Newsletter (June - Dec 2014)

NEWSLETTER JUNE - DEC 2014

WE ARE NEW HOPE In our previous newsletter we offered a glimpse into our five-year strategic plan. We mentioned that we would be simplifying our name in 2014. We are delighted to say that, from this point forward, we are NEW HOPE!

Many have used this abbreviation since we began; however, as we move into our 25th anniversary year, a number of reasons led us to feel that the time was right to make the abbreviation official. One of our reasons for this change is due to the growing public confusion between Watford New Hope Trust (WNHT) and Watford Community Housing

Trust (WCHT). We are very different organisations, yet the names are similar enough for us to receive a rising number of misdirected enquiries.

Also, although the vast majority of our work is in Watford, we work with people from across Hertfordshire – notably our Tenancy Sustainment Team support people in the boroughs of Dacorum, Hertsmere and Three Rivers.

Changing our name is not a decision that we have taken lightly and we have given this much prayerful consideration. We remain guided by our original vision and, in reference to our co-founder Janet Hosier’s

CEO’S CORNER

IN MEMORIAM

APPEAL

An update from our Chief Executive, Matthew Heasman.

Remembering Colin Spires, a much-loved service user.

Read about our plans for a new warehouse and how you can help.

changes continue to reflect our values, our mission and our aim. memoirs, Entertaining Angels, we read the following, which reminds us that the most significant part of our work was and is ‘Hope’: ‘Now that we were a new charity we needed a new name, so Sheila, Tim and I all went off to pray. When we met up to discuss some possible ideas, we all realised we were thinking along the same lines: hope.

We had all read the scripture from Jeremiah in which God promises that he has plans to give us ‘hope and a future’, and we felt this was a really important part of what we wanted to offer anyone with whom we worked.

We became Watford New Hope Trust – feeling that ‘New’ added strength to the title and conveyed the message we wanted to get across’ As well as simplifying our name, we have also changed our strapline from ‘Hope for the Homeless’ to ‘Preventing Homelessness. Transforming Lives’.

Again, this change remains true to our foundation, but we are moving away from using the phrase ‘the homeless’, which is now seen throughout the sector as derogatory and dehumanising. From saying ‘the homeless’ we now join our peers in saying ‘people who are homeless’.

The outcome of this renaming process is marked by a modern, simple logo, which highlights that home is at the heart of all we do. We hope you will agree with us that these important 2

On a final note, we wish to assure our supporters that this ‘rebranding’ process has not been a costly exercise, as it may be for some organisations.

Our new logo and publicity items have all been created in-house, by our small Fundraising and Communications team, and a local printer is supporting us in keeping the cost to an absolute minimum. Also, the timing of the rebrand appeared to be right, because we had run out of most of our old literature!

READY FOR THE FUTURE

In February, we were awarded a £23,200 grant from the Homelessness Transition Fund’s Future Ready Fund, which is administered by Homeless Link on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government (there’s a mouthful!).

This funding is enabling us to develop an organisation-wide database so that we can record and share our service user’s information across our various locations freely and securely. In turn, we will be able to report with greater accuracy on the issues that our service users are facing and how effectively we are supporting them. In essence, this IT project may sound quite dull, but the results are guaranteed to be interesting! Thank you to Homeless Link for supporting us in this project.

HOPE COLLEGE We are thrilled to announce that we have formed a new partnership with West Herts College, who have offered us two-year funding towards a new scheme called HopeCollege.

This education programme – which will be dedicated to supporting people suffering homelessness – will enable us to help our service users find the right training and courses for them in order to work towards a qualification or gain experience in their chosen area. This will form a key step on the ladder towards employment.

There is a plethora of training options and opportunities available across the country and deciding which path to follow can be daunting, particularly for those who have suffered the traumas associated with homelessness.

HopeCollege aims to bring all appropriate course options under one umbrella by offering a prospectus to candidates. In addition, we will work alongside each service user to support them in choosing the best course for them. We hope to have this new venture up and running in 2015.

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DONATE ONLINE NOW AT 4

NEWHOPE.ORG.UK/DEPOTAPPEAL

HOPE DEPOT APPEAL

Every year New Hope is fortunate enough to receive tens of thousands of pounds worth of food donations from local schools and churches through our Harvest appeal. To cope with the sheer amount of donations, each year we rely on the generosity of local landlords to lease us a warehouse, free of charge, typically for three months. During this time, service users get involved with sorting food and distributing it to our various services, and we have seen people make significant progress in their lives during this time.

This year the landlord from whom we leased our Harvest warehouse has been so generous that we have been able to continue using it free-ofcharge, on a six-month rolling contract.

