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Notes from Southend Homeless Action Network (SHAN) Meeting Held at SCF’s Plaza Centre on Tuesday 10th March 2020Attendees (32): Stanford Biti (CEO, CAST); Peter Courtenay (Southend Street Pastors); Boglarka Nemeth (SoS Borough Council [SBC]; Helen Rhodes (All Saints, 57 West and a Street Pastor); Tuula Pienkuukka (SoS Adult Community College [SACC]); Rebekah Drake (Eviction Prevention & Landlord Liaison, HARP); Del Thomas (Off the Streets [OtS]); Karen Fields (OtS & TEAM); Kirsty Fields (OtS & TEAM); Sian Hines (SBC); Georgina Beardon (NHS SoS CCG Mental Health Commissioner); Josh Halsey (CAST); Andrew Ward (Recovery College, Trust Links); Gareth Evans (Trust Links / Growing Together); Gemma Cartwright (SAVS); Cllr. Meg Davidson (Conservative, Prittlewell); Zoey Smith (One Love); Leah Darby (Aspirations & One Love); Marie Edmunds (Aspirations, One Love & The Link); Majzoub Ali; Colin Cooper (SCF’s Isaiah Project); Jackie Bliss (CEO, HARP); John Donohue (representing the Homeless Community); Clair Girvan (SBC/Hospital Social Worker); Dave Gardiner (Acting Insp., SoS Community Policing Team); Abigail Agba (New Interim Community Housing Manager, SBC); Paul Hill (Safeguarding Adults, SBC); Elsa Moore (Rough Sleeper Co-Ordinator, SBC); Simone Longley (EPUT, SoS Medical Centre); Rob Carvosso (The Storehouse); John Simmons (Co-Ordinator, SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters) [Notes]; and John Barber (Street Spirit) [Chair].Apologies (10): Chief Insp. Ian Hughes (District Commander, SoS Police); Jon Gurel (Community Safety Partnership, SBC); David Tarr (Teen Challenge); Eddie Edwards (Rotary Club); Cllr. Trevor Harp (Ind, St. Luke’s);Cllr. Keith Evans (Non-Aligned, Blenheim Park); Matt King (CEO, Trust Links); Maria Sookias; Trish North ([SACC); and Nina Alleyne (Deputy Co-Ordinator, SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters).N.B. Action Points are in bold underlined italics.PLEASE NOTE THAT MANY OF THE ACTIVITIES/EVENTS MENTIONED IN THESE MINUTES ARE LIKELY TO BE CANCELLED OR POSTPONED BECAUSE OF THE C-VIRUS1. Welcome and Introductions:John B. welcomed all to the meeting and reminded all present about the “Rules of Engagement” for these meetings:- We are SHAN; we are about Southend; the Homeless; and Action; and are a Network of concerned people working to move the homeless onto a better place.We don’t discuss individual cases at the meetings, although anonymous examples can be given to make a point.We don’t have a go at each other for perceived shortcomings.He then thanked SCF for their hospitality.Please send all additions and amendments to the Contact List to John B. (at: jjandm.barber@blueyonder.co.uk) asap.Everyone then briefly introduced themselves by name, organisation and role. 2. Minutes, Action Points and Matters Arising from our last meeting (14/01/20):Approval: The minutes of our last meeting (incorporating Jon Gurel’s amendments) were approved. Action Points: All covered by Agenda items.Matters Arising:- Rough Sleeper Leaflet: Please send any changes to John Barber; he will try to keep the on-line copy up to date. (The latest version is at: ).Soup Kitchens Leaflet: John B. is aware these change frequently; again, please send any changes to him, and he will try to keep the on-line version up to date. (The latest version is at: ).Red Cross:No-one present knew if Janine had contacted Rianne about the NRPF workshop.John S. had sent info. about the WNS guest with NRPF to Rianne (and Elif - SBC’s NRPF Navigator) and to Elliott (at HARP), but not to Janine. He will update it and re-send it to all of them asap.Rebekah (HARP) said that the Red Cross will be holding a Drop-In at the Bradbury Centre on 23rd March (along with help for migrants) and then every two weeks.John B. said that Derek Edwards (from the Citizen’s Advice) had recently circulated a very informative paper.Council Update:Fay asked that referrals to the Complex Needs Panel now be sent to her at fay.kricha@.uk.Elsa reported that the Rough Sleeper count was 22 in January; the March count will be done in the early hours of 26th March - volunteers to help are welcome and should contact Rianne asap (riannelowe@.uk). Elsa also reported that the new RSI money will fund 5 outreach workers.Jackie is still to write to John S. about the difficulties that annual funding causes HARP regarding recruiting/retaining staff.John B. reported that he had written to both local MPs.Peter reported that he