Newsletter (Dec 2013 - May 2014)

NEWSLETTER DEC 2013 — MAY 2014

Recently, we held our first ever staff conference, during which our new CEO, Matthew Heasman, launched our five-year strategic plan. Our fundraising officer, Louise Broadbent, interviewed Matthew: LB: Why do we need a strategy and why is now the time to implement one?

MH: It’s important for us to have a sense of direction and be transparent with staff,

volunteers and supporters about our plans for the future. It enables everyone to know where they sit within the larger picture and gives us the chance to reflect and ask ourselves what we can do to improve our services. Having spent six months getting a good feel for the Trust and the homelessness sector as a whole – by spending time at our various services and visiting other homelessness service providers throughout the country with our Chairman, John Ford – I felt that now was the time to pull everything together and plot the direction we anticipate taking.

LB: Does this mean we are heading in another direction as an organisation?

MH: No. We will stay true to our founding principles. The strategy is about planning and

INSIDE

preparing for the challenges ahead and making our services robust to cope with increasing pressures. It’s about improving the provision of our services and better supporting people on their pathway to recovery, strengthening the ‘ladders’ and avoiding the ‘snakes’, as it were, but not changing what our core work is.

HOPE THE KITTEN

EUROPE OR BUST!

JACK’S STORY

A heartwarming story about how we helped a homeless kitten.

Three A-level students cycle 1,350km to raise money for us.

A story showing transformation in the life of one of our service users.

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INTERVIEW CONTINUED LB: What are the most significant aspects of the strategy?

MH: The five year strategy falls into three

levels of priority: short term, medium term and long term.

In response to funding reductions, the short term will be a time of consolidation and restructure. Yet we plan to progress with some modest initiatives, such as continued development of our training programmes.

Also, we plan to do more to help our service users access the Private Rented Sector through a scheme which will see us act as the managing agent for homes owned by private landlords. An important short term change will be the shortening of our working name, to ‘New Hope’, which we plan to roll out later in 2014.

It is anticipated that the medium term will be characterised by slight growth. This neatly coincides with our 25th anniversary. During this time we may broaden our geographical remit to other local areas in need of homelessness services and further increase our partnership working, particularly with issues relating to addictions.

Building upon strong foundations, the long term may well see more rapid growth, with New Hope becoming a key provider of homelessness services in a wider geographical area.

LB: Do you think it’s important for us to stay true to our original vision and if so, how will you and the Trustees ensure we do?

MH: Yes. Our Christian ethos and faith is

central and is at the core of everything we do. Our aim is to strive to meet our service users’ every need: mind, body and soul.

Therefore it’s vital that we are true to our 2

original God-given mission and prayerfully consider our progress and development.

Prayer is central to our work and is key in making sure we don’t waver from God’s plans for the future.

On a final note, I would like to say how grateful we are to our supporters.

Thousands of people have been given new hope in life because of you and we can only continue with your support.

If you would like to find out more about our five year strategy, please contact Matthew on 01923 210 680 or mheasman@wnht.org.

SWEP THE STREETS Winter is arguably the cruellest season for those who have no roof over their heads.

Here at Watford New Hope Trust we’re really pleased to announce that, once again, we will be partnering with local agencies to ensure that the number of people sleeping rough during the winter is kept to a minimum. When the temperature is expected to drop below zero degrees centigrade for three consecutive nights our Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) will become operational.

This year will be slightly different from previous years. As usual, we will be partnering with Watford Borough Council, but this year Three Rivers District Council will also be supporting us, which will enable us to offer three additional beds to people who would otherwise be sleeping rough.

Also, in a bid to make as much of our space available as possible to rough sleepers, we will be opening up The Haven Day Centre for night time usage during extremely cold weather conditions.

FUNDING UPDATE EUROPE OR BUST!

When most students finish sitting their A Levels, they take a well-deserved break. Not Jack, Miles and Pete, though!

These three, who recently left Watford Grammar School for Boys, cycled 1,350km around Europe to raise money for us.

The arduous bike ride took them through Holland, Germany and France, and they completed their journey in Paris. Meanwhile, donations from sponsors were flooding in via their Virgin Money Giving fundraising page ‘Europe or Bust’.

We were one of two charities that Watford Boys chose to support last academic year (see page 11), which is part of the reason the three cyclists chose to fundraise for us. Jack, Miles and Pete also told us that homelessness is a cause close to their hearts.

Since April 2003, more than half of our annual income has been given to us through a Hertfordshire County Council-administered fund, which was formerly known as ‘Supporting People’ and is now called ‘Housing Related Support’.

This funding is given to us in the form of two contracts, one of which funds 30 of our 59 beds and the other enables us to provide support services to 100 of our 600+ annual service users.

