Beyond Homelessness

The Rock Trust has been awarded a grant of £317,323 by the BIG Lottery Fund’s Research Programme in order to undertake a 4 year research project, with the support of Glasgow School of Social Work at Strathclyde University. 

This research looks at the role of housing support services in enabling individuals who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness to build positive social networks, with a view to help optimise the quality of support each service is able to provide

A three phase approach will be taken to the research.

1) A survey of Scottish local authorities and housing support services.

2) In depth investigation of 4 pilot areas based round tracking a sample of service users and using service user interviewers.

3) Development of models of support, resources and a conference to disseminate results across Scotland. 

The Rock Trust will manage the research partnered by Strathclyde University and supported by a Steering Group involving representatives of all groups who will be involved in and benefit from the research.  A full time research fellow will undertake the research with academic support from the Glasgow School of Social Work and project management from the Scottish Social Networks Coordinator backed up by the Rock Trust management team. In the final phase the Rock Trust will develop and disseminate training and share the experience of involvement in research.

Research Outcomes 

The research will provide robust evidence to influence local and national policy and provide staff with the functional best practice models and skills to develop or revise practice and bring direct benefit to service users.  Both service providers and service users will be directly involved throughout the process – in design, delivery and dissemination.  Not only will this ensure relevance, but will also develop user employability along with skills in developing, executing and utilising research.  Ultimately the research aims to help to prevent homelessness, reduce isolation, increase personal independence from support services and promote interdependence, community and family relationships. 

The survey was issued to existing contacts on Friday 6th August. The deadline for completion of the survey is Wednesday 25th August so you still have time to take part. A link to the survey can be found at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8X65X2F

The Scottish Ethnic Minorities Directory is now available to buy at a cost of £25 (incl p&p) - all proceeds going to the destitution service and hardship fund which provides free shelter, food and practical support for destitute women, families and young people.

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Events

Positive Action in Housing Training Courses

Cultural Awareness Training

The course will take place on Thursday 16^th September 2010, 9.30 am – 4.30 pm at Dundee Voluntary Action, 10 Constitution Road, Dundee, DD1 1LL. 

This course is aimed at anyone who works with service users from diverse, multiracial backgrounds; anyone working in social work, housing, welfare, education, employment, health, community development or the justice system.

The course aims to give a deeper understanding of some of the key cultural differences and communication barriers affecting people including black minority ethnic communities.

                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                   

Working with Refugees, Asylum Seekers, Migrants & EU Nationals

This course will take place on Wednesday 29 September 2010 at 9.30am – 4.30pm at PAiH 98 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1PJ. The course is aimed at anyone who works with new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers and it aims to examine the rights of migrants under UK and European Law. As a participant, you will be given up-to-date knowledge on the housing, employment and welfare entitlements of refugees, asylum seekers, migrants and EU nationals.

                                                                                                                                                 

                                                                               

Community Engagement: Working with Communities, Including BME Groups

This course will take place on Thursday 30 September 2010 at 9.30am – 4.30pm at PAiH 98 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1PJ. The course is aimed at anyone involved in tenant participation or community involvement with BME communities and aims to show you the key steps to help your organisation to effectively engage with everyone in your areas of operation, particularly with those communities who are historically under-represented or less likely to participate as members, workers or service users.

                                                    

To book your place, please contact Suki Sangha, Training Officer, Positive Action in Housing Ltd, 98 West George Street, Glasgow, G2 1PJ, Tel: 0141 353 2220, email suki@paih.org . 

For further details on any of these courses please see the PAiH website.

 

SHIEN Dumfries & Galloway Shared Solutions Workshop

The event will take place on Wednesday September 8^th at the Murray Arms Hotel in Gatehouse of Fleet. The event is free and is for everyone who supports the belief that service user participation is a key component of finding sustainable solutions to homelessness.  Service users, staff, managers, planners and decision makers are all welcome. See the poster for this event and further details on the SHIEN website.

                                                                                                                                             

                                                                                                                                           

Spotlight on STRADA

Free Event for Addictions Professionals

 

This event will take place at the University of Glasgow on 20^th September 2010, 6-8pm and will be a showcase of the courses, products and services that STRADA currently offers and a chance for you to meet with specialist staff to discuss your training and educational requirements.

 

Please see the attached flyer for more information about this event or log on to the STRADA website.  If you would like to book your free place please email strada@gla.ac.uk stating your name, job title, and organisation. 

 

                                                                                                                                                                     

                                                                                                                                            

Nacro's 10th Annual Mental Health and Crime conference

Mental health and crime - Making sustainable change happen
 

This conference will take place on 22-23 September 2010 at Burleigh Court, Loughborough University and will include a FREE half day seminar on Prisons and Mental Health on 21 September 2010.

This conference is aimed at commissioners, planners and providers responsible for developing effective mental health services. It’s also suitable for all practitioners, service users and carers who wish to influence the future of mental health provision along the criminal justice pathway.  For further information, registration and booking, please see the Nacro website. To book a place by phone/email please call Caroline Fuller on 0797 44066 73 caroline.fuller@nacro.org.uk  

                                                                                                                                                

                                                                                                                                                  

2012: Is Scotland’s house in order?

Shelter Scotland’s annual conference on progress towards 2012

   *Early booking discount for bookings received on or before Wed 25^th August*

Tuesday 28 September 2010, 9.30am - 4.00pm at St Paul’s & St George’s Church, York Place, Edinburgh.