had spoken to Elsa about the Street Pastors contacting the Outreach Workers.John S. said that Elsa and Rianne now had read-only access to the WNS reports and so could see who was self-referring to the WNSs.Elsa thought that Rianne was now seeing the Personal Support Plans drawn up by munity Safety:John D. reported that he had spoken with Jon Gurel and been given an assurance that all rough sleepers would be dealt with as individuals.John B. reported that he has also spoken to Jon Gurel and conversations were continuing.No-one present knew if Jon had been in contact with any of the Soup Kitchens.What can we do better?One Love, Off the Streets, HARP and the Community Safety Team met about giving out tents; the outcome was not reported.AOB:John B. reported that he and some others who were present had attended the Southend 2050 “Test, Learn and Collaborate” event at the Civic Centre on 29th January. He found it to be a very positive time.All the others are covered by Agenda items.3. The Corona Virus (Jackie Bliss):Jackie introduced this item by saying she was on the Advisory Council of Homeless Link (HL) that had met last week, and this was a major item on the agenda. As a result, HL had issued advice that she had sent to John B. who will circulate it asap.However, the general advice from PHE is not very suitable for the homeless community who are at a higher risk because of poor hygiene and/or underlying poor health, and who couldn’t easily self-isolate.HL have therefore asked the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to set up a special fund for those working with the homeless communities.HARP have already started to look at contingency planning across all their types of accommodation, including how they could set-up places for their service users to self-isolate.She had met with the new Director of Public Health, but they didn’t have all the answers.She has called a meeting of the “Corona Virus Emergency Planning Task Force on Thursday (14:00 at the Civic Centre); Elsa will issue an invite to anyone who wants to attend.John D. asked how information will be given to the homeless community. Jackie said this would be discussed on Thursday.Zoey reported that One Love had given out hygiene packs on Monday evening, and most of the recipients were not aware of the potential impact of the C-Virus.John B. thanked Jackie for raising awareness of this important subject.4. Council Update (Elsa Moore): Elsa reported that they had recently heard that further Rough Sleeper Initiative (RSI) funding has been granted for the next financial year. This means that the Navigators and outreach workers will be working at least until the end of March 2021. Several posts are about to be advertised: these will include a Mental Health Practitioner to work with the outreach workers and a Landlord Liaison Officer to work on tenancy sustainment.Elsa then introduced Abigail Agba who is the Interim Head of Community Housing (replacing Phill Warren). Abigail said that she has a passion to end rough sleeping in Southend by 2023. She is keen to improve tenancy sustainment and wants to allocate more resources to No First Night Out and No Second Night Out work in Southend.Stanford asked about the many people with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) who are not engaging with any agencies because they are here illegally (or have no status) and are therefore scared they might be deported. Elsa offered to meet with Stanford to discuss these cases.Paul Hill pointed out that we must be aware that these people are not known to the Council and don’t want to be known; it will therefore be difficult to help them.John B. thanked Elsa for her update.5. Police Update (Acting Insp. Dave Gardiner): Acting Insp. Dave Gardiner reported:-Ian Hughes has been promoted to Chief Inspector (and is therefore the District Commander).He is Acting Inspector of the Community Policing Team. However, he expects a permanent Inspector to be in post by our May meeting.Op Luscombe (Town Centre Team v Violence and Vulnerability) continues to work with support agencies to combat anti-social behaviour using Community Protection Warnings and Notices with a traffic light system (Green/Amber/Red). Both come with a mandatory referral to a multi-agency central hub with appointments at set times. Elsa sad that she is working with Sgt. James Mint in planning the multi-agency hub (possibly at the Job Centre) where support agencies and those with lived experience will be present to offer