HydePlus Winter 2012 - Hyde Housing Association

Hyde
News from
Plus
Autumn/Winter 2012
working with
communities
and residents to
make a lasting
difference

2
Welcome
Welcome to the latest newsletter from
Hyde Plus – Hyde’s dedicated Social
Investment team. Since the launch of
Hyde Plus, 15 years ago, times have
changed and challenges have increased.
But Hyde remains 100% committed
to improving the lives of residents and
has increased its investment in Hyde
Plus activities. Innovation, partnershipworking,
and responding to change are
at the heart of everything we do, and our
menu of services and projects clearly
respond to current and future challenges.
l Our in-house Debt and Money
Advisors provide advice to residents
experiencing financial challenges
l Our Employment and Training
Advisors help people increase their
skills and confidence to find work
l Our Neighbourhoods teams work
closely with residents and local
groups to improve the places they
live
l Through the Hyde Charitable Trust
we provide a range of grants and
bursaries for both individuals and
groups. These help residents pursue
their vocational goals, deliver
community projects, or develop
their business ideas
l And in recognition of the
increasingly difficult funding
environment for voluntary sector
partners, we have set up a capacity
building programme to give them
the boost they need to survive and
thrive.
We hope this newsletter will give you a
taste of the fantastic range of work that
we do. And we are always looking for
new opportunities and new partners. So
please do get in
touch.
Sarah Thurman
Director,
Hyde Plus
On the
cover...
Our Hyde Youth Bank who
have been nominated as a
finalist for the Great Giving
Funders Award in the
Social Change Awards. The
Hyde Youth Bank was set
up to empower our young
residents to decide how
and where money should
be spent in their local
communities.
Contents
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4
7
8
Employment and
Enterprise
How we help people into work
Social Investment
The value of working together
Financial Inclusion
Preparing for Welfare Reforms
Performance and
Contacts
Where we are, what we’re doing
Contact us
0800 0304424
hydeplus@hyde-housing.co.uk
@HydeHousing
Copies are available in other formats

Employment and Enterprise
How we help people into work
Pablo’s story
Pablo had been out
of work for a year
when he read about
a Hyde Plus scheme
aimed at helping
people back into
employment.
Following sessions
with our advisor to
focus on his CV and
interview skills, Pablo
secured a temporary
position with Marks
and Spencer at its
flagship MarbleArch
store.
Three months later he
successfully applied
for an internal vacancy
after impressing with
his hard work and
commitment.
The extra money has
made a big difference
to Pablo’s family life,
and being in work
again has helped
restore his selfconfidence.
Going places
After four years unemployed, mumof-three
Maureen has landed her
dream job in the travel industry.
Maureen’s journey began when she
made an appointment with a Hyde
Plus advisor. Our advisor helped
Maureen tailor her CV and bring out
her strengths. Together they identified
two travel vacancies and applied for
the roles.
“The training sessions were really useful.
I’d started to feel depressed, so it was good
to do something positive.”
Maureen was thrilled to be offered
interviews for both. The advisor then
helped Maureen prepare by conducting
a mock interview.
She was offered both jobs, accepted
the one she wanted most and is now
happily employed.
We’ve helped 262
residents into
work and training
in the last year.
Helping
other
housing
association
residents
We’re sharing our
expertise with small
housing associations
in London by
helping them set up
employment services
for their residents.
The 12-month project
enables member
associations to pool
knowledge and receive
access to a wider
range of specialist skills
than they could afford
individually.
We expect around 40%
of members’ residents
using the service will find
employment.
Our partner is the South
London Federation
of Small Housing
Associations (SOLFED).
The project is funded
with help from the
South East London
Housing Association
Group (SELHAG) and the
Department of Work and
Pensions.
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Social Investment
The value of working together
Breaking
barriers
Beatz Break Barriers is an exciting urban project
that helps young people complete a nationallyrecognised
arts award that gives them UCAS points.
Working with Chichester University Students’ Union,
Hyde has brought together student volunteers and
young residents to learn dance, music production and
filmmaking.
In the last two years Beatz Break Barriers has put on
four well-attended shows. It’s young members also
successfully submitted a bid to the Hyde Youth Bank,
an award-winning project that offers young people grant
funding of up to £500.
The Beatz team made a winning case to purchase
hoodies to give the group a stand-out look and promote
their work, as well as encouraging others to join.
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We raised more than £700,000
during 2011-12 to support social
investment initiatives.
Friend on the phone
Older residents across Hyde will soon benefit
from a free telephone-based befriending service.
Run in partnership with Community Network and
Age UK, the service has been set up to address high
levels of isolation and loneliness often experienced
by older people.
Residents will learn to run weekly one-hour
discussions with other residents across Hyde.
They will also receive information about other Hyde
support services for older people.
The service follows a successful four-month pilot
project run with over 50s on the Ringcross Estate in
Islington.