This has enabled us to trial certain areas of what we hope to launch as a new service – HopeDepot – which would operate from a multi-purpose warehouse where service users would have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects, improving confidence and offering an important path back into general society. We plan to use the warehouse to: store and sort donations of food (which would enable us to further reduce food waste); sort and price donations to be sold in our shops (which would maximise the return on retail donations); recycle materials; run an eBay shop; and repair and sell furniture, all generating new and valuable income for New Hope.

At present we are using our temporary warehouse to store donations of food and certain larger donations for our shops. However, we cannot fully utilise this space and properly launch HopeDepot in our current location because the landlord may decide to rent his warehouse to a paying customer at any time. So, we are being particularly ambitious in hoping to raise £400,000 to enable us to purchase a warehouse of our own. From here we will be able to officially launch HopeDepot. This is a huge sum, but with your help we can raise it.

We would LOVE to hear from you if you or someone you know feel they can help us with this new venture. Any donation towards HopeDepot, nomatter how small, will bring us closer to our £400,000 target. Please do get in touch. Thank you!

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Almost 20 years ago, a man in his sixties came to our Haven Support Centre (then known as the Day Centre) in need of help.

His name was Colin Spires and, at the time, he was sleeping in his car near Croxley Moor. Over the years Colin has touched the lives of our staff and volunteers and here we share a little of his story.

Colin was referred by the Haven into our Night Shelter, from where the council offered him sheltered accommodation just outside of Watford. However, Colin had become so accustomed to an outdoors lifestyle that it was not easy for him to keep his accommodation. Also, because of Colin’s kind-hearted nature, he would often invite rough sleepers to stay in his flat. This caused various problems for him and, as a result, he was evicted, so returned to life on the streets.

Colin was homeless for a further two years. During this time we offered him support, again through our Night Shelter, but also through our Community Home. In 2002, we worked alongside Watford Borough Council to help Colin back into social housing. Colin was delighted to secure a warden-controlled flat near Croxley Green.

Soon after he moved, Colin damaged his Achilles tendon, which confined him indoors more than he was used to. This was revealed as a blessing in disguise, as Colin took this opportunity to make his house a home. He bought paintings and sculptures and made sure the flat was always clean and tidy.

Sustaining his tenancy became his priority and, in 2002, he became one

of our Tenancy Sustainment Team’s first clients.

Colin continued to be supported by the TST and he was a regular visitor at the Haven. He was described by those who worked with him as “one of the kindest men you could meet” and “loved by everyone”. He led a full, colourful life coming from a Romani background and growing up in a traditional, Romani wagon. Colin loved horses, painting and gardening and his family was extremely important to him. He had been evacuated to Wales during World War II, which he found extremely difficult because he missed London and his family dreadfully. One member of staff was honoured to have taken Colin back to Wales just a few years ago, because he had a desire to see the place where he lived during the war.

Sadly, last year Colin was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and he passed away just a few months following the diagnosis. Throughout this time, TST, other members of staff, friends and family continued to visit him in his flat.

He is greatly missed by all who knew him. We are so pleased that Colin was able to enjoy life into his 70s – which is beyond that tragic statistic which claims that the average life expectancy for a rough sleeper is less than 50.

IMAGE USED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE. PICTURE BY FLICKR USER ELAINEGREYCATS

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CEO’S CORNER

AN UPDATE FROM OUR CEO, MATTHEW HEASMAN

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Our five year Strategic Plan, launched in October 2013, talks about 2014 being marked by ‘consolidation, repositioning of some services, embedding procedures and policies… growth will be limited’.

A ship must be taken out of the water from time to time, to prepare it for the next voyage. In the same way, New Hope is in ‘dry dock’ at present. Dry dock is a busy and challenging place for us, where the crew (i.e. staff and volunteers) are working tirelessly to ensure that every policy, procedure and filing cabinet is up-to-date and all infrastructures are functioning effectively.

For many, dry dock involves extremely dull work, but it is essential to ensure that we maintain a healthy vessel. So far, we have: •

• • • •

completed a full review of our staffing structure to ensure we are working in the most cost-effective manner, whilst not compromising the service we are offering to our service users (sadly, due to funding reductions, this has meant we have had to say farewell to some members of staff) been writing and revising around ninety different policies and procedures commissioned a Health and Safety inspection of all services reviewed various contracts, to ensure we are getting the best value for money taken huge strides to improve our phone and IT infrastructure (please refer to the ‘Future Ready Fund’ article for further detail)

•

made various improvements to the way we are supporting and training our staff and volunteers.

The added challenge that we have faced is that, unlike a ship, all of our passengers (i.e. the service users) are still on board while we are in dry dock!

