Christopher explains how the Supporting People Programme has changed his life...
What were the circumstances which led to you needing your support provider?
I was homeless following the breakdown of a relationship and I was abusing alcohol and drugs. I didn’t take my medication and my mental health deteriorated which resulted in me being admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt
Which organisation/support provider helped you?
Solas' Dyfrig House scheme in Cardiff.
How did your support provider help you?
They help me massively. With my mental health problems, I always feel like people have looked down on me, but here there are people who listen, who I am able to talk to.
I have a roof over my head and people to show me the steps and give me the tools to get through my illness.
What did you find most valuable about your support provider?
Having people who listen and who are always there if I need to talk.
Where would you be now if it wasn’t for your support provider?
Probably 6 feet under or in hospital due to the drink or my mental health.
What are your hopes and aspirations for the future?
To get better, and to one day move on and hopefully help people in my position and to be able to tell them there’s light at the end of the tunnel because there IS hope.
Showing posts with label cardiff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardiff. Show all posts
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Tuesday, 17 February 2015
Wales’ Collective Energy Switch – helping to reduce energy use
Wales is a small country. One that often punches above its weight, but also one that is able to bring partners together and set up national schemes that can make a real difference.
With awareness of energy costs at its highest, and set to become a key element of the forthcoming General Election campaigns, Wales is embarking on its third collective energy switch.
With the support of the Welsh Government and partners across Wales, the collective energy switch has been developed to ensure the best deal for Welsh householders.
The idea behind collective energy switching is similar to bulk-buying products to get a better price. In a collective energy switch, those interested in receiving a better deal group together as a ‘collective' before approaching the energy suppliers. The larger the number of households that get involved, the more attractive the group of customers are likely to be to the energy suppliers.
The Energy Saving Trust in Wales is working in partnership with Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils to deliver Cyd Cymru / Wales Together.
Esther Tallent, Energy Saving Trust’s Advice Centre Manager, said: “Keeping an eye on energy costs and switching supplier when a better deal is available can potentially benefit everyone. Last year, Cyd Cymru / Wales Together helped over 1,500 households in Wales to switch to a cheaper energy tariff, saving £185 per household on average.
“What is also particularly interesting is that those people who are keen to monitor their energy costs are also keen to reduce the energy they use. We therefore take the opportunity, when supporting our registered households, to provide a range of energy saving tips and information about other schemes and grants that can support them.
“The Wales-wide scheme has really captured people’s imaginations and it’s proved to be a great vehicle to help people save energy.”
More information on Cyd Cymru / Wales Together can be found here.
Register online before Sunday 1st March or call 0800 093 5902 before Friday 27th February to ensure that you are part of the next collective. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
With awareness of energy costs at its highest, and set to become a key element of the forthcoming General Election campaigns, Wales is embarking on its third collective energy switch.
With the support of the Welsh Government and partners across Wales, the collective energy switch has been developed to ensure the best deal for Welsh householders.
The idea behind collective energy switching is similar to bulk-buying products to get a better price. In a collective energy switch, those interested in receiving a better deal group together as a ‘collective' before approaching the energy suppliers. The larger the number of households that get involved, the more attractive the group of customers are likely to be to the energy suppliers.
The Energy Saving Trust in Wales is working in partnership with Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan Councils to deliver Cyd Cymru / Wales Together.
Esther Tallent, Energy Saving Trust’s Advice Centre Manager, said: “Keeping an eye on energy costs and switching supplier when a better deal is available can potentially benefit everyone. Last year, Cyd Cymru / Wales Together helped over 1,500 households in Wales to switch to a cheaper energy tariff, saving £185 per household on average.
“What is also particularly interesting is that those people who are keen to monitor their energy costs are also keen to reduce the energy they use. We therefore take the opportunity, when supporting our registered households, to provide a range of energy saving tips and information about other schemes and grants that can support them.
“The Wales-wide scheme has really captured people’s imaginations and it’s proved to be a great vehicle to help people save energy.”
More information on Cyd Cymru / Wales Together can be found here.
Register online before Sunday 1st March or call 0800 093 5902 before Friday 27th February to ensure that you are part of the next collective. Phone lines are open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.
