Foundation Highlights Winter 2015/16
The Foundation is the charitable arm of Town and Country Housing Group and works towards making a positive difference to individual, family and community life.
It was established in January 2007 and has a team of six officers and freelance staff. The team focuses on identifying and responding to social needs. Many projects and initiatives are incubated by the Foundation which has already created a legacy of sustainable projects across Kent.
“To make a positive difference to
Learning skills, employment and enterprise
individual, family and community life by
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creating places where people prosper
Social Regeneration
Improving employability, progression from welfare benefits into paid employment and progression from low paid to economic security for individuals and families.
Working with communities and partners over the long term to transform local areas into vibrant neighbourhoods where residents are proud to live.
Health and Wellbeing
Major Projects
Reducing social isolation and promoting inclusivity, particularly amongst the older population, vunerable residents and wider community; building resilience and new solutions to long standing social issues.
Informal Customer Engagement Throughout December 2015, we delivered three Town and Country Pop Ups at Ardenhurst (sheltered scheme), Old Park estate, Dover and TN2 community centre in Sherwood. These events enabled us to recruit customer panels, Community Neighbours and hold consultations on our digitial inclusion access project. Two further community neighbour events were delivered in East & West Kent. In West Kent, we delivered presentations about estate inspections, health & wellbeing and promoted the ‘condensation champion initiative’, to tackle damp and mould. Following our equivalent event in East Kent, we plan to deliver a more localised, bespoke approach to reflect the geographical spread of the region. This will involve developing new or working with existing small community groups who lend themselves to the Community Neighbour concept and ethos.
By the end of 2015, we have:
264
Customers involved both formally and informally against a target of 250
Energy Cafes 100 95 75
25 5 0
During February 2016, the Foundation partnered with Sustainability Connections to deliver drop in ‘Energy Cafes’ to help residents save money on their bills, this initiative is part of our financial inclusion project. The drop in sessions were held across Tunbridge Wells, Canterbury, Dover and Maidstone. Everyone who attended received a free energy saving meter. A total of 39 residents attended the energy saving sessions and ÂŁ7,445 worth of savings were identified.
Learning, Skills, Employment and Enterprise
INspire Project The INspire project is targeted at: • Improving overall employability • Progression from welfare benefits into paid employment • Progression from low paid/short term roles into more sustainable employment To date, 15 residents have secured work through our programme. The emphasis has been on securing long term investment in these programmes via the Building Better Opportunities fund, as well as addressing the skills gaps for residents on ESA (employment support allowance).
All in One Property Enterprises With the assistance of Social Enterprises Kent (SEK), ‘All in One Property Enterprises’ secured tenders in December 2015 consisting of a contract for grounds maintenance at the Newtown development, and a contract from Medway Council for the cleaning of Rochester Railway Station.
ACCESS ALL AREAS DIGITAL inclusion
‘Access to All’, an initiative to ensure that whole communities have access to the internet and tablet computers was launched in East Kent in early February 2016. This programme is set to include all potential new tenants and existing sheltered residents. Through this project, we will aim to reach 100 individuals at a cost of just £234 per person. Tablets will be loaded with apps such as ‘My Home Online’, Customer Net, Citizens Advice Bureaux Budget Tracker, MyFitnessPal, My Local NHS, Skype and social media. Residents have been consulted on what training is needed, which apps would be most useful and how we can support them to engage with us online.
In quarter 3, this year’s Young Start Up was launched in West and East Kent.
