Tag Archives: Sussex

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.

Further reflections on Twitter – can the personal be professional?

Continuing my reflections on Twitter, some people think you should keep your work tweeting separate from your personal Twitter account.

I’m not so sure. My Twitter handle (see, I am learning all the lingo) is @AndyWinterBHT. I know I am slightly hindered in what I can say given the “BHT” suffix. But then, even if I had a separate account, I still couldn’t speak my mind freely because I would still be identified with that organisation I work for, whose name temporarily escapes me!

I actually like knowing that people have a hinterland, such as the Sunday ritual of @LisaSaysThis and @AMOQ1 who for some obscure reason tweet about archery or, more specifically, about The Archers themselves. The flower arranging prowess of the Handsome One, as recorded by @Huxley06, gives me hope that I too will one day be able to arrange a vase of daffs, but I sadly won’t ever become the top flight football referee that @ConallBartlett4, according to his dad, is destined to become. Then there is the Muesli Hill soap opera brought to us by @anthonyzach and @dzyrl, or baking by our very own Delia Smith, @ValPearceBHCC.

Of course all of the above successfully combine professional tweets with personal reflections and insights. I apologise unreservedly for the above comments. I think their Twitter content is the better for this fusion.

In addition to tweeting about @BHT_Sussex, and issues that impact on the organisation and its clients, I have been known to tweet about @SussexCCC and South African rugby and cricket. I have even been known to tweet about @StokeCity. This comes at some cost because every time I tweet about the Mighty Potters, I lose 2 or 3 followers. I just can’t imagine why.

I tend to keep my private life just that, private, although I have been known to mention I am watching cricket with @ClareCalder or offering her paternal advice about not getting another piercing. (She ignored me).

What gives me a great deal of pleasure is retweeting others, not least those posted by amazing third sector organisations locally. I know how much I appreciate being retweeted by them. I also retweet much of what is posted by @OurDaughtersUK, a campaigning organisation for whom I act as treasurer.

Many people put a disclaimer on their Twitter. My biography had such a disclaimer which said: “The views expressed here are Andy’s and not necessarily those of BHT”. Why I felt it necessary to write about myself in the third person, I don’t know. I set up my own account unlike the CEO of another charity (not local) whose PR team would not give him the password to his own Twitter account. This caused no end of amusement when that became public knowledge.

So today I changed my twitter profile. Gone is reference in the third person, and as for the disclaimer, I have changed it to: “The views expressed here are probably not those of BHT other than tweets relating to Stoke City which are all official BHT policy”.  It is about as valid as any other worthless disclaimer!

Bringing services and organisations together must be the way forward

Today we had an event to mark the co-location of BHT’s Eastbourne Advice Centre with Eastbourne CAB. The purpose of this is to improve the service for clients as well as to save money. BHT Advice in Eastbourne has moved from its old offices into Highlight House, the existing home of the CAB.

This move follows closely on the heels of the setting up of the Advice and Community Hub in Hastings where three advice agencies, CAB 1066, the Hastings Advice and Representation Centre (HARC) and BHT Hastings Advice, now provide their services under one roof.

This approach, a testimony to the farsightedness of all agencies concerned, must be the way things will be done in the future. The CAB is the best known brand and will inevitably attract the greatest footfall. It should not matter to the other agencies if one agency has a higher profile than the others. What is important is that those needing general or specialist advice know where to go. And most people know the CAB.

The future for advice services looks grim. We need to do whatever it takes to make sure that those in need of advice and representation have the best possible chance of receiving it. I am very proud of that BHT Sussex is working with other agencies in this way. I hope to see more of it in the future.

Eastbourne CAB and BHT’s Eastbourne Advice Centre can be contacted at Highlight House, 8 St Leonard’s Road, Eastbourne, BN21 3UH

Brighton’s night time economy is tarnishing the city’s brand

On September 26th, I am speaking in a debate being organised by the Brighton and Hove Chamber of Commerce.  The question is: “This house believes that Brighton’s night time economy is tarnishing the city’s brand”.  I will be speaking in favour of the question.  Other speakers include Justin Manning from the Queen’s Hotel, Nigel Liddell of the Brighton & Hove Business Crime Reduction Partnership, and Ian Chisnall, organiser of Brighton & Hove Street Pastors.