Nick Beasley, Marketing and Communications Manager
Energy Saving Trust
Energy Saving Trust
Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Cardiff's Healthy @ Home Service - doing the right thing at the right time
Housing and health are closely linked and health related work has become a key part of what we in Care & Repair do, both to improve people’s overall health and to make them safer in their home by preventing accidents and potential hospital admission. Because we visit older people in their own homes, we have the ideal opportunity to discuss a range of healthy issues as well as their housing needs.
The Healthy @ Home Casework service is a partnership project, funded by the Welsh Government’s Intermediate Care Fund, which works with GP surgeries across Cardiff to offer the Care & Repair service to their patients on their 75th birthday. During the home visit to the client, we can offer a range of services that may be of interest to them now or in the future. Our aim is to support the client to stay safely living at home for longer, thus having a long term positive impact on their health and wellbeing.
We all know the saying: prevention is better than cure. Our service gives us access to older people who may benefit from our services and those of other organisations at an early stage to support them living independently and to prevent them from reaching a crisis situation in their home.
As well as discussing home repairs, maintenance and adaptations, we provide assistance with welfare benefits, home safety and fire safety checks and information on health and well being. If relevant, people are assessed for falls and referred back to their GP for a follow up appointment. Our project is unique in Cardiff and of real benefit and help to older people.
During our home visit, the Healthy @ Home Caseworker will listen to what the client wants and needs, will make suggestions and offer solutions to address these issues. By addressing the needs of clients, we undertake and organise a variety of direct interventions or make referrals to existing voluntary and statutory agencies to draw in and co-ordinate with other services as appropriate. Through partnership working with other voluntary and statutory agencies, we can provide the right assistance at the right time.
There is so much information available, much of which is, or seen by our clients as, complex. Many clients are not accessing schemes due to a misunderstanding of the referral process.
It is our experience that our clients still prefer a home visit where someone speaks to them face to face, someone who is willing to understand and discuss their needs. That someone is a Care & Repair Healthy @ Home caseworker.
Julie Swain
Senior Caseworker, Care & Repair Cardiff
The Healthy @ Home Casework service is a partnership project, funded by the Welsh Government’s Intermediate Care Fund, which works with GP surgeries across Cardiff to offer the Care & Repair service to their patients on their 75th birthday. During the home visit to the client, we can offer a range of services that may be of interest to them now or in the future. Our aim is to support the client to stay safely living at home for longer, thus having a long term positive impact on their health and wellbeing.
We all know the saying: prevention is better than cure. Our service gives us access to older people who may benefit from our services and those of other organisations at an early stage to support them living independently and to prevent them from reaching a crisis situation in their home.
As well as discussing home repairs, maintenance and adaptations, we provide assistance with welfare benefits, home safety and fire safety checks and information on health and well being. If relevant, people are assessed for falls and referred back to their GP for a follow up appointment. Our project is unique in Cardiff and of real benefit and help to older people.
During our home visit, the Healthy @ Home Caseworker will listen to what the client wants and needs, will make suggestions and offer solutions to address these issues. By addressing the needs of clients, we undertake and organise a variety of direct interventions or make referrals to existing voluntary and statutory agencies to draw in and co-ordinate with other services as appropriate. Through partnership working with other voluntary and statutory agencies, we can provide the right assistance at the right time.
There is so much information available, much of which is, or seen by our clients as, complex. Many clients are not accessing schemes due to a misunderstanding of the referral process.
It is our experience that our clients still prefer a home visit where someone speaks to them face to face, someone who is willing to understand and discuss their needs. That someone is a Care & Repair Healthy @ Home caseworker.
Julie Swain
Senior Caseworker, Care & Repair Cardiff
Monday, 28 April 2014
Instagram that breeze block!
I’ve been having fun with Cadwyn’s newest development, a regeneration project for the local shopping parade in Pentrebane, a close knit residential area in the west of Cardiff. As well as setting up the targeted recruitment and training for the site, I’ve been experimenting with using social media and a blog to bring the development to life for local people.