Gardening get-together
A new project supports older and vulnerable
residents on the Progress Estate in Eltham who
are unable to manage their gardens.
One lone volunteer originally maintained 22 of the
residents’ gardens. We worked work with residents
and the Volunteer Centre Greenwich to find more
volunteers and provide training. We now have more
volunteers to help more homes.
It’s also a very social project, with many volunteers
and residents becoming friends, strengthening
community ties.
Working together
Our pioneering Packington Familes
Project (PFP) in Islington shows the
value of getting public agencies
working together.
Now in its fourth year, PFP brings
together 17 public agencies, including
schools and health visitors, to help
improve parenting skills.
The project’s ‘no wrong door’ approach
means no matter which agency
a family speak with first,they are
guaranteed to be able to access all the
services they need.
An early intervention ethos focuses on
parents’ employability and becoming
role models at home.
Islington Council has now adopted the
PFP model borough-wide for its work
with vulnerable families.
IT sessions in Kent
After seeing a Hyde Plus flyer about IT sessions in
Kent, Mick decided to attend.
He was particularly interested in using Skype to speak to
relatives. Mick had hardly used a computer before; as a
bus driver he used the newly-installed computers shortly
before retiring, but admits: “Things have moved on a lot
since then.”
At Mick’s first session tutors showed participants how to
use Skype. Mick was impressed by how simple it was,
and he said that next week he would see if he could use
it to speak to his son in France. This session coincided
with a visit from BBC South East Today. A Skype call
between Mick and his son was filmed and shown on TV
as part of the BBC’s Give an Hour campaign.
“Coming here has opened up my everyday
life. It’s great that I can keep in touch with
my family.”
AWARD
WINNING
PROJECT
Contact us 0800 0304424 hydeplus@hyde-housing.co.uk @HydeHousing
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Social Investment
The value of working together
Hyde and
Pepys
When Hyde took over
Foreshore in Deptford,
the Pepys Resource
Centre was empty and
unused...
We approached Eco
Computer Systems (ECS),
a social enterprise that
recycles unwanted IT
equipment, to manage the
centre as a community
resource in return for
business premises.
Blooming Stockwell, with its
urban flower meadows next to
Hyde-owned flats, showcases
what can be achieved through
a radical review of grounds
maintenance contracts.
This partnership now
delivers a range of
community services, from
exercise clubs for older
people to IT training, job
support and homework
clubs. There’s also the
chance to chill out in the
volunteer-run cafe. Former
Housing Minister Grant
Shapps recently praised
Hyde and ECS for this
work.
Blooming good show!
Many residents have an interest in
gardening, yet not all have a garden
to call their own. That’s where Blooming Stockwell
comes in – the project gives residents the chance to
exercise their green fingers in communal areas.
Residents work alongside grounds contractors who take
care of grass and hedge cutting while residents bring an
added splash of colour to their estates.
We have appointed a resident as coordinator of
Blooming Stockwell, and she has given training and
supervision to other resident volunteers, helping
develop their skills and their knowledge of planting and
sustainability.
We are now working with residents to identify other
suitable areas on the estates to introduce green roofs
and fruit growing.
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AWARD
WINNING
PROJECT
The last year in numbers:
l 500 used Hyde computers donated
l 1000 PCs diverted from landfill
l 9961 volunteering hours given
l 4762 visits to the centre
l 580 older people’s exercise classes
Bringing young people
together
In a move to help break down the recent
trend of ‘postcode conflict’, Hyde was recently
awarded £10,000 from Lambeth Council to run
a summer programme for local young people
The programme ran successfully across our
estates and four others, making sure we reached
as many young people as possible. Activities
included a trip to Snow Camp in Milton Keynes.
In recent years, some of our young residents
visiting Snow Camp have even gone on to train
as ski instructors.