I would be interested in what you think so that I can properly think through the issues.

I come to this issue as someone who feels that, put quite simply, aspects of the night time economy threatens the economy of Brighton, including other parts of the night time economy which are essential for the economic well being of the City.

For example, take so called ‘party houses’. Rather than the traditional tourist infrastructure (hotels, restaurants, etc.) benefiting from weekend visitors and other tourists, these houses are a nightmare for neighbours. They facilitate the ‘front-loading’ of alcohol before these visitors descending on the town centre where their behaviour is often not conducive for others (guests staying in hotels, families out for dinner, theatre goers, etc.).

The spending power of those on alcohol-fuelled weekend breaks (hen and stag events) is limited.  They are focused on alcohol outlets that encourage/facilitate further drinking.  Having lived in the town centre for many years, and having represented Regency Ward on the old Brighton Borough Council, I now actively avoid going into the centre of Brighton after 8pm on a Friday or Saturday evening.  My spending power is thus denied those restaurants and facilities that might otherwise have benefited from it.

For a year I chaired the Licensing Committee on Brighton Borough Council.  That year, because of close co-operation between the Council, Sussex Police and licensees, we were able to regulate the night time economy in a way that incidents of violence were clamped down on.  Licensees who failed to co-operate risked having their Public Entertainment Licences revoked.  The result was that on New Year’s Eve 1986, there was not a single arrest for violence or drunken disorder in Brighton.

Unless we ensure that the night time economy is robustly managed, the image of the City will become tarnished, at great cost to businesses and residents alike.

Let me know what you think.

 

(Note: when this item was first posted I referred to no arrests in 2006. It should have been 1986.  My apologies).

Does size matter when it comes to Twitter?

@SallyBercow recently tweeted to her fifty thousand followers a link to a post of my blog. Those close to me will know how chuffed I was because in an hour or so I had more hits than I usually have in a month. The post was about the speech the Prime Minister made regarding the possible removal of housing benefit for those under 25.

It coincided with a workshop I ran on Twitter within BHT. We were looking at how BHT can increase its influence through Twitter. In preparation for this we began monitoring the number of followers the 20 or so BHT tweeters have.

Three of my colleagues saw a 50% increase in their followers over a 3 week period:

  • @LizDaviesBHT had an 88% increase. Liz is really worth following as she tweets and retweets a range of really interesting things;
  • @BowlerHelen had a 76% increase. Helen is an inspirational tutor in our Hastings Finding Futures Project and uses Twitter to celebrate the achievements of her learners, young men and women who many had written off;
  • @BHTAdvice had a 52% increase. This account highlights what is happening in the advice world and anyone concerned about changes to welfare benefits and cuts to legal aid should follow this account.

But in preparing for the workshop I came to realise that size doesn’t matter when it comes to Twitter. It is the quality of the followers that counts. Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, follows just 5 people. If you are an economist and you are followed by her, you will have been noticed at the highest level.

It can be very flattering to be followed by several hundred or even several thousand people. But if each of them, in turn, follow several thousand people, the chances are that you are not being followed at all. I can’t imagine that two of my ‘followers’ @SallyBercow (following 3,951 people) even notices my musings on @SussexCCC nor @campbellclaret (following 5,071 people) on my fascination with southern hemisphere rugby.

It has been said that it is possible to effectively follow a maximum of 150 people on Twitter. In this respect, size DOES matter. I know that I often just skim through my Twitter feed, focusing on just a minority of those on whose tweets I pause.

In considering whether you are being successful on Twitter, do the following simple exercise: decide who are the people you most want to be engaged with on Twitter. It might by 5, 50 or 500 people. Are they following you? If they are, great, if not you are probably not being effective on Twitter. A colleague of mine who deals with the media has a list of around 12, all journalists. She doesn’t need many more followers.

What is of equal important is that she is following anyone who has an interest in the work of @BHT_Sussex and the issues impacting on our clients. Most activity on Twitter, or blogs for that matter, is reading and reflecting. If you spend at least 95% of your time reading and reflecting, you may almost be getting the right balance.

Anyone who just uses Twitter to promote their own ‘fascinating’ version of the world will not attract, nor keep, followers.

