BHT and partner QED get the go-ahead for our container housing scheme

At BHT we are very excited to have secured planning permission for the proposal to provide temporary homes in converted shipping container at Richardson’s Yard, Brighton. The scheme is a joint venture between BHT and our development partner, QED. What was particularly gratifying was the unanimous support received from members of the Brighton and Hove Planning Committee.

Planning officers recommended approval, saying that the containers were an “imaginative and appropriate” way to meet a very real need for affordable accommodation.

To find out more you can read various post from the last few months:

How BHT hopes to use shipping containers for temporary accommodation for homeless men and women

Reaction to BHT’s plans to provide temporary accommodation in converted shipping containers

Support for our container housing application from the local action team

Some concern on the BBC website this morning focused on a report that the land is ‘contaminated’ and that it would not be suitable for permanent housing.

Richardson’s Yard has been used as a scrap metal yard, and there is, inevitably, some contamination, including from oil. However, a full environmental assessment has been made and was considered by the Council before permission was granted. The plan is to place a membrane on the contaminated land before a concrete base in put in place. All planting areas will be in raised beds and there will be no risk to future residents. If there was the slightest risk, BHT would not risk the health and wellbeing of our residents.

This is an exciting development and I look forward to seeing the first residents move in at the end of the summer (assuming we have a summer!).

Suspending judgement on Suspended Coffee

Have you heard about ‘suspended coffee’, the new occurrence where a customer will go into a coffee shop, ask for a hot drink for themselves and another (or more) ‘suspended’?  They pay for the total number ordered.  Then, people who are homeless, out of work, or just short of money can walk into a coffee shop and ask if there are any ‘suspended’ coffees. If there are, they will be served a hot drink free of charge.

There is now a ‘Suspended Coffee’ Facebook page

I have misgivings about the whole thing, and that makes me feel quite guilty.  Of course I don’t want to deny anyone a hot drink, particularly when it is as cold as it has been. But I wonder whether it is the best way to help those who are homeless or destitute.

Over the years I have been asked whether you should give money to those begging on the streets.  It is an individual decision, and my personal choice is not to.

Of course it must be up to the individual to decide whether they wish to buy a ‘suspended coffee’ for someone.  They will need to have confidence that the retailer will, in fact, pass on the coffee to the intended beneficiary.

It is a shame that the tax affairs of one of the largest coffee chains seeks to minimise its tax liabilities, although it is unlikely that homeless people would benefit from normalising their tax affairs.

I am somewhat of a hypocrite.  At BHT we constantly ask for donations, in cash and in kind, to help those men and women who are in the greatest need.  We have an Amazon wish list (another company with its own tax controversy) where we ask people to buy essential items for clients including thermal underwear, socks, and coats.

During summer heat waves (for those who can’t remember that far back, a heat wave is “a prolonged period of excessively hot weather”!) we have been grateful to the wonderful people at Life Water who have donated thousands of bottles of water to help keep our clients hydrated.

So why is it ok for me to encourage gifts through BHT to our clients, rather than a more immediate act of giving? The only justification I can give is that we are an organisation that promotes change, and your gifts to us might help us engage and assist people off the streets.

But there again, I am not sure. My colleague Rob Robinson is a great fan of ‘Suspended Coffee’.  He says that those people who are on the streets are excluded on so many levels.  By experiencing the atmosphere of a coffee shop, they might just reassess their aspirations and seek help.

I’m confused.  I guess I will just have to suspend a final judgement.

Good news as BHT-led partnership is given the go-ahead to bid for £9.2 million Big Lottery funding

We have had some very good news this week which is attracting some media interest.  A consortium, being led by BHT, is in the running for funding from the Big Lottery of up to £10 million over 8 years.  The initiative is designed to improve services for men and women with complex needs (a combination of mental ill health, homelessness, offending behaviour and substance misuse problems) in Brighton, Eastbourne and Hastings. Between now and September, a full bid and business plan needs to be prepared.  A decision will then be made by the Big Lottery and the new services will begin from April 2014.

The purpose of this funding is to bring about lasting change in how services work with people with multiple and complex needs; this funding is a vehicle to help bring about that change. The legacy of the 8 year programme will be that systems and services in all 3 geographical areas will better meet the needs of this group.

At this stage we have been awarded funding to develop the bid on behalf of our partnership which includes partners in local government and in the third / charity sectors.  Should the partnership be successful, it won’t just be BHT staff (contrary to what the Argus reported this morning) who will provide services.

My colleagues, Nikki Homewood and Jo Berry, are leading on this initiative for BHT. Nikki said: “As the lead partner for the Brighton and Hove, Eastbourne and Hastings area, BHT is thrilled to receive funding to develop our partnership bid to ensure better service provision for people with the most complex needs.