help and support.Zoey asked what work was being done about the beggars who are not homeless; she is aware that some have been fined by the CSOs and wondered if any research had been done into why they were begging. Del said that he was aware that the CSOs do try to help them (by e.g. signposting them to support services) rather than criminalising them. Dave said it was difficult for him to respond because the Police were between the beggars and the many complaints received about them as well as trying to help those helping them. John D. said that people must distinguish between the housed and the homeless.The last Partnership Day (Op Leigh on 16/01/20) went well with good participation by many partners and good feedback from the public.The next Partnership Day will be on 18/03/20. Op Southchurch will run from 10:00 - 14:00 and will be based at the small public car park next to the Tesco Express on Southchurch Road. Anyone wanting to join in should contact Jon Gurel asap (jongurel@.uk). John B. thanked Dave for his update.6.SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters (John Simmons):John S. presented his 12-week report (with these minutes) and updated it by saying, that over the first 12 weeks, the Shelters had been running at over 100% capacity; they had been full on 8 nights and over capacity on 47 nights. In the last 4 weeks, they had been over capacity on 25 of the 28 nights!They have seen just over 140 guests who have stayed at least one night. 15 have stayed for > 40 nights and 30 for only 1 night.Most are from the UK with about 20 from the EEA; not many of them are aware of the EUSS.45 were referred by HARP the first time they attended, but 80 self-referred; most of them had then gone to HARP and had been referred on subsequent nights.30 admitted to regularly using alcohol and 15 to regularly using drugs.The good news is that approx. 25 guests had been “housed”.The volunteers have now given ~9,000 hours of their time which would have cost ~?75,000 if paid at the Living Wage.Kirsty asked John to not allow Off the Streets (OtS) guests eat at the WNSs because they are fed at OtS.John B. thanked John for his update.7.Off the Streets (Del Thomas):Del reported that they have been very busy.They are now accepting referrals for those with NRPF and are working with Elif (SBC’s NRPF Navigator) to help them as much as possible. They have recently started holding a drop-in at the Job Centre (10:00 - 12:00 on Wednesdays). They have seen 2 or 3 different people each week (homeless and those at risk of homelessness). Their AGM will be on Saturday 4th April (10:00 - 12:00 at Westcliff Baptist Church) when they will be announcing a new project.John B. thanked Del for his update and mentioned that Del had written a book (“Sam the Snail”). Del explained that it is aimed at parents to help them talk to their children (younger than 9) about homelessness. He is giving free copies to local primary schools and the profits are going to OtS. 8.HARP Update (Jackie Bliss):Jackie reported that they are looking to acquire more properties and hoping that a grant will enable them to develop a 26-bed property. One of their Acorn Project properties is going to be redeveloped so it can be a Complex Needs Hostel.They will shortly be running a Mental Health First Aid course that will be open to all. She will send details to SAVS, but please e-mail her if you want to attend (jackie.bliss@.uk).They are advertising for a new mental health worker for their Transitions Project.They are partnering with a local housing association to provide a Housing First hostel from April (subject to licensing); it will have several one-bed flats and the residents will be given intensive support.They are setting up an “Expert Panel” comprising people with lived street experience and asking them to think about how to improve engagement with support services.John B. thanked Jackie for her update.9. Mental Health, Well-being and Recovery (Gareth Evans):Gareth introduced himself and his colleague Andrew Ward (the newly appointed manager of their Recovery College).Trustlinks have just published their new prospectus and will have a new timetable from April.The Well-being Hub is located at the Growing Together site on Fairfax Drive, Westcliff. It is open 7 days a week and there is a public drop-in from 1 - 4pm every day. Many support agencies are there.The Hub is the main route to the Recovery College which will signpost to services or offer 1-1 support.They are running small groups