The day Sally Bercow changed my life

Well, perhaps not changed my life, but she certainly made my day. Yesterday I ran a workshop on Twitter at BHT Sussex for a number of members of staff. We looked at who were effective tweeters, what made someone interesting, and why some people had greater authority on Twitter than others.

We looked at an individual’s reputation, and the relevance of one’s position in an organisation, how long a person had been in role, their knowledge base, how interesting their opinions were, and their personal conduct. We analysed how influential different individuals in BHT were on Twitter. I, for example, have the advantage of being the CEO and the credibility that brings, whether or not I personally merit it. Having worked for BHT for 27 years also brings some credibility, regardless of whether I have learned anything useful in that time or have anything interesting to say.

Towards the end of this very worthy discussion, I needed to illustrate something about Twitter and this blog. I then noticed that in the previous hour I had had twice as many hits on the blog than I would normally have in a week! Was it that I had said something particularly interesting, profound or controversial? Nothing like that. Earlier in the day I had posted my reaction to the speech by David Cameron in which he proposed that those under 25 should not be entitled to housing benefit.

It was a fairly straightforward post but the Twitter link to that post had been retweeted by one of the great Tweeters of our time, the incomparable @SallyBercow. Her simple, and generous tweet read “Good blog on the disgraceful Cameron housing benefit proposal >> RT @AndyWinterBHT: http://wp.me/pDTWu-iA“. This recommendation resulted in many dozen retweets and a huge volume of traffic to the blog.

The moral of the story is that it doesn’t really matter how influential a small time tweeter and blogger like me tries to be, all it takes is one recommendation from the likes of Sally Bercow to changed your life or, rather, make your day!

14 people and organisations, local and national, who are worth following on Twitter

Today I ran a workshop at BHT Sussex on effective use on Twitter. One of the exercises we did was to reflect on who the participants felt tweeted best. The first person mentioned was Emma Daniel of the Brighton and Hove Community and Voluntary Sector Forum, and there was a general consensus that Emma (@Huxley06 on Twitter) had interesting things to say, her tweets were lively, and she gets into some interesting conversations.

The others commended (in no particular order) were:

National
@Shelter: does what others try to do, but Shelter does it well. It gets a balance between being informative and offering practical help;
@SocietyGuardian: a reliable source of information, interesting conversations and comments;
@ThirdSector: stories, news and views relevant to our sector;
@RSPCA_official: provides a really good learning tool on how to use social media;
@WstonesOxfordSt: tweets that make up a story, very original (particularly how staff now have to spend an hour each day practicing penalties);
@big_ben_clock: predictable, repetitive, makes me laugh;
@campbellclaret: Alistair Campbell has an understanding of traditional and new media like few others, and is generous in his promotion of others;
@JeremySwain: the CEO of ThamesReach is one of the original thinkers in the homelessness sector, a true leader.

Local to Brighton & Hove and East Sussex
@brightonargus: comprehensive news from Brighton and Hove;
@BHcitynews: independent news and views for Brighton and Hove;
@BrightonHoveBus: useful real time information on road works, delays, etc.
@demsoc: the Democratic Society tweets on local, national and international politics in an interesting and sometimes quirky fashion;
@davemarthur: radical, makes me laugh out loud (also into cricket…!).

Tomorrow I will write about a 15th, how @SallyBercow made my day!

Drug and Alcohol Conference 5th July 2012

The Drugs & Alcohol Today exhibition co-hosted with the 16th Annual Sussex DAAT Drug & Alcohol conference

Thursday 5th July 2012               Holiday Inn, Brighton

The event features a full programme of CPD accredited seminars and the exhibition of local, regional and national organisations and projects.

Only £30 to attend, with free places available to people currently using drug and/or alcohol services, unwaged, full-time students and volunteers.