Financial Inclusion
Preparing for Welfare Reforms
Better off now
Mrs Khan* found it hard
to manage on her limited
income.
Disabled, housebound and
responsible for her disabled
adult son, Mrs Khan, who’s
in her 50s, struggled to cover
essential outgoings. Mrs
Khan’s Income Officer referred
her to us after seeing she had
rent arrears and a number
of debts. We found that Mrs
Khan and her son were underclaiming
benefits.
We helped both claim Income
Support, Housing and Council
Tax Benefit and Disability
Living Allowance, increasing
their weekly household
income by over £200. We
helped arrange repayment
plans on her utility arrears, and
we made her utility companies
aware of her vulnerability.
We also discovered that Mrs
Khan was the victim of an
illegal moneylender who called
at her home every month
demanding a payment on a
loan with an interest rate of
over 9,450%. She agreed for
us to contact Birmingham
Trading Standards, who are
running a nationwide scheme
to stop illegal money lending.
The illegal moneylender is
now awaiting trial and Mrs
Khan is £160 better off per
month as a result.
Mrs Khan has opened a
Credit Union account and now
saves regularly towards the
cost of future expenses and
emergencies.
* name changed to protect identity
In the past year, we have brought £1,927,985 in
financial gains to 1692 residents using our service.
Action for tough times
The Welfare Reforms
provide a significant
challenge for our
residents and us.
We are actively involved in
a number of national and
regional groups exploring
ways to mitigate those
risks. We are tailoring
services to identify
residents likely to be
affected by the reforms, including Universal Credit, before the changes are
made.
Amid reports of in-work poverty, we have recruited a specialist advisor to
target households most at risk. We have also set up a discretionary fund for
residents facing crisis situations who are unable to access Food Banks.
We are also part of an innovative pilot initiative led by Toynbee Hall to produce
a national benchmarking tool to measure the impact of financial intervention
on service users.
£1 million to improve financial
confidence of young people
We have been awarded £999,493 share of Big Lottery funding to deliver
The Money House project in Greenwich over the next 4 years.
Working closely with the Royal Borough of Greenwich, Meridian Money
Advice, Greenwich CAB, Thames Gateway YMCA and MyBnk, the project
aims to improve the financial confidence of young people.
The project particularly identifies young people leaving care or supported
housing as needing support before they have built up debts. A host of
other partners including support organisations and housing associations in
the borough will link in with the project by making referrals into the Money
House.
The Money House is a ‘Big Brother’ style flat providing interactive learning
experiences for young tenants to simulate ‘living at home’. Young people will
improve budgeting skills, learn to negotiate bureaucracy, choose good value
financial products and learn to cope with money set-backs. The project is
going live in early 2013.
Contact us 0800 0304424 hydeplus@hyde-housing.co.uk @HydeHousing 7

Key Performance Indicators
Achievements and contacts
April to September 2012
Employment and Enterprise Number
Residents receiving employment
support
446
Residents into work placements 18
Residents into training 147
Residents into jobs 95
Employment/enterprise bursaries
awarded
Financial Inclusion (FI) Number
Residents receiving FI advice and
information
Residents receiving intensive FI
support
Financial gains to residents as result of
FI advice and support
Financial gains for the business as
result of FI advice and support
39
397
675
£1,044,046
£674,336
Social Investment Number
Hyde Young Pride bursaries awarded 148
Resident attendances at community
activities
19,577
Attendances at community facilities 34,682
People volunteering on community
projects (as result of our work)
166
Volunteer Hours 7,889
External Funding
Resources brought in by Hyde Plus to
deliver projects and services
£200,294
Contacts
Yvonne Pick
Employment and Enterprise
Manager
020 8297 7666
yvonne.pick@hyde-housing.co.uk
Helen Redd
Hyde Plus Regional Manager –
South
020 8835 3512
helen.redd@hyde-housing.co.uk
Tom Gardiner
Hyde Plus Regional Manager –
East
020 8297 7576
tom.gardiner@hyde-housing.co.uk
Jahanara Hussain
Financial Inclusion Programme
Manager
020 8297 7587
jahanara.hussain@hyde-housing.co.uk
Diana Fitzwilliam
Hyde Plus Regional Manager –
London
0208297 7508
diana.fitzwilliam@hyde-housing.co.uk
Maggie Houghton
Hyde Plus Fundraising & Partnership
Manager
01273 234286 (Ext. 4286)
maggie.houghton@hyde-housing.co.uk
8 Contact us 0800 0304424 hydeplus@hyde-housing.co.uk @HydeHousing