This conference is particularly aimed at homelessness staff working at both policy and frontline levels; senior management and staff in local authorities and all staff working to support vulnerable people. It will also be of interest to anyone with an interest in the future direction of homelessness policy.  To book your place, please complete and return the attached booking form to Shelter at 6 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh, EH2 4AW or visit the Shelter events website.

 

                                                                                                    

Positive Action In Housing 15^th AGM

This meeting will take place on 1 October 2010 at 11.00am for 11.30am sharp in the Satinwood Suite of Glasgow City Chambers, George Square, Glasgow, G2 1DU.

The AGM is extremely well attended and a great opportunity for members and supporters to meet and celebrate the past year’s achievements. Also, as this is their fifteenth year, there will be music and a birthday cake, and several guest speakers who have supported their work over the years. Lunch will also be provided at 12.30 pm. If you would like to attend, please confirm your attendance, and the names of any guests, by email to home@paih.org .

For further details please see the PAiH website.

 

 Glasgow Homelessness Network 2010 Conference - ‘The Big Questions’

 

This conference will be held on Tuesday 5 October 2010 at the Glasgow City Chambers and invites honest dialogue and a solutions-focused approach to tackling 5 key issues in Glasgow:

 

• Why do homeless people die younger than their non-homeless peers?
• Why is rough sleeping in Glasgow no longer on a downward trend?
• Why are there blockages in accessing permanent accommodation?
• What have we learned from the Hostel Closure Programme?
• How can we reverse the 92% rate of people not working while homeless?

 

For further information and booking please see the Glasgow Homelessness Network website.

 

Scottish Housing And Support Conference 2010

This is happening on the 7th October 2010 at the Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor Hotel. Places are still available at this year’s Scottish Housing and Support Conference. Now celebrating its 20^th anniversary, it continues to bring together the different strands of services across housing, health, social work and the voluntary sector and gets them talking about how best to meet housing and support needs, share best practice and innovation, and most importantly, to listen to the voice of service users. Twenty years on, the country now faces a time of unprecedented budget constraints and challenges. To reflect this the 2010 Conference has taken as its opening theme Choices, Cuts and Contradictions.

The opening speakers are Lesley Smith, giving a service user perspective; Alex Neil MSP, Minister for Housing and Communities; and John Mills, Housing Services Manager, Fife Council, giving a local authority perspective.  The closing plenary speaker, who will look to the future, will be Professor Douglas Robertson, Head of Department, Applied Social Science, University of Stirling.

The Minister for has been asked to comment on the future for housing and support services, particularly with the removal of Supporting People ring-fencing; and, in the light of our ageing population, the need for wider planning and thinking around the challenges facing housing, its wider reform and its future direction.

 

Full programme updates, breakout session details and booking form are on the website at www.joa.co.uk/shasc.html  The standard delegate fee is still frozen at last year’s price of £120. Some free places for service users are still available, thanks to Scottish Government grant aid. To book contact Norma Jones, SHASC Conference Co-ordinator, Tel: 0131 557 1954, Email shasc@joa.co.uk , Web: www.joa.co.uk/shasc.html

                                                                                                                                                                                        

Everything But The House

The Youth Homelessness Prevention Conference

This conference will take place on 13^th October 2010 at Easter Road Stadium (West Stand), Edinburgh, EH7 5QG. Taking a strongly practice-focused approach, this conference looks to help workers consider ways of joining up services and sharing practices and looks at ways of working with young people to prevent youth homelessness. Workshops are still to be confirmed but will include work in areas such as criminal justice; leaving home and housing education; through care and after care; mediation and peer education.

For more information see the Everything But The House website.

 

Pavilion Conference: Aiming high for drug and alcohol treatment

The conference will take place on Wednesday 13 October 2010 at ORT House Conference Centre, London NW1. This conference addresses where drug and alcohol treatment goes from here and aims to bring together professionals from across a broad spectrum of the voluntary and independent treatment sector, from the public sector and from government and relevant government agencies. For further information please see the Pavilion website.

                                                                                                                                          

SCSH National Homelessness Conference

 This is happening on the 4th and the 5th of November 2010 at the Apex International Hotel, Edinburgh. For more information, please see the Scottish Council For Single Homeless website.

  

Befriending Network Scotland                                              

Befriending Conference 2010 will be held on Tuesday, 9th November at St Paul’s and St George’s, Queen Street, Edinburgh. This year’s theme will be People of Influence and will explore ways that befrienders and clients are affected and influenced by their experience of befriending.
Confirmed speakers so far include: Professor Robbie Gilligan, Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at Trinity College Dublin and David Robinson OBE, who founded Community Links with Kevin Jenkins OBE in 1977 and also led the Government’s Council on Social Action between 2007 and 2009.  For further information on this and other Befriending Network updates, please see the Befriending Network Scotland website.

 

Resilience Through Life Seminar 3rd March, 2010

 A review of the event has now been uploaded to the site and is available for perusal. On this page, you will also find links to the Seminar Report, speakers' powerpoint presentations and a list of questions raised by delegates at the event.

Scottish Social Networks Forum was delighted with the day and the excellent feedback from delegates.

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 New Social Networks Training Days 

There are no training days currently planned; this page will be updated with any further days when they are planned.

The training has been developed by specialists in the social care field and will equip staff with analytical skills and practical methods to help clients:

·         Analyse their individual social networks

·         Strengthen and extend their informal social networks

·         Access further support if needed

Newsletters

  

 Click on August 2010 Newsletter for our most recent Newsletter, or go to the Archive to look at past editions

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