East Kent Winner 2015 - Illuminame Sabrina Pearson was crowned East Kent’s winner in 2015 with her business ‘Illuminame’. The young entrepreneur is now looking to find the right manufacturer for her product. Sabrina is working hard to utilise every aspect of the prize fund, including a new website. Sabrina has gained a large number of contacts from regular networking, many of whom have already made orders for purchase. While Sabrina’s main selling point is her personalised light up name products, she is also working to deliver a standard range for homes. To find out more please visit www.illuminameuk.com The whole experience has given me so much confidence and provided me with so many transferable skills Sabrina Pearson - Illuminame, 2015 East Kent Winner
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uss0bOchDaA
West Kent Winner 2015 - Greenlight Games Dean Day’s ‘Greenlight Games’ was chosen as West Kent’s 2015 Winner. The publicity that came on the back of the win brought much interest from various companies looking to work alongside this exciting venture. One of the company’s most recent creations is ‘Duel’, a fast paced shooting game and is now available to download on Android, Apple as well as the studio’s latest release ‘Minecart Dash’. To find out more about Greenlight Games, please visit: www.greenlightgames.co.uk The process made me believe in myself. As a young entrepreneur you always doubt yourself, but after winning the competition it drowned out those negative thoughts Dean Day - Greenlight Games, 2015 West Kent Winner https:www.youtube.com/watch?v=48UYZDN3uJY
SOCIAL REGENERATION & ENVIRONM
Kent High Weald Partnership Foundation funding was matched by a further ÂŁ31,000 to the end of December 2015. 177 adults and children participated in the events. 124 days of volunteering was involved
MENTAL IMPROVEMENTS Shed Raising During October 2015, the Sherwood Shed held a ‘Shed Raising’ event following completion of the ground works for the building. Thanks to an excellent turnout of volunteers and agencies, work that had been scheduled to take four days was completed in just two. The project has been awarded £5,000 from a local charitable trust to purchase tools and equipment.
Old Park In Dover, we were successful in gaining a grant from ‘Up on the Downs’ for forest skills and family events. A forest skills programme was delivered for 10 local adults, some of whom have low level mental health issues. During the sessions they worked on shelter building, cooking over a fire, making tools and charcoal and building a fire. A total of 53 local adults and children participated in the events which were held during quarters two and three. Watch the video of the forest schools here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfZS085VE3U Kent Wildlife Trust’s lottery funded project commenced in January and three new, part time staff are currently based at Old Park Community Centre and engaging with the local community. Konic ponies and highland cattle are now grazing on the nature reserve following several volunteer ‘clean up days’ on the hill.
BUGGS project In late 2015, the BUGGS volunteers helped residents in Showfields and Ramslye to improve their front gardens. Large amounts of bramble growth was cleared and they will return in the Spring to tackle any regrowth and replant flower beds. The BUGGS project was awarded a grant of ÂŁ2,000 from Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in December to provide tools and training for volunteers in hedge laying. Volunteers were taught traditional dead hedge laying techniques which they used to create the new hedge, which lies between Showfields and Ramslye in Tunbridge Wells.
health & wellbeing
Dementia Friendly Homes The Dementia Friendly Homes project is now live! Our bid to Kent County Council for £1,200 to pilot this project was successful. This project delivers minor adaptations to homes to make them more user friendly for residents living with dementia. The design of the promotional literature was donated ‘in kind’ by our corporate partners YoYo Design.
Dementia Friendly Kent The Foundation were finalists in the ‘Dementia Friendly Kent Awards’ for the ‘Best Partnership Project’ for our work with Age UK on the Jive Party which took place in June 2015. We continue to work with Tunbridge Wells Dementia Friendly Communities Partnerships across Kent, with ‘Pop Up’ dementia information displays planned for Dementia Awareness Week 2016.
The INstep project is focused on the following four areas: • • • •
Reducing social isolation in both young and older people Mental health Nutrition Long term health conditions and disability
Sheltered Social Groups
The Foundation have supported two sheltered schemes to create their own social groups. They are currently working with more schemes, with the aim of reducing social isolation and increasing customer engagement. The group at MacDonald Court in Paddock Wood has run several events, with 23 people attending their most recent one. The group at Pennington Manor, Southborough are successfully running a resident led art group and are planning day trips to galleries and exhibitions. Both are currently working on constitutions to enable them to apply for funding to expand their activities. Workshops are planned that will demonstrate using the Nintendo Wii to residents in their communal area. This will deliver social and health benefits, as well as encouraging residents to use communal spaces and engage with our other initiatives.
Mindwell
Mindwell, a participatory arts group for individuals with mental health issues, continues to be popular, in the region of 20 people regularly attend, including 2 homeless individuals. We are currently working with the leader of the group, Chris Smith, to extend the delivery of arts therapy in Showfields.
Crisis Cafe ‘Take Off’, the advocacy programme for individuals with mental health issues, received £50,000 from the People’s Health Trust. This fund will expand the service and be utilised to establish a weekend ‘crisis cafe’. Training on the delivery of this successful peer to peer support model in West Kent is being planned.
Dates for your diary Easter Egg Hunt on the hill, Old Park Dover 31 March Jubilee Garden Opening, Sherwood 8 April Radcliffe Centre Opening, Rusthall 23 April Hilbert and Grosvenor Park Grand Opening/ Family Day May Bank Holiday 2 May