Kellogg’s sponsorship of breakfasts and support from England’s Illegal Money Lending Team. Through this programme we are actively addressing some of the significant challenges vulnerable families face during the 25 per cent of the year that school and related support is unavailable.
Over the last two summers Holiday Kitchen has provided 5,250 activity days and meals to 800 beneficiaries. 37
Ashrammoseley
An evaluation of Holiday Kitchen 2014: Learning, food and play for families who need it most in the West Midla nds Jane O’Connor, Caroline
With contributions from
Wolhuter and Sian Every. January
Margaret Wilkinson, Paola
2015
Pedrelli and Rosemarie Lowe
Holidays are about learning more about our world
The value of this programme is captured in a concluding statement in the programme’s evaluation by, Birmingham City University: ‘Holiday Kitchen is an extremely effective programme for meeting the needs of lowincome children and families during holiday periods and, relationally, in addressing the child poverty agenda laid out in the 2010 Child Poverty Act.’ The feedback from residents has been overwhelmingly positive with 94 per cent of families reporting that they had undertaken more activities out of the home than normal during holiday period. One mother said: ‘The children loved everything about our day out. They let their energy out, and just enjoyed being children. As a mum, that is the most precious thing and the happiness is priceless. It gave me confidence and security and the will power to go out by ourselves.’ Another parent added: ‘Having activities and food provided has helped my family budget. It’s a long six weeks’ holiday and it’s good to have activities and food for my son. I know he is safe and eating well.’ This model has been presented as a national exemplar to multiple national voluntary and statutory agencies. There is much interest in seeing this service extended across the country using a social franchising model, so that other housing associations, charities, schools and community groups can act as delivery agents. Ashrammoseley is currently working with partners in several local authority areas to scale-up and replicate this model.
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A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age
OUR FUTURE
Ashram’s journey from a small specialist landlord to the provider of homes and services to many thousands of residents across the West Midlands has made us feel both humble and very proud. Our achievements, at times hard-won, have all been rooted in the principles of social inclusion and social justice. Our work focus has responded to and at times anticipated the changing, dynamic and marginalised demographics of the neighbourhoods in which we work. Birmingham is one of the most youthful cities in Europe and one of the most diverse, with an exponentially growing minority population. Notably, a significant proportion of Birmingham’s minority ethnic population is now below the age of 25. If this population is to capitalise on the city’s long-term diversity advantage, we need to continue to actively meet key enterprise, citizenship and social justice agendas in the West Midlands. We believe this is best achieved through proactive partnership and co-production. In coming of age, we have reflected on the work that has got us to where we are now, but also need to consider the future as a new agency strengthened by our union with Moseley and District Housing Association. The reason for bringing Ashram and Moseley and District together was to better promote the Accord Group’s presence in Birmingham. United as Ashrammoseley, we are uniquely placed to co-produce and deliver housing, social enterprise, economic inclusion and neighbourhood services needed in Birmingham and beyond. Jointly committed to meeting community needs through dynamic co-production, collaboration and service excellence, our goal is to positively transform our customer outcomes. We have been doing this for the past 21 years and look forward to doing it for the next 21 years and beyond. Jas Bains MBE Chief Executive, Ashrammoseley
We are uniquely placed to deliver housing, social enterprise, economic inclusion and neighbourhood services in Birmingham and beyond.
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ashrammoseleyha.org.uk
A Celebration of Ashram Coming of Age tracks the colourful 21-year history of Ashram Housing Association, from its inception as a small specialist South Asian housing and social care provider to a mainstream community investor operating across super diverse neighbourhoods in the West Midlands. Looking to the future, in October 2014 Ashram took the bold step to join forces with Moseley and District Housing Association. Coming together as Ashrammoseley the organisation provide community-inspired housing and services to many thousands of individuals and families. We are committed to our role as a social housing provider and this remains at the heart of what we do, delivering high quality housing and support services to customers, residents and service users across Birmingham and Coventry. Our practical experience and cultural expertise, allows us to engage on wider social and economic agendas, helping to influence and shape key government policies which directly impact on the lives of our customers and the wider communities that we serve. This enables us to co-design person-centred services to meet the needs, choices and aspirations of our customers and create innovative partnerships and collaborative projects all of which advocate our place as an agency for social inclusion and social impact.