In recent years, this important source of income has been shrouded with uncertainty and there has even been a fear that these contracts will disappear entirely, which would have a devastating impact upon the number of people we are able to support.

However, we are extremely relieved to announce that our contracts with Hertfordshire County Council are due to be renewed on a three-year basis from April 2014.

However, there is a disappointing side to this story. Our contracts will be renewed at a substantially lower rate than we have received previously – around 20% lower.

In financial terms, this is a loss of around In total, the three raised the amazing amount £120,000 per year. This decrease in funding, of £1,325 and they became our Fundraisers coupled with an ever-increasing demand for our services means that we will be going of the Month for July (see wnht.org/fotm). through a difficult period of pruning and consolidation over the coming year.

All of us at WNHT are so grateful to Jack, Miles and Pete for going the extra mile and We would especially value your continued raising such an impressive amount of money prayer and financial support during this for us! challenging time.

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JACK’S STORY I’ve been out of work since 1991. I had felt that my life was a bit of a failure.

My mum died when I was a baby and I didn’t have good relationships with my foster parents; I always felt inferior.

I was living in poor accommodation before I moved into New Hope House (NHH) in 1993. I had developed schizophrenia and was in quite a state, having recently come out of a relationship, and I had been living alone in a small cabin-like room. After three weeks in NHH a space opened up at a mental health unit in north London, where I spent time recovering before moving back into NHH. In 1997 I moved into a flat of my own, but the Trust continued to support me through the Tenancy Sustainment Team. I am now part of the Trust’s new Hopeworks scheme, where I work the till and serve customers.

This has given me a sense of direction and has helped me to view my life more positively. Hopeworks has taught me how 4

to talk to different types of people and deal with different attitudes. I love working with people, it’s helped my confidence to grow so much and I am surprised by what I can do. I do still have uncertainties about what I can learn but I go to Hopeworks everyday hoping to dispel self-doubt.

Faith has been really important to me in these tough times. God is amazing and He has done amazing things for me. Music has also been a huge help. I play the keyboard and this has helped me get rid of a lot of frustration. Playing music in public has also given me confidence and I’ve been really encouraged by people taking the time to listen. When you grow in confidence, I feel there is a responsibility to pass on what you have overcome to others, so they may be encouraged too. Looking back I can see I have come a long way and I can see potential for the future.

To protect our service user’s identity we have not used Jack’s real name.

Through this funding, we have also been able to establish Watford’s first 24/7 emergency helpline for people facing homelessness. In the first 12 months of operation, this line recorded 452 unique calls, 328 of which were given an alternative to rough sleeping (the remaining 124 were either ineligible for our services or not willing to engage with our staff).

To read the article, please visit www.homeless.org.uk/connect or www.wnht.org/connectmag

CONNECT MAGAZINE We are thrilled to announce that Watford New Hope Trust was among six homelessness charities from across the UK to have been ‘showcased’ in a national magazine, published May 2013.

Homeless Link’s Connect magazine featured a full page article about our Transition Service, which was launched in May 2012 and forms part of our emergency accommodation service. This service is primarily for people who are new to homelessness, as opposed to entrenched rough sleepers. The service follows a government-endorsed national concept called No Second Night Out; however, in most cases, our Transition Service has enabled us to achieve No First Night Out.

HOSIER HOUSE UPDATE Wherever possible, we seek to be transparent with our supporters.

Therefore, it is with disappointment that we inform you Hosier House has not progressed according to our hopes and plans. We had intended the house to be a safe and secure environment for vulnerable women. However, for various reasons – including being unable to support women with accompanying children – we have not been able to fill the house with suitable female tenants.

However, rather than having an empty three-bed house, we have filled it with men who are able to cope independently. These men are a low priority for social housing; however they cannot afford to access the Private Rented Sector – a growing problem throughout the homelessness sector. Hosier House is supporting these men on their journey to finding a stable home of their own.

In the first year of operation the Transition Service’s six emergency beds and dedicated support team has supported 201 individuals, Although we have changed the use of 73% of whom moved on into more stable Hosier House for the time being, the accommodation. original intention for the house has not been forgotten. However, we must take a step Our Transition Service is funded by the back and rethink how we can provide a more government-sponsored Homelessness Transition Fund, which is administered by the suitable service for vulnerable women, as well as their families. national umbrella charity Homeless Link.

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The kitten, which was aptly named ‘Hope’ had clung on by a whisker for the four-mile journey from South Oxhey, all the way to Central Watford. Whilst Linda went out and got supplies, Hope was looked after by the Head Office team, who were won over by their new feline friend.