I had the idea for this after my kids were fortunate enough to have a brand new school built for them last year. They were pretty excited about this, but apart from one site visit and the obligatory Ivor Goodsite poster homework assignment, they ended up not really feeling involved in the project at all. This didn’t stop them bombarding me with questions every time we walked past - questions about what was happening with that machine, and why, and how would they get the roof on, and how many bricks did I think would be needed all together, and did the person driving the digger need a special licence, and on, and on, and on….Some of these questions I could (sort of) answer, but for most of them I did what any self respecting parent does these days and relied on Google, and the site project’s occasional twitter feed.
This got me thinking that while there are obvious limitations to opening up actual building sites – health and safety, time, logistics, to name just a few – the internet and social media offers a big opportunity to do the next best thing by acting as a window onto the development. What I didn’t realise then was that I’d have the chance to put my money where my mouth is a year or so later…so, based on my modus operandi of assuming that anything is allowed unless someone specifically tells me it’s not, I’ve been busy getting Beechley Drive a social media identity!
This is what I’ve done so far…
Beechley Drive Blog - the development brief from Cardiff Council included a requirement to set up a website to keep the local community informed of site developments. I really wanted this to be more than a static website with a one way flow of information that nobody would ever return to a second time, so I’ve worked with Cadwyn’s Web Officer to set up a simple WordPress site, which has the required corporate boxes ticked (logos of funding partners, project timeline) but which also offers a more friendly voice to the development, with blog posts written in a (hopefully) chatty and informative tone. I’ve left comments enabled throughout the site in the hope that folk will interact with the site and suggest/contribute further content, and I’m also talking to the local schools about the children taking over parts of the blog, perhaps posting interviews with longtime residents, or other class projects related to the site.
Beechley Drive Facebook Page - the Pentrebane community already makes good use of Facebook with various groups set up for local residents, school parents, Communities First projects and so forth, so I am hoping that a FB page will offer a quick and easy window onto the development, but also of course be a forum for local residents to ask questions, raise concerns, and make suggestions. It’s also an easy way of sharing blog posts and project photos, and driving engagement to the website itself.
Beechley Drive Twitter Feed - I’m envisaging that most of the interaction with local residents will be via Facebook, because of the strong groups that already exist there. However, using Twitter gives us an opportunity to talk with people who don’t use Facebook – and also I think a more effective way of sharing what we’re doing with stakeholders and organisations who are not necessarily local.
Beechley Drive Instagram Feed - the Instagram feed itself does not have much traction; however, I’m using it primarily in conjunction with Facebook and Twitter to share photos and comments as the site progresses. The Instagram feed is also linked to the website, which means that even if there is a quiet week as far as the blog goes, there’ll be new content on the site to draw people back.
It’s early days for all of the above, and now the big challenge becomes keeping the website and social media channels feeling fresh and worth following; and of course to promote and encourage interaction so that this does not just become a one way stream of information blasted meaninglessly into the ether. This will be very much a learning process, and I’m sure there’ll be stuff that goes wrong. I would welcome advice and pointers from anyone who’s done anything similar!
I’ll be blogging progress and lessons learnt (and more than likely the occasional mistake) along the way, so please feel free to join me on the journey!
Michelle Davis
Targeted Recruitment and Training, Cadwyn HA
I had the idea for this after my kids were fortunate enough to have a brand new school built for them last year. They were pretty excited about this, but apart from one site visit and the obligatory Ivor Goodsite poster homework assignment, they ended up not really feeling involved in the project at all. This didn’t stop them bombarding me with questions every time we walked past - questions about what was happening with that machine, and why, and how would they get the roof on, and how many bricks did I think would be needed all together, and did the person driving the digger need a special licence, and on, and on, and on….Some of these questions I could (sort of) answer, but for most of them I did what any self respecting parent does these days and relied on Google, and the site project’s occasional twitter feed.
This got me thinking that while there are obvious limitations to opening up actual building sites – health and safety, time, logistics, to name just a few – the internet and social media offers a big opportunity to do the next best thing by acting as a window onto the development. What I didn’t realise then was that I’d have the chance to put my money where my mouth is a year or so later…so, based on my modus operandi of assuming that anything is allowed unless someone specifically tells me it’s not, I’ve been busy getting Beechley Drive a social media identity!