We believe this activity will give us a strong foundation, from which we hope to be able to grow in the coming years, to meet the ever-growing need for homelessness provision. Our plans include launching three important schemes: HopeCollege, HopeDepot and HopeHomes. All three are in a trial and planning stage at present.

Information regarding HopeCollege and HopeDepot can be found in the following pages. HopeHomes aims to help our service users access the private rented sector, which is increasingly inaccessible due to the high cost of rent in this area. This will be made possible as we work alongside landlords with a specific passion for positive social change. We will commit to finding and supporting suitable tenants and we will ensure the property is well-maintained through our HopeWorks and Community Market Gardening services. We are excited to update you on our progress in the coming months.

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DRAGON’S APPRENTICE CHALLENGE In September 2013 five students from St Joan of Arc Catholic School signed up for the Dragon’s Apprentice, a local challenge launched by Watford & Three Rivers Trust.

This annual event recruits teams of Year 12 students from schools across the area, assigns them a business mentor (a ‘Dragon’) and then pairs them with a local charity. Each team is given £100 and challenged to ‘turn £100 into £1,000+’, with Dragons providing advice and support to help their team achieve their business goal and funding target.

Antonio, Gianni, Jason, Tom & Victoria – aka ‘Team Origin’ – were paired with New Hope and Matthew Arnold & Baldwin solicitors. During the four months allotted for fundraising – and despite the on-going pressures of Sixth Form mock exams and coursework – they met their Challenge with enthusiasm and dedication throughout.

With careful planning they ran events at their school including a TV lunch, a Year 7 Christmas party and a raffle where they offered prizes such as an iPod touch and a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3. They sold food and drinks at a Sixth Form exhibition evening and ran a cake sale at the Matthew Arnold & Baldwin offices. At all these events they sold New Hope wristbands and raised all-important awareness of our work with their peers, teachers and the wider community.

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The apprentices spent several evenings bucket-collecting with the Rotary Club of Watford during the Christmas period and, in freezing December temperatures, took part in our annual Winter Sleepout. As the students themselves said, ‘we took advantage of this opportunity as not only was it a great chance to raise money but it also gave us an insight into what our charity works for’. This was their most successful fundraising event.

The Challenge was completed in February 2014 and Team Origin not only met but far exceeded their target of £1,000. At the final count, they had raised an outstanding £1,271 for the work of New Hope!

THANK YOU Team Origin, we wish you every success in your future studies and careers.

THOUGHT FOR THE SEASON We are frequently humbled and fascinated by the skills and intellect of so many in our care. Recently, one of our service users shared with us his thoughts on Jesus’ Parables, particularly The Feeding of the 5,000.

Although he said he wasn’t of the Christian faith, he felt that this parable was particularly important because it is the only miracle of Jesus to feature in all four Gospels. Also, he felt aggrieved that the message of the parable was often lost because “Christians are too busy debating whether the story is true or not”. He believed the message was simply this:

“If everyone who has food shares it with everyone who does not, no one will go hungry”.

This thought changed the way some of us had seen the parable. In fact, the parable goes further; it adds that, when the food was shared, there was even food to spare! It is interesting to consider this in light of recent United Nations figures which state that, of the world’s 7.1 billion population, 870 million people are chronically undernourished and 1.4 billion are obese. The UN also announced recently that one third of the world’s food goes to waste every year. Do these figures highlight an unfair distribution of food?

Together, let’s change this by sharing what we have with those who do not.

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Have you heard the word? We’ve started a blog! An online journal aimed at entertaining and informing in equal measure.

We’ll be regularly posting news, views and real life stories that will make you laugh, gasp, or think.

Whether you’re a long-time supporter of New Hope, or have just recently started popping into one of our shops, you can keep up to date through our blog about homelessness and related issues as well as community events that New Hope is engaged in.

We’re always busy with something, including market garden open days, art therapy, or sponsored sleepouts.

The New Hope blog doesn’t just

provide information but also opinions and first-hand experience from a diverse range of perspectives such as volunteers, staff members and our service users.

Above all, the new blog is a place to express our passion for helping those who are homeless to rebuild their lives, and to convey that passion to our dedicated supporters, without whom none of this would be possible.

It’s also a great opportunity for you to give us feedback, suggestions for improvement, or your take on what’s being discussed. Communicating honestly and with compassion is a great way to challenge the misconceptions about people who happen to be homeless, which are all too prevalent. Those who are marginalised by society need a voice more than anyone. So we hope that you find the blog inspiring and uplifting. We hope to see you there!