“Using the wealth of knowledge and expertise within our local Core Group, comprising seven voluntary sector organisations and five statutory partners including commissioners, along with the 60+ organisations in our Partnership Group, we will develop a programme that will truly bring about change for the clients the programme work with, and local communities.

“Our vision is to bring about long-term systemic change by putting service users at the heart of services, fully understanding what they need in order to move forward with their lives: thorough monitoring and evaluation will result in well-evidenced findings, which will then be used to influence future commissioning.”

BHT’s partners in this initiative, and who are represented on the local Core Group, include: Brighton and Hove City Council, Brighton Women’s Centre, CRI, East Sussex County Council, Eastbourne Borough Council, Hastings Borough Council, Homeless Link, Sanctuary Supported Living, Southdown Housing Association, Sussex Oakleaf, Sussex Probation Service

Social media, online support and traditional giving all help BHT deliver services to our clients

Earlier today, as Sussex ground to a halt because of overnight snow, I tweeted about the Amazon wish list for First Base Day Centre.  The most surprising item on the wish list is for sun protection lotion, probably the thing furthest from most people’s thoughts as they slipped and slid into work this morning.

The serious point, of course, is that homeless people are at far greater risk of getting skin cancer than the rest of the population given their exposure to the elements.

The wish list, which can be found here, has a load more items that are very relevant during periods of severe cold.  I spent a few minutes this morning looking at what has already been bought by our supporters from the wish list in the last few weeks:

• 21 fleece jackets
• 4 pairs of thermal long johns
• 7 thermal vests
• 54 pairs of thermal socks
• 2 sleeping bags
• 5 waterproof jackets
• 21 toothbrushes
• 12 tubes of toothpaste
• as well as a whole range of other one off items essential for the work of First Based Day Centre.

Thank you to all those who have helped people keep dry, warm and clean.

I also this morning read a report, published in Digital Donor Review, that showed that only 5% of charitable donations are made through sites such as Facebook and Twitter, even though 30% of respondents said they were inspired to give by social media.

The First Base wish list shows that people like giving in different ways.  At BHT we are fortunate to have some extremely generous benefactors who support our work year on year, those who leave a bequest to BHT in their Wills, and those who support us on the ad hoc basis, although many do so on a regular basis in response to appeals, not least at Christmas time.

BHT is extremely fortunate to have secured a large number of contracts from national and local government, and we are successful in bidding of charitable funds, such as those from the Big Lottery.  However, it is the support of ordinary men and women that makes a real difference in the work we tend to.

From the list above, there are many items that we take for granted.  But for somebody sleeping on the streets of our towns and cities, having dry and warm clothes is important as is their ability to wash their face and clean their teeth.

The absence of a national approach to combat homelessness could have tragic consequences

Today I met with colleagues from some of the country’s larger homelessness charities, at a gathering organised by Homeless Link, one of our trade bodies. Amongst the themes discussed were those that come up at many meetings I attend these days, including severe funding restrictions, the “race to the bottom” as far as pricing tenders (“the race is over”, said one colleague from an area that has had cuts of over 80% in its Supporting People budget), and the risk to the quality of services.

One issue that struck me was a comment by someone I admire a great deal who said that any discussion around a minimum standard for homelessness services would rapidly become the default position. He spoke of the danger of a provider then going beyond ‘poor’, such as happened with the Winterbourne homes for men and women with learning difficulties.

All providers have their own ‘bottom line’ beyond which they won’t go, but there was a recognition that there are other agencies (not all exclusively in the private sector) who might bid at domiciliary care rates, where ‘support’ is reduced to a mere attendance as workers (inexperienced and untrained), and even volunteers, dash from one appointment to another.

The inevitable consequence will be an erosion of quality, increased turmoil for those with mental health problems, exploitation of those who are vulnerable, anti-social behaviour by some, and (in extreme cases) death through neglect.

The scenario was presented that in these circumstances, workers and volunteers are particularly at risk (a la Jonathan Newby), and clients might be overlooked, possibly with tragic consequences.

What is shocking about the current state of affairs is that, for the first time since 1968 (the year of Cathy Come Home and the setting up of homelessness charities including Shelter and BHT itself), there is no national funding framework. The ring fence for support services was removed by the previous government, and the devolution of funding to local commissioning bodies, is resulting in huge differences in provision across the country.

Notwithstanding the principles of Localism, there are groups of vulnerable people whose well being cannot rely on the vagaries of local funding decisions and where a national safety net is required, not least homeless men and women.

When we have a spate of deaths on the streets, there will be a mad panic to put something in place. Why not do this in a planned and co-ordinated way that will prevent man of these deaths in the first place?