This is what I’ve done so far…
Beechley Drive Blog - the development brief from Cardiff Council included a requirement to set up a website to keep the local community informed of site developments. I really wanted this to be more than a static website with a one way flow of information that nobody would ever return to a second time, so I’ve worked with Cadwyn’s Web Officer to set up a simple WordPress site, which has the required corporate boxes ticked (logos of funding partners, project timeline) but which also offers a more friendly voice to the development, with blog posts written in a (hopefully) chatty and informative tone. I’ve left comments enabled throughout the site in the hope that folk will interact with the site and suggest/contribute further content, and I’m also talking to the local schools about the children taking over parts of the blog, perhaps posting interviews with longtime residents, or other class projects related to the site.
Beechley Drive Facebook Page - the Pentrebane community already makes good use of Facebook with various groups set up for local residents, school parents, Communities First projects and so forth, so I am hoping that a FB page will offer a quick and easy window onto the development, but also of course be a forum for local residents to ask questions, raise concerns, and make suggestions. It’s also an easy way of sharing blog posts and project photos, and driving engagement to the website itself.
Beechley Drive Twitter Feed - I’m envisaging that most of the interaction with local residents will be via Facebook, because of the strong groups that already exist there. However, using Twitter gives us an opportunity to talk with people who don’t use Facebook – and also I think a more effective way of sharing what we’re doing with stakeholders and organisations who are not necessarily local.
Beechley Drive Instagram Feed - the Instagram feed itself does not have much traction; however, I’m using it primarily in conjunction with Facebook and Twitter to share photos and comments as the site progresses. The Instagram feed is also linked to the website, which means that even if there is a quiet week as far as the blog goes, there’ll be new content on the site to draw people back.
It’s early days for all of the above, and now the big challenge becomes keeping the website and social media channels feeling fresh and worth following; and of course to promote and encourage interaction so that this does not just become a one way stream of information blasted meaninglessly into the ether. This will be very much a learning process, and I’m sure there’ll be stuff that goes wrong. I would welcome advice and pointers from anyone who’s done anything similar!
I’ll be blogging progress and lessons learnt (and more than likely the occasional mistake) along the way, so please feel free to join me on the journey!
Michelle Davis
Targeted Recruitment and Training, Cadwyn HA
Wednesday, 19 March 2014
Support Nick Bennett at the CEO Sleepout in Cardiff
On 27 March I’ll be joining more than 70 business leaders including five chief executives from the housing association sector, namely Michelle Reid - Cynon Taf, Duncan Forbes - Bron Afon, Andrew Lycett - RCT Homes, Cathy Davies - Hafan Cymru and Chris O’Meara - Cadwyn, sleeping rough as part of the first ever CEO Sleepout in Cardiff.
Every penny from our first hand experience of living on the streets will help the homeless, stock food banks and genuinely reach out to those facing severe hardship. A wide range of projects will benefit from the event including Llamau and Cardiff Foodbank.
As Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru (CHC), campaigning on behalf of our members and their tenants throughout Wales, I know only too well that welfare reform is placing a huge financial burden on some of the poorest in society.
Reforms have meant that people pay for 'spare' bedrooms with no alternative accommodation available, it has removed disability benefits from those in need, and imposed sanctions on those who don't find a job despite the shadow of economic downturn still looming over many of our communities.
We know that 350,000 people are affected by welfare reform in Wales, 35,000 of which are affected by the ‘bedroom tax’, so it is inevitable that placing these pressures on those most in need will lead to more homelessness.
When you think of homelessness, you may have an image of someone sleeping rough in a shop doorway and sadly, for many, this is still the case. However, there are lots more people who are homeless in the non-traditional sense, who spend their time sofa-surfing on a friend’s or family member’s settee because they can no longer afford a bed nor a home of their own anymore.
The day before the CEO Sleepout and my taste of homelessness, I’ll be at the Tai 2014 Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru (CIH Cymru) Conference. I’ll be launching the CHC and the Welsh Local Government Association joint research report on ‘Partnership Working and Homelessness’.