READ OUR BLOG AT

NEWHOPE.ORG.UK/BLOG

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DOWN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE GARDEN The emergence of daffodils and bluebells have heralded an early growing season, in contrast to last year’s enduring winter. Taking advantage of this we have been busily planting seeds – edible and ornamental – cramming our polytunnels with bright colour and variety for our open day.

We are pleased to say that the seeds of several partnerships have overwintered well (apparently a well-known gardening term!) and are now showing vigorous growth.

Affinity Water has helped us to set up a planter sale project with Watford Grammar School for Boys, promoted by the boys and made up by our service users. Guideposts Trust are running an anxiety coping strategy course from the yurt over eight weeks, which is a step towards offering more

specialist mental health services from the CMG, and Together Timebank, a poetry group, have been holding sessions every other week. There is also the possibility of closer working with Groundwork, which could lead to accredited gardening courses, as well as help from Affinity Water in building a better rainwater harvesting system, so we can make maximum use of natural resources with minimal impact to the environment.

Creative activities have included storytelling round the fire, restoring a memorial bench, painting on slate hearts and stones for the open day, acoustic music, drawing, painting with coloured sand, wood carving and enjoying the healing calm of our wild Narnia, presided over by “Windy Bob” the scarecrow with his CD sequins and foam top hat!

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NEW HAVEN

On 1st April 2014, The Haven Day Centre was renamed the Haven Support Centre. This change reflects the range of services that are now on offer at the centre, which are:

• • • •

Drop in (for food, clothing, laundry, support and advice) Outreach (housing-related support and referrals for rough sleepers) Mental health support Tenancy Sustainment Team (housing-related support for those who have moved on from New Hope accommodation).

Should you hear anyone referring to this centre as the Day Centre, please politely correct them!

OUTREACH

Particular thanks are due to Watford Borough Council which, for a third year in succession, has increased its funding to us for our Outreach service.

Based at the Haven, this vital work is our link between rough sleepers and our many other services and it supports around 300 individuals every year through one-to-one advice sessions, signposting to appropriate organisations and referrals to various hostels. In addition, the Outreach service scours the streets on a frequent basis, looking for rough sleepers and engaging them with our work. The team regularly works with 14

perpetrators of anti-social behaviour, including people with mental health and/or addiction issues. It is among our most challenging ‘front-line’ work and we are grateful to the Council for enabling this work to continue.

NO SWEP

Each night we house people who would otherwise sleep on the streets of Watford, yet there are more who need shelter, especially when the weather is bad.

For this reason, we offer additional beds when the temperature is expected to drop below 0°c for three consecutive nights. This is known as the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol (SWEP) and you may have read about our winter plans in our previous newsletter.

This past winter we prepared the Haven to offer nine beds to rough sleepers, and Watford Borough and Three Rivers District Councils were on standby to fund the cost associated with this extra work. However, SWEP was not necessary because the weather was unusually mild. Whilst it is positive news that it was not cold, we do not qualify for SWEP funding for anything other than cold weather and it was an extremely wet winter.

Therefore, we are in discussion with our local councils about changing the criteria of SWEP so that we may offer additional emergency accommodation during any period of prolonged severe and health-threatening weather, not just cold weather.

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THANK YOU! Without financial support, we wouldn’t exist and we are so grateful to those who support us in this way. Here are some of our fundraising highlights from the past six months:

St George’s Day Charity Club

£500

(Cricket family fun day)

Polly Berdinner

£1,027

(St Albans Winter Sleepout)

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY 4

JULY SEPT NOV

(Donations in lieu of birthday presents)

Singing for Joy

£100 (Fundraising singing group) Team Origin

£1,271

(Dragon’s Apprentice Challenge)

Erica Lane

£120 (Fundraising lunch in memory of her mum)

If you would like to be our fundraiser of the month, please call us, or visit newhope.org.uk/fotm.

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WATFORD BOYS GRAMMAR SCHOOL FRI 4TH JULY, 9PM - 7AM

HARVEST 2014

YOUR SCHOOL, CHURCH OR GROUP SEPT - NOV 2014

4

GARDEN OPEN DAY

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WINTER SLEEPOUT

OCT

DEC

Peggy Sells

£280

SUMMER SLEEPOUT

2015

23 MAR

COMMUNITY MARKET GARDEN SAT 4TH OCT, 10.30AM - 3PM ST ALBANS ABBEY FRI 5TH DEC, 9PM - 7AM

PLEASE KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR A CALENDAR OF EVENTS, CELEBRATING OUR 25TH BIRTHDAY YEAR!

25TH BIRTHDAY SERVICE

ST MARY’S, WATFORD MON 23RD MARCH 2015, 7PM - 9PM