Post on 01-Jan-2016
Session 5. Case Studies of Effective Approaches (3)
Sustainability
- Andrew Church, Cambridge Housing Society
Creating the freedom for everyone to flourishwww.cambridgehs.org.uk
andrew.church@cambridgehs.org.uk
Sustainability
• ‘Here is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin. It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.’‘Winnie the Pooh’ by A. A Milne 1926
Sustainability
• ‘‘Sustainability is about responding to what different markets want, planning ahead, building infrastructure, increasing efficiency, as well as moving away from a reliance on a ‘begging bowl’ to a more entrepreneurial, trading approach”. – National Council of Voluntary Organisations
(NCVO), Sustainable Funding Project • http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/index.asp?id=2090• Planning, earning and fundraising
Our challenges• 2000 households
• 35% are families with children
• 36% are adults aged under 60 and with no children
• 48% households include at least one person who has a long term illness or disability
• Almost half on incomes below £200 p.w.
• Almost half in receipt of Housing Benefit
• Rural area – 4000 m2
• Low skills, low aspirations
• Difficulty of engaging some customers
Tackling worklessness – where does it fit in?
• We should be improving peoples life chances
• Community Investment Strategy aims to provide people with a secure home life and opportunities for personal development – Providing people with opportunities to
realise their potential– Build people’s financial security to
support daily living and the ability to plan for the future
Personal empowerment
Stimulate demand
Discuss aspirations and previous experiences
Identify destination and
options for getting there
Get there – with appropriate support
always on hand
Customise package and refer to appropriate provider(s)
Our approach
• Ear to the ground: understanding needs and aspirations of customers
• Different roles depending on the issue and the solution:– direct service provider– advocate/broker– partner and capacity builder
As a direct deliverer of services Digital inclusion
o 100+ laptop computers, outreach tutors Skills Coaching
o Information, advice, guidance; mentoring Financial capability
o Income maximisation, debt advice, hand holding
o Money mentorso Personal Finance Coach for Young People
As a advocate we’ve brokered new servicesSkills for Life
1:1 home tuition provided by fe college
We recruit customers, skills and risk assessment
Access to low cost loans Base rate + 0.95% through local
building society
As partner and capacity builderVehicle for capacity building
within VCS sector Guidance, Employment, Training
(GET) GroupVehicle for winning larger
contractsCambridgeshire Voluntary and
Community Sector Learning Consoritum
Outcomes
• More confident about achieving their aspirations
• More likely to want to:
• own a pc and use the internet
• study or work from home
• More in control of their finances
Contact details
40%
82%
51%
33%
73%
49%
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
the course hasimproved
chances ofgetting a job
it increasedconfidence
it helped torealise theyhad lots of
skills
it helped tothink about
training
it improvedtheir IT skills
it made themmore
ambitious
Contact detailsWhat are you doing now?
3
2
3
1
3
0 1 2 3 4
started part time work
started full time work
started a course at College
doing voluntary work
entered full-time education
continuing with existing course
unemployed
Contact details57%
27%
7% 7%
0%
43%
60%
37%
20%
13%
23%20%
17%20%
60%
40%
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70%
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Sustainable Funding
Organisational commitment via subsidy for community investment business stream: £75k p.a. External funding: Learning and Skills Council, ESF, Local and Regional Government, Trusts and Foundations, Private sponsorship, Department for Work and Pensions: £150k p.a.
Planning, fundraising, earningPlanning
Management Information System Contributions to Local Area Agreement Capacity building within team
Fundraising Building relationships with key
stakeholdersInvestigate private sector sponsorship
Earning Cross-subsidies from ‘Train to Gain’Charging for some markets
What we’ve learned Being clear about what we’re setting out to do –
where we are going Providing a consistent offer to customers Importance of smoothing peaks and troughs of external funding by subsidising the business stream Developing attractive products and services to engage customers The most effective and popular services are often developed by listening to front-line employees Building relationships with like-minded organisations for referrals, customer progression routes and funding Promoting services in a variety of waysBeing strategy led, rather than project led