every day and are trying to do this via a locality model.They have just appointed a new outreach worker.Their Crisis Café (at Project 49, Alexandra Street) opened on 24th February and offers out-of-hours support from 6 - 11 pm. People can be referred or can self-refer. From 1st April, it will be open from 6pm - 1am and referrals will be able to be made on 111 option 2.Simone mentioned that he is going to the Well-Being Hub and the Sanctuary by Sea. Also, the new social prescribers are now in post and can signpost/send clients to support services. She also advertised the Mental Health Forum (at the Tickfield 14:00 - 16:00 on Thursday 12/03/10).Zoey commended the Crisis Café for helping one of their clients.John B. thanked Gareth for his update.10. The Southend WAVE Project (Marie Edmonds): Marie introduced this new project by saying that when she was sex-working some years back, there was no support or outreach to the “girls”.Because she wanted to help those working in Ambleside Drive, she contacted several support services (inc. the Storehouse) and Cllr. Helen McDonald.She then founded Southend Wave and ,because she had no funding or insurance, started by offering telephone support and information about housing, benefits and sexual health. Now, with the support of One Love and Aspirations, she carried out an outreach visit last Saturday night. They met two girls and were able to give them “goody” bags and signpost them to support services. She has produced cards and flyers that are available to other groups.Sian made Marie aware of the Friends of Southchurch Hall Gardens (SHIP); Marie will contact then asap.Based on the experience of Sam Vincett and others from the Vineyard who have been doing outreach to Ambleside Drive for about 10 years, Rob strongly recommended that Marie speak to her and the Community Policing Team before doing any more outreach. Dave Gardiner agreed because they are concerned about modern slavery and are aware that organised crime groups are involved.Marie said she would contact Sam and speak to Dave asap. John B. thanked Marie for her contribution.11. Mental Health (Simone Longley and Georgina Beardon): Simone reported that she is now working in two GP surgeries (Queensway and the Southend Medical Centre [SMC]).Dr. Siddiqui (SMC) is now holding a weekly Drop-In for rough sleepers and homeless people (14:00 - 16:00 on Tuesdays - except the first one in the month when the surgery is closed). He covers physical health and Simone covers mental health. This is for those registered at HARP and at the SMC; if they are not, then they will be registered at the SMC.Simone also said that if anyone hears of a rough sleeper having trouble registering at any GP surgery, please could they let her know.They would like to expand the Drop-In to other surgeries.Simone said that the health checks for guests at the WNS and at One Love had gone well; carrying on with them needs funding. Zoey said that just the one person that had been helped at One Love would justify them continuing. Georgina said that she had been in post for 6 months. She works in an integrated team (with colleagues from the Council and the NHS) that covers 5 CCGs in South and Mid Essex.It is the NHS strategy to increase access to homeless people to help them deal with mental health issues. They are currently carrying out a needs assessment. She said that Southend is better than most of the UK!Georgina said that senior management of the CCGs are aware that the voluntary sector can help (even more than they are currently doing) and are willing to provide training (e.g. Trauma Informed Care) to anyone who needs it.They are bidding for a dedicated psychologist (at consultant level) to head up a local “Trauma Alliance”. John B. thanked Simone and Georgina for their contributions.12. AoB: Helen advertised a Curry and Quiz night in aid of “The Place”: at All Saints on Saturday 4th April.Zoey and Marie advertised a Music and Comedy night in aid of Aspirations and One Love: at The Railway on Saturday 14th March.13. Close: John B. thanked everyone for attending and hoped they had enjoyed the meeting.15. The next SHAN Meetings will be on the second Tuesdays of May, July, September and November (i.e. 12/05/20; 14/07/20; 08/09/20; and 10/11/20). - All meetings are 11:00 - 13:00 at The Plaza Centre (600 Southchurch Road, SS1 2PT).N.B. Because of the C-Virus, these dates are now all subject to confirmation. ................
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