The research was commissioned to specifically focus on identifying opportunities to develop partnership working in light of the new homelessness duties set out in the Housing Bill. It seeks to highlight best practice and address some of the key challenges partners face in delivering homelessness services. The report is intended to act as a toolkit for Local Authorities and Housing Associations and we hope that, by highlighting how barriers have been overcome in a variety of areas, this will increase consistency and help in meeting the needs of the growing homeless population in Wales.
Another real cause the CEO Sleepout raises money for is to stock food banks, which have become a vital way of life for many. Food bank usage has grown dramatically due to a cost of living crisis with stagnant wages, inflation and increasing fuel and food costs.
In 2011/12 a total of 16,000 people sought help from a food bank, and latest figures (2013/14) have seen an increase in usage to 67,000.
The reality is that many more people in Wales are one step closer to homelessness, and many more are living in poverty, than ever before.
We’d all like to think that we could turn to someone for help, so if you are in a position to donate to a cause which helps makes a difference to real people’s lives, please donate to the CEO Sleepout.
I’d be grateful on behalf of those whose lives will be enriched by your generosity if you would sponsor me online at: https://www.justgiving.com/nick-bennett13
Nick Bennett
Chief Executive, Community Housing Cymru Group
Every penny from our first hand experience of living on the streets will help the homeless, stock food banks and genuinely reach out to those facing severe hardship. A wide range of projects will benefit from the event including Llamau and Cardiff Foodbank.
As Chief Executive of Community Housing Cymru (CHC), campaigning on behalf of our members and their tenants throughout Wales, I know only too well that welfare reform is placing a huge financial burden on some of the poorest in society.
Reforms have meant that people pay for 'spare' bedrooms with no alternative accommodation available, it has removed disability benefits from those in need, and imposed sanctions on those who don't find a job despite the shadow of economic downturn still looming over many of our communities.
We know that 350,000 people are affected by welfare reform in Wales, 35,000 of which are affected by the ‘bedroom tax’, so it is inevitable that placing these pressures on those most in need will lead to more homelessness.
When you think of homelessness, you may have an image of someone sleeping rough in a shop doorway and sadly, for many, this is still the case. However, there are lots more people who are homeless in the non-traditional sense, who spend their time sofa-surfing on a friend’s or family member’s settee because they can no longer afford a bed nor a home of their own anymore.
The day before the CEO Sleepout and my taste of homelessness, I’ll be at the Tai 2014 Chartered Institute of Housing Cymru (CIH Cymru) Conference. I’ll be launching the CHC and the Welsh Local Government Association joint research report on ‘Partnership Working and Homelessness’.
The research was commissioned to specifically focus on identifying opportunities to develop partnership working in light of the new homelessness duties set out in the Housing Bill. It seeks to highlight best practice and address some of the key challenges partners face in delivering homelessness services. The report is intended to act as a toolkit for Local Authorities and Housing Associations and we hope that, by highlighting how barriers have been overcome in a variety of areas, this will increase consistency and help in meeting the needs of the growing homeless population in Wales.
Another real cause the CEO Sleepout raises money for is to stock food banks, which have become a vital way of life for many. Food bank usage has grown dramatically due to a cost of living crisis with stagnant wages, inflation and increasing fuel and food costs.
In 2011/12 a total of 16,000 people sought help from a food bank, and latest figures (2013/14) have seen an increase in usage to 67,000.
The reality is that many more people in Wales are one step closer to homelessness, and many more are living in poverty, than ever before.
We’d all like to think that we could turn to someone for help, so if you are in a position to donate to a cause which helps makes a difference to real people’s lives, please donate to the CEO Sleepout.
I’d be grateful on behalf of those whose lives will be enriched by your generosity if you would sponsor me online at: https://www.justgiving.com/nick-bennett13
Nick Bennett
Chief Executive, Community Housing Cymru Group
Tuesday, 1 October 2013
Linc participates in new Welsh Housing Finance Grant Scheme
Bronte House on Newport Road and Gwaun Helyg, Ebbw Vale are anticipated to be the first affordable housing projects to start on site and to be funded under the Welsh Government’s innovative Welsh Housing Finance Grant Scheme.