After a lengthy search for the owners, which came to no avail, Linda and Peter gave Hope a home with them.

What a puuurfect ending!

HOPE THE HOMELESS KITTEN

In September, our Watford volunteer Assistant Shop Manager, Linda, was driving to work with her husband Peter. On the journey their car engine was purring, but all was not as it seemed….

IT’S A SAMBA CELEBRATION

Harvest is a really really busy time of year here. We visit schools, churches In Linda’s words: “We were driving along and and community groups in and around Watford and, in turn, they generously chatting, and just as we passed the Palace Theatre we stopped at the traffic lights and I donate non-perishable food to help us said to Peter, ‘I can hear a cat, how can I hear feed our service users throughout the year. a cat?’”

They arrived at the Queens Road shop and could still hear what sounded like a cat in the engine. Thinking something may be amiss with the cat-alytic converter, Linda popped the bonnet and discovered the tiny face of a kitten nestled on the chassis.

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“I reached down into the engine, up to my elbow, and grabbed hold of the kitten. It was a quivering mess, as was I!”

Last year we used a video resource in our talks to schools called Souper Tom – a ‘souper hero’ who asked the children of Watford to help him feed the homeless at the Haven Day Centre. This year we decided to go down a completely different route. We took a little time out of the office to create the first Watford New Hope Trust music video.

Each year, schools up and down the country

learn and perform the Harvest Samba in their Harvest assemblies and for many years this catchy song has been stuck in our collective heads. We felt this song could really benefit from a music video and, to connect with the Harvest theme, our Community Market Garden was crying out to be used as the setting for this! The first major task was to get permission from the song writers at Out of the Ark Music.

Fortunately they very generously agreed to give us exclusive permission to re-record the song and film an accompanying video – they even offered to promote it for us!

10 MILES RAISES 10K!

This year, the Ricky Road Run celebrated its 30th anniversary. Each year, the run is organised by staff at Affinity Water (based in Hatfield) and the beneficiaries are international charities WaterAid (it is their oldest UK fundraising event) and football charity KitAid.

So, in August, with the help of musicians from around the Trust and children from a local church we made this arguably strange idea a reality. A few members of staff from the Trust, along with our friend and videographer Zane Colquhoun and some talented child actors, spent a day at the Community Market Garden filming what has Each year a local charity is chosen to benefit become an internet sensation (well, by our from the race and this year we were so standards anyway!). pleased to be that charity.

The challenging 10 mile race through The aim was to create something fun and the hilly streets of Rickmansworth and engaging for children and, at the time of Chorleywood took place on Sunday 27th writing, WNHT Harvest Samba had been October and attracted more than 600 watched more than 10,000 times! It’s runners. The event raised more than generated calls of support from across £40,000, of which we will receive a quarter. the country and even as far as the USA! However, its popularity has caused nothing As well as being one of the beneficiaries but embarrassment to those roped in to of the race, four WNHT representatives dress as bananas, and a pumpkin! You can took part in the run. As if working in a Night watch the Harvest Samba video by visiting Shelter wasn’t hard enough, three staff wnht.org/harvestsamba. from the Sanctuary (Glynn Trebble, Engela Hepworth and Derek Van Es) took on the 10 mile challenge and the completed the race in an impressive hour and forty minutes, raising an additional £1,000 in the process!

Also running was Jane Heasman, wife of our CEO, who ran the race in a speedy hour and thirty minutes.

A huge THANK YOU to Affinity Water and to everyone who took part, including the wonderful marshals and sponsors.

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The biblical Book of Job tells a story of a good man who suffers immense personal tragedy. He loses his wife, his children, his source of income, his house and his health. This story is thought to be the oldest book in the Bible – written more than 2,500 years ago – yet the issues it addresses are as relevant now as they were then.

The book is a challenging read and it raises many questions about suffering, including “to whom (or what) do you turn in times of suffering?” Astonishingly, after learning his children had died, Job turned to God in his suffering and famously exclaimed “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” – an unimaginably difficult thing to say and do in such horrific circumstances. Job’s faith in a

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good God enabled him to cope and his life was rebuilt – even better than before, we are told.

Every year at Watford New Hope Trust, hundreds of people come to us in Joblike situations, each one with an utterly devastating story. All are looking for someone or something to turn to for comfort in their suffering. Some choose a path of destruction, which often involves alcohol and drugs; whereas others, like Job, choose a constructive path, which may involve clinging to or finding a faith in God. If you pray, please join us in praying for our service users who, like Job, crave answers and support in their suffering. Pray that each one will find true solace and make constructive choices to rebuild their lives.

SO FAR...