What is clear is that the situation in Brighton and Hove and in East Sussex is so much better than in many places across the country, not least because of the all-party support there has been over the past few years for protecting services for homeless and vulnerable men and women. Long may that continue, particularly in these difficult times.

Bullingdon Club Bullies dehumanise homeless man by burning £50 in front of him

This afternoon I was writing a no doubt worthy item for this blog on BHT’s preparation for the digital inclusion challenges relating to the introduction of Universal Credit when I saw the tweets by Aideen Jones, the Chief Executive of Southdown Housing Association, regarding members of the Bullingdon Club who allegedly burnt a £50 note in front of someone begging on the streets of Oxford. (26/02/13: Please note I have removed a link to the original article on another blog which has itself been removed).

Aideen is right to point out that £50 could have bought 40 pairs of thermal socks for homeless people.

Of course people will make a connection between this obscene flaunting of wealth by a group of rich boys. The Prime Minister, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the Mayor of London, all were members of the Bullingdon Club during their misspent youth, but I imagine Messrs Cameron, Osborne and Johnson will today share the outrage felt by most reasonably minded individuals over this incident.

The thing that upsets me most about this incident is what it says about how homeless men and women are dehumanised by society. If the allegation is true, these Bullingdon Bullies are merely an extreme example, and are the rightful targets for the contempt of decent people. But this dehumanisation goes much wider, from the groups of lads who think it is funny to give someone sleeping rough a kicking on a Saturday night, or a drunken reveller relieving himself on someone sleeping in a doorway, or the security guard who pours a bucket of cold water over someone sleeping in a car park.

More extreme examples lead to the violent death of homeless people through assault or setting fire to a sleeping bag when the individual is asleep in it. Dropping a paving slab on the head of someone asleep on the beach or in a park is likely to do serious damage.

Yet this happens. What we need to do is to put an end to homelessness. A grand objective, but one that should be seen as historically important as the abolition of slavery or the ending of apartheid. This week, Homeless Link will be launching a manifesto aimed at seeing the end of homelessness in the UK by 2023. My colleague, Nikki Homewood, will be at the launch of this manifesto in the House of Commons on Tuesday.

But individually we can do something. In response to Aideen’s tweet, I will buy £50 of thermal underwear for homeless men and women who use First Base Day Centre. You, too, can help, either by buying something from Amazon using the First Base wish list on this link or for those of you who don’t wish to use Amazon, donations can be made direct to First Base through our Just Giving page.

But there is one other thing we can do. We can stop using the term ‘the homeless’, a phrase that dehumanises people. They are men and women, they are someone’s son or daughter, husband or wide, brother or sister, father or mother. They have names. They have hopes and aspirations, feelings and fears. I always try to refer to “homeless men and women”.

In South Africa, where I grew up under apartheid, the white rulers referred to “the blacks” who had second class status, and whose lives were valued less than those of white people. The murder of a black man and woman rarely attracted media attention, more rarely warranted a police enquiry. In the white community, black people had become dehumanised. Hopefully in Britain in 2013 we won’t allow the same to happen to homeless men and women.

Appeal for warm clothing and thermals

At First Base, our day centre for homeless people in Brighton, we have recently had a huge number of new clients and are run out of a number of really improtant items necessary for basic survival:

• fleeces
• thermal vests
• thermal socks/new socks
• mens boxers
• sleeping bags

We’re appealing for donations of useful items for people who really need it. You can buy us something on Amazon using the wish list on this link and it will be delivered straight to us. We are particularly looking for warm clothing and thermals due to the cold weather.

If you would like further information, please phone 01273 326844.

And, finally, please help share this list if you can by email, Facebook and Twitter.

Public meeting regarding BHT’s proposal for temporary housing in converted shipping containers

BHT with local property developers, QED, will be holding a meeting for local residents and businesses to discuss our proposal to provide temporary housing in converted shipping containers.  It will provide local residents with an opportunity to express any concerns, questions or ideas they may have regarding our proposed development.

Time               6 pm – 8 pm

Date               Friday 4^th January

Place              Gates Room, Calvary Evangelical Church, 72 Viaduct Road, Brighton, BN1 4ND

Use of shipping containers for temporary accommodation: some questions and answers for neighbours

This is the text of a letter that has been sent today to neighbours of the site where BHT and our partners, QED Capital Assets Ltd, propose to provide temporary accommodation in converted shipping containers:

Dear Resident

Development: Land adjoining 10 New England Road and rear of 53 New England Street

We are writing to let you know that together, local property developer QED and housing charity Brighton Housing Trust (BHT), are submitting a planning application for 36 self contained studio flats on land behind the Cobbler’s Thumb pub on New England Hill.  You may have heard about our plans in the media because we are making the innovative proposal to use converted shipping containers for this temporary housing.  Here is some more information:

What is the time frame for development and what exactly are we proposing in terms of using shipping containers?