Bronte House, Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 1DJ
Linc acquired the Bronte site on the open market in May 2012 and proceeded to demolish the rather old and tired buildings and secure planning consent for a new affordable housing scheme in an area of very high demand. Bronte House will consist of 38 apartments with a mix of 16 one bed and 22 two bed units. The apartments will be targeted at people currently living in housing association and local authority accommodation who wish to downsize from accommodation that might now be too large for their needs. Rents will be set at intermediate rent levels. The total capital cost of the Bronte House scheme is £4.0 million. The contribution from the Welsh Housing Finance Grant is agreed at just under £1.0 million. The scheme will be developed to code level 3+ and the apartments will benefit from the latest efficient gas boilers which will result in very low running costs for tenants.
The project is ready to start on site with a contractor approved by the Linc Board. The Welsh Government has confirmed formal stage 3 approval and Linc has signed up for the collective private finance product. The Welsh Government has advised Linc that their revenue grant is likely to be available in November but is not yet in a position to confirm this. When confirmation is received, Linc will enter into a formal contract with the building contractor. Based on a December 2013 start on site, the scheme will be available for letting in the spring of 2015.
Gwaun Helyg, Ebbw Vale
Linc acquired this site from Corus in 2009. The Welsh Housing Finance Grant will fund the first phase of a larger planned affordable housing scheme. This first phase will consist of 13 family houses with a mix of 8 two bed and 5 three bed properties. The properties are to be let at social housing benchmark rents in partnership with Blaenau Gwent Council. The total capital cost of the Gwaun Helyg scheme is £2.0 million. The contribution from the Welsh Housing Finance Grant is agreed at £1.14 million. The scheme will be developed to code level 3+ and the properties will again benefit from the latest efficient gas boilers. The project is ready to start on site with a contractor approved by the Linc Board. The Welsh Government has confirmed formal stage 3 approval and Linc has signed up for the collective private finance product. Again, the Welsh Government has advised Linc that their revenue grant is likely to be available in November.
Did you attend the launch of the Welsh Housing Finance Grant last week? Do you have any thoughts on the new scheme?
Trevor Saunders
Executive Director, Linc Homes
Bronte House, Newport Road, Cardiff CF24 1DJ
Linc acquired the Bronte site on the open market in May 2012 and proceeded to demolish the rather old and tired buildings and secure planning consent for a new affordable housing scheme in an area of very high demand. Bronte House will consist of 38 apartments with a mix of 16 one bed and 22 two bed units. The apartments will be targeted at people currently living in housing association and local authority accommodation who wish to downsize from accommodation that might now be too large for their needs. Rents will be set at intermediate rent levels. The total capital cost of the Bronte House scheme is £4.0 million. The contribution from the Welsh Housing Finance Grant is agreed at just under £1.0 million. The scheme will be developed to code level 3+ and the apartments will benefit from the latest efficient gas boilers which will result in very low running costs for tenants.
The project is ready to start on site with a contractor approved by the Linc Board. The Welsh Government has confirmed formal stage 3 approval and Linc has signed up for the collective private finance product. The Welsh Government has advised Linc that their revenue grant is likely to be available in November but is not yet in a position to confirm this. When confirmation is received, Linc will enter into a formal contract with the building contractor. Based on a December 2013 start on site, the scheme will be available for letting in the spring of 2015.
Gwaun Helyg, Ebbw Vale
Linc acquired this site from Corus in 2009. The Welsh Housing Finance Grant will fund the first phase of a larger planned affordable housing scheme. This first phase will consist of 13 family houses with a mix of 8 two bed and 5 three bed properties. The properties are to be let at social housing benchmark rents in partnership with Blaenau Gwent Council. The total capital cost of the Gwaun Helyg scheme is £2.0 million. The contribution from the Welsh Housing Finance Grant is agreed at £1.14 million. The scheme will be developed to code level 3+ and the properties will again benefit from the latest efficient gas boilers. The project is ready to start on site with a contractor approved by the Linc Board. The Welsh Government has confirmed formal stage 3 approval and Linc has signed up for the collective private finance product. Again, the Welsh Government has advised Linc that their revenue grant is likely to be available in November.
Trevor Saunders
Executive Director, Linc Homes
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