How to register to attend

Exhibitors include

  • ADFAM
  • Pavilion bookshop
  • Brighton & Hove Drug & Alcohol Action Team
  • Frontier Medical Group
  • Action for Change
  • Blithe Computer Systems
  • Phoenix Futures
  • Kenward Trust
  • Open University
  • Trust the Process Counselling
  • Illy Systems

Seminars include

  • Drugs strategy update: the current landscape
  • Unpicking the alcohol recovery agenda: how can local authorities combine responsibilities and resources to maximum benefit?
  • The long view: what does the future look like for the sector without a national champion?
  • Managing substance misuse during pregnancy
  • What does recovery mean for families?
  • Prevention, alcohol, and young people
  • Transitions for young people
  • Case Study: Delivering an effective early intervention model for drugs & alcohol – Nottingham DrugAware Programme
  • Resilience
  • Recovery Pathway
  • Case Study: The Frequent Flyers Project
  • Case Study: The hostel-based Clinical Nurse Pilot
  • Peer mentoring, SMART and volunteering
  • Drug & alcohol consultations in A&E
  • Workforce support & development
  • Case study: Operation Street
  • Joint commissioning for substance misuse
  • The role of GPs in recovery

Speakers include

  • Martin Barnes, Chief Executive, DrugScope
  • Eric Appleby, Chief Executive, Alcohol Concern
  • Carole Sharma, Chief Executive, Federation of Drug & Alcohol Professionals
  • Richard Pike, South East Recovery Community Coordinator, CRI
  • Joss Smith, Director of Policy and Regional Development, ADFAM
  • Andy Winter, Chief Executive, Brighton Housing Trust
  • Mark Gilman, National Strategic Recovery Lead, National Treatment Agency
  • Sergeant Richard Siggs, Sussex Police
  • Nicola Singleton, Director of Policy Research, UKDPC
  • Tom Scanlon, Director of Public Health, NHS Brighton & Hove

A day of contrasts: poverty and affluence, a moving account of a child’s disability, and sexist ‘jokes’

Today has been one of contrasts. This morning there was a gathering of representatives from homelessness charities from Brighton & Hove and West Sussex (Worthing Churches Homelessness Project, Central Sussex YMCA, Stone Pillow from Chichester, and BHT).

We met at the offices of CSYMCA before visits to BHT’s Phase 1 Project and First Base Day Centre, lunch courtesy of our social enterprise Dine!, and then two visits to CSYMCA services. The conversation was passionate and enthusiastic, about how we can relieve the most acute forms of poverty and how a little investment can make a huge difference in changing lives.

We spoke about the need to challenge the causes of inequality, injustice and exclusion. I shared my favourite quote from the Latin American priest, Dom Helder Camara, who said: “When I feed the hungry they call me a saint, when I ask why they are hungry, they call me a communist”.

I had to absent myself at lunchtime as I had been invited to the launch of the cricketer Matt Prior’s benefit year. It was held at the Grand Hotel and there was certainly nobody going hungry there. I had been given complimentary tickets for the event for my daughter, Clare, and me. We have known Matt since he first moved to England with his mum, Terri, and were their next-door-neighbour for several years. We are all very fond of Matt and everyone who knows him will take delight from his success.

I love just about everything to do with cricket, and today’s event was characterised by very good company, delicious food, and a chance to meet England all rounder Stuart Broad.

However, the contrast between the morning discussions and the conspicuous wealth of some of the people in the opulent surroundings of the Grand Hotel made me feel very uncomfortable. The tens of thousands of Pounds raised would keep many homelessness services operating for a year. For many of those bidding a thousand here, several thousands there, poverty and hardship could not have been further from their minds.

A consolation, however, is Matt Prior’s obvious commitment to Chestnut Tree House and I am delighted that there will be a particular focus on this charity during his benefit year. Chestnut Tree House is the only children’s hospice in Sussex and cares for children and young adults from 0-19 years of age with progressive life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses from all over the county. It is a truly wonderful charity and one worth supporting.

The representative from Chestnut Tree House received a well-deserved standing ovation for her moving account of the life of her daughter, Alice, and the truly wonderful support provided by Chestnut Tree House. But there was something contradictory in that the ‘comedian’ who had been hired thought it was ok to tell a ‘joke’ about pedophilia and another about rape. I saw many people looking very uncomfortable. It is time cricket and other sports cleaned up their acts, making sexism in sport as unacceptable as racism.

So today has been one of contradictory emotions. While I did enjoy the lunch, I left with conflicting emotions when I would have preferred to focus exclusively on Matt Prior, his cricketing achievements and the impressive man he has become. And I am left wondering how we can live in a society with such displays of affluence yet Sussex charities, including Chestnut Tree House, face constant battles for survival.