We are working towards submitting a planning application early in the New Year.  The units are converted specifically for housing and are in use in the Netherlands as social and student housing as well as hotels.  If we get planning permission, we hope to have the homes ready for our first residents in the late spring of 2013.

Some people have expressed surprise at the use of converted shipping containers.  The containers have been converted to very high standards, and will provide self-contained studio flats for 36 men and women.  You can learn more about the use of converted containers on the website of TempoHousing who have pioneered their use in the Netherlands.

What else will be on site?

The development will contain all the usual things you’d expect to see, cycle stores, appropriate waste facilities, and so on. It will also include compost facilities, an area for growing food, trees, planting areas on the roof and rainwater harvesting.

Who will be living in these units?

BHT will carefully select the residents for this accommodation.  They will be men and women who may have been homeless in the past but are now ready for independent living. BHT operates a number of rehabilitation programmes that ensure that residents will be responsible tenants.  BHT cannot afford the reputational and financial consequences of housing people who will not make good tenants.

Why is this being proposed?

There is acute need for housing in the city.  This temporary housing solution provides much needed relief for those seeking permanent housing.  It also brings into use a city centre site that would otherwise sit as storage space until a wider proposal for re-development of the area emerges.

How will the homes be managed?

The homes will be managed by BHT through specialist housing management staff it employs.  If some residents have any on-going support needs (around budgeting, re-emerging mental health problems, etc., BHT employs support staff who can assist on either a temporary or a longer-term basis.

Will my views be listened to?

We want to make this initiative a success.  Therefore, we are very interested to hear about any concerns, questions or ideas you may have.  Our approach is that feedback from the local community can help us make our proposal even better because you may think of things, or have ideas, that we have not yet considered.

As a local resident you will be invited to a meeting in the New Year to discuss the proposals.

In the meantime you are welcome to contact either of us, Ross with regard to the design and technical matters, Andy with regard to the management of the housing.

Kind regards

Ross Gilbert, QED Capital Assets Ltd, rossgilbert@qedproperty.com

Andy Winter, Brighton Housing Trust, andy.winter@bht.org.uk

Tusen Takk (Swedish for a thousand thank yous) from a client of BHT’s Olympus House Project

One of the best parts of my job is to meet people who have benefited from our services.  Sometimes (quite often, actually) I receive letters or see letters written by clients to different services.  This week I was sent the following letter which was addressed to the staff team at BHT’s Olympus House project:

“Murray/Adam/Belinda/Michelle/Chloe and all others (Dave/etc/)

“I write this letter with much gratitude. Where do I start? That is a good one! I remember the day Murray invited me to stay here. I did so after one of many chats that I would have throughout my stay here.

“I was homeless, vunerable, overwhelmed. You name it I was an emotional wreck. After a couple of weeks of being here I didn’t speak to any of the staff on a personal level. I did feel the support when I went through a (approx) 2 week phase where I considered ending things. Adam was in and I was so down, he asked if I was O.K and if I wanted a chat. I declined but after 30 minutes of being very, very upset I decided I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.

“However when I buzzed down Adam had left and Chloe was there and offered the sae support. Of course I declined, um’d and arh’d and finally went down for a cuppa (by the way, Chloe makes a lovely cup of tea). We had a good chat which saved me in many ways. I believe that chat was a turning point in my road to perdition (I think that is the right phrase).

“I have grown ever so fond of ALL the staff. My life has improved 10 fold (even though I still feel like a bit of a fuck up). However now, I have come forward even more. I have some structure in my life, I have goals, targets and have in my own way become wiser. I don’t want you to think I am singling out this person as someone that has done more than others because I personally think collectively you have all helped.

“I will say that Adam is a real gem and spiritually a very very kind special person. Empathy, compassion and insight are things he has in abundance. You all do, but people are likes horses and courses. Different horse for a different course. I just found Adam very very easy and calming to speak too. I know I ramble on, I seem confident but we all are insecure in our own ways! Whatever you are paying him is not enough (lol). Thank you personally Adam. You have done so much for me. Tusen Takk (Swedish for a thousand Thank yous).

“Thank you Murray for your wise chats (especially after my recent episode, thank you), you are a kind man. Thank you Chloe. Thank you Michelle. Thank you Belinda. Thank you Dave. Thank you Sarah. Thank you Sophie. Thank you all for your help. Thank you team Olympus House. You have helped me rebuild my life and I will be sad to see you are not there in my everyday life (you made a difference).

“With all my love, All the wisdom you have as individuals, you are real, kind people. Tusen Tusen Takk. Thank you from the whole of my soul.”