21

PEOPLE HELPED

5 RETURNED TO EMPLOYMENT

£15,000

GENERATED THROUGH THE SHOP

HOPEWORKS UPDATE

We could not have hoped for a better start to our HopeWorks employment training scheme.

The scheme launched to our service users on 29th April and the accompanying shop launched to the public on 1st June. During the first six months of operation we have been so encouraged to see 21 people access the scheme, five of whom have already returned to paid employment. In addition, the shop has generated £15,000 through sales, which means that this scheme is well on course to becoming a social enterprise.

Through the HopeWorks scheme, service users have become certified Portable Appliance Testing (PAT) engineers and they have gone on to receive glowing endorsements from local churches for which we delivered PAT services. This is just one income-generating venture which we hope to expand in the year ahead. Income has also been generated through recycling initiatives related to the scheme as well as eBay sales and local collection and delivery services.

The HopeWorks scheme could not have launched without financial injection from various donors. Particular thanks are due to the Cadbury Foundation, the Kingsbury Charity, Three Rivers District Council, Help the Homeless and Maurice and Hilda Laing Charitable Trust.

The HopeWorks shop is now open six days per week, 10am to 4pm. It is located at 87 Queens Road Watford and sells second hand portable electronic items, as well as other small household items. Please do visit us – we would love to see you! Should you wish to call the shop (i.e. to see if an item you are after is in stock), please call 01923 800 028.

For more information about HopeWorks please visit www.wnht.org/hopeworks

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POD IMPROVES MENTAL HEALTH In October 2012, we were delighted to have been introduced by our local MP, Richard Harrington, to locally-based company Medvivo Group (formerly Telehealth Solution Ltd). We have since become the first homelessness charity in the UK to trial the use of their Community Pod, which enables our service users to monitor their own health by performing health checks on themselves.

So far, the Pod has mainly been used to monitor mental health. Service users have been able to easily log their responses on a validated anxiety and depression scale using the Pod’s touchscreen. In this way, the Pod gives service users a visual representation of their condition, so they can see the impact their engagement with an agreed support plan is having on their wellbeing. This has enabled people to recognise feelings or thought processes that could lead to a health crisis and thereby prevent this from happening.

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The Pod has also given us a true picture of the severity of mental health needs among our service users for the first time. Through this knowledge and the direct benefits of a visual representation, the Pod is improving the mental health of our service users. For example, one service user’s anxiety scale has dropped from 39 to 12 while working with our mental health floating support worker, combined with use of the Pod. He told us:

‘I’m by no means the finished article but whilst working with Laura I have come a long way’ The innovative partnership established with Medvivo has been recognised nationally as Medvivo were shortlisted for a TSA Crystal Award in the ‘Most Creative Application of Technology’ category. This award recognises excellence within technology enabled services.

TOP RESULT FROM TOP SCHOOLS This year we have been stunned and thrilled to have received two exceptionally large cheques (in value and in size), from two local schools.

holders of largest donation we’ve ever received from a school. However, St Margaret’s still hold the record for the most we’ve ever received from a single school event.

Thank you SO much St Margaret’s and Watford Boys – absolutely top results!

In March, St Margaret’s School for Girls in Bushey organised a sponsored Sleepout and raised nearly £5,000. Around 140 students camped out under the stars in rain, sleet and high winds to raise money. This incredible feat raised the largest sum we had ever received from a school in one go until….

Watford Grammar School for Boys chose us as one of their two charities for the year.

Like St Margaret’s, they have supported us for many years and for the past three years they have hosted our Summer Sleepout event for young people aged 11-18. In October, they presented us with a cheque for more than £5,700, which was raised through a variety of fundraising events throughout the last academic year, including Mufti Days, Teacher’s Karaoke, and a Take Me Out event with Watford Girls - to name but a few!

Therefore, Watford Boys are the current 11

UPCOMING EVENTS 23

MARCH

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JULY

24TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION SERVICE SUN 23RD MARCH, 7-9PM

ST PETER’S CHURCH, WATFORD

SUMMER SLEEPOUT 2014

FRI 4TH JULY 2014, 9PM-7AM LOCATION TBC

For more information about any of these events, visit our website at wnht.org.

Address Watford New Hope Trust 67 Queens Road Watford WD17 2QN

Phone 01923 210 680 Web

www.wnht.org

Email

info@wnht.org

t Search for @wnht

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watfordnewhopetrust

WATFORD NEW HOPE TRUST IS A REGISTERED CHARITY (1080784) AND A COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE (03969063) REGISTERED OFFICE: CANSDALES, BOURBON COURT, NIGHTINGALES CORNER, LITTLE CHALFONT, BUCKS, HP7 9QS.