Rosie Phillips DHI Chief Executive
FOREWORD WRITTEN BY ROSIE PHILLIPS DHI’s founder and Chief Executive How do we achieve our vision to end social exclusion by ensuring that everyone has their basic needs met and is able to thrive by contributing to the richness and wellbeing of their community? That was the question we put to people this year, to mark DHI’s 20th anniversary. I’ve had the great pleasure, while writing this foreword, of reading all the articles contained in this book again, and I am grateful to all the people who have written them; for sharing their wisdom and experience with us, our supporters and the public. If social exclusion is defined as exclusion from the prevailing social system, its rights and privileges, Viv Evans from Adfam wrote movingly about the social exclusion families experience through the stigmatising effect attitudes in society have on people affected by someone else’s substance misuse, and the devastating effect of stress in everyday situations. That this is still taboo is something we must strive to change. When considering the issue of meeting people’s basic needs, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that many people in Britain today live in poverty. Emma Kernahan offers a vision where we have a generous redistributive social security system, one based on respect and trust, not one underpinned by the Poor Laws of 1601. While on the third anniversary of the EU referendum, Jeff Mitchell from Clean Slate Ltd. also considered social security, work, and how he believes inequality was a major factor in the vote to leave. Another impact of inequality, according to Ian Walmsley, are higher crime rates. His article explores how our criminal justice system can be reformed since it currently causes and entrenches social exclusion. Social, as well as economic inequality, were written about by One25’s Sarah Talbot-Williams in her article about sex work for International Women’s Day and by Stonewall’s Josh Bradlow, whose article for Pride Month showed how far we still are from LGBT people being treated equally by society. Apart from money, the other basic need that people really emphasised was housing. Jon Sparkes from Crisis laid out their ambitious plan to end homelessness; Stephen Robertson from <strong>The</strong> Big Issue Foundation articulated their ethos of giving people a hand up and helping them think about the future; and Nick Ballard of Acorn wrote practically about the changes that need to take place in the private rented sector to make it a more accessible and stable option. At the other end of the spectrum though, Jacob Rees- Mogg warned about the ‘balance shifting too far’ in terms of regulations and the possibility of landlords being put off letting their properties, but also stressed the desperate need for more homes to be built. Kevan Forde from Anchor-Hanover also considered the issue of housing, but with a particular focus on housing people in later life, the challenges they face around isolation and loneliness, and the need to co-produce solutions. At the other end of the age spectrum, Sandy Hore-Ruthven from Creative Youth Network drew attention to the need to build relationships with young people and move away from the quickfix results driven culture we are in. Children who start school without the literacy, language and communication skills they need to learn and flourish will have their futures cut short before they’ve even started, argued Jonathan Douglas, Chief Executive of the National Literacy Trust, while Phil Harris wrote a fascinating article about the widening opportunity gap for young people and how treatment services must get better at reflecting underlying social functioning levels curtailed through drug use. Others writing about drugs focused on reducing the harm done to the individual and society by them. Danny Kushlick from Transform made a case for the legal regulation of drugs as one route to ending social exclusion, while Nick Wilson from Exchange Supplies sent out a call for people to become harm reduction activists again at a time when drug-related deaths are at a record high. John Tizard also made a plea for people to become activists in his article encouraging the voluntary sector to raise their heads above the parapet and more openly discuss the causes of social exclusion, not just dealing with the symptoms. DHI’s own Jody Clark wrote about preventing people from dying as a result of using drugs, including a more holistic view of public sector spending. Amanda Deeks made a similar argument, advocating for early intervention as well as the need for councils and the NHS to invest in infrastructure and consider their shared commissioning strategies. Funding silos remain as much a problem today as 20 years ago. Finally, as Marvin Rees says in his article, ‘the mantra of inclusion is easy to preach and hard to practice’. However, whether it’s by tackling poverty through ensuring adequate supply of affordable housing, ensuring real opportunities for our most disadvantaged young people through a focus on literacy, or through overcoming stigma and discrimination, we can ill-afford to do nothing. We very much hope this collection of articles will help stimulate debate, but more importantly create real change for the better. Thank you. DEVELOPING HEALTH & INDEPENDENCE 7