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SHAN Tuesday 14th July 2020 11:00 - 13:00 (via ZOOM)[Info. from the ChatBox is shown like this]Attendees: [I hope that I recorded everyone. My apologies if I didn’t notice you - it was difficult to keep track of who was joining and leaving the meeting!]John Barber [Chair of SHAN]John Simmons - Co-Ordinator, SoS Churches Winter Night Shelters (SCWNS) [Notes]Gemma Cartwright - SAVS [Host]Nina Stewart (nee Alleyne) - Deputy Co-Ordinator, SCWNSGary Turner - HARPMarie Edmonds - Aspirations ProgrammeZoey Smith - One LoveAbi Ogunyemi - Interim Head of Housing Solutions, SoS Borough Council (SBC)Abigail Agba - Interim Head of Housing & Social Inclusion, SBCGreg Headley - Homeless LinkTuula Pienkuukka - SoS Adult Community CollegePeter Courtenay - SoS Street PastorsJoe Coules - Frontline NetworkTania Miller - PeabodyCllr Keith Evans - Indep. Blenheim ParkDaniel Cauchi – SVPDavid Gardiner – Essex PoliceKirsty Fields – OtSMajzoub AliJo Tyler Lynne Channell - ?One LoveKelly Clarke - SBCDean Sexton - CGLRob Carvosso - StorehouseGeorgina Beadon - SBC, Public HealthFay Kricha - PeabodyApologies:Del Thomas (Off the Streets)Elsa Moore - Rough Sleeper Co-Ordinator, SBCCatherine Weir - South and Central Essex MIND1) Welcome:John B. welcomed all to the meeting and went through the agenda reminding us of the protocols to be followed. He asked that the ChatBox facility be used freely.He said that he was not going to go through the minutes of the previous meeting now; they had been sent with the e-mail about this meeting and were now available on the SHAN page of his website (at: ). He reminded all the VCS Groups that they need to return the information gathering form back to Abi asap. 2) Workshop, etc. (John Simmons and Gemma Cartwright): a) WorkshopJohn reported that the Joint Workshop about Partnership Working had been arranged for Tuesday 21st July (13:00 - 16:30). Some will be aware of this because they were sent a “Please save the date and time” e-mail, but formal invitations will be sent by the end of tomorrow.The aim is “To establish a commitment to Partnership Working between the SBC and VCS (homelessness sector), and to formulate ideas and projects that will enable this to happen effectively and asap.”The workshop will include 4 Break-Out Groups covering:-Partnership Working;Information Sharing;Pathways (?into and) out of Homelessness in Southend; andFuture Provision.To save time on the day, attendees will be pre-allocated into these groups, but invitees will have an opportunity to choose which one they would like to join.Gemma added that, although invitations will be targeted, we don’t want to exclude anyone. If people want to attend, please e-mail John asap (at shelters@). b) Local Funding OpportunitiesGemma mentioned:-For groups with an annual income of less than ?25,000, there is a Dragon’s Den event on 29/07/20 (PM) where groups will be able to present a proposal bidding for up to ?300.Training will be available in the AM.The Southend Emergency Fund is open for bids for up to ?2,000. If you need help to write your bid, SAVS have some funds to allow Gemma to do that with you.Please contact Gemma for more details (at gcartwright@savs-southend.co.uk). 3) Off the Streets [OtS] Update (Kirsty Field):Kirsty reported that OtS have been told they won’t be able to re-open a shelter in their current premises.So, they are hoping to buy a building with en-suite rooms for 7 - 10 guests.Looking to accommodate other services on site and happy to collaborate with other VCS groups to avoid duplication of effort. May also have a music and arts studio.They have found such a building but are not willing to share location for now. They have been offered a mortgage and are crowdfunding for the deposit.Nina asked if OtS would use joint resources with other agencies to buy the building. Kirsty replied that they would want to own the building but would be happy to give space to other groups.Lynne asked if dogs would be allowed, like at HARP? Kirsty replied, “Possibly, but only outside because of staff with known allergies.”[- From Lynne Channell to Daniel: “You helped someone for me who got moved to London with their dog and it’s only recently I realised that SVP is all over the country. You really helped me to help those affected as their dogs are very important for their mental health. Love working with you. Just wanted to say thank you.”]4) St. Vincent de Paul [SvP] Update (Daniel Cauchi): Daniel said that SvP (Westcliff) were also looking for a building. They wanted to set up a “Community Hub” so they could help vulnerable people and meet the needs of the local community by collaborating with other groups, some of whom have already contacted them. If possible, they would like it to have some bedrooms that could be used to accommodate people they “find” out of hours and that the Council can’t help immediately. It would be short-term until they can be helped by SBC or housed by SvP. They would also like some rooms/offices that could be used by other local agencies / voluntary groups.SvP and Caritas have employed someone to link up all their services across several neighbouring local authorities.Daniel complained that StreetLink was too slow and the Mental Health services usually responded too slowly. We need a quicker reaction to helping people (especially “out-of-hours”). Some direction from SBC would be helpful as would support to help them find a suitable building.Daniel said that SvP have helped people into temporary and permanent accommodation.They are also collaborating with other soup kitchens; several meetings have been held recently. [- From Kelly Clarke: Daniel; any idea where this Community Hub will be please? And what is the hub to provide?- From Nina Alleyne: It’s great that Off The Streets have a building, but it would be brilliant if all the charities can come together for the common cause including OtS, SVP and SCWNS. Kirsty, you've advised you’re happy to collaborate so would it be possible to view your model for the project to see if it would suit the potential Community Hub also. Please e-mail me in this regard at deputyshelters@.- Daniel’s contact details: Mobile: 07930 287471 | e-mail: presidenta031106@.uk | Website: ] 5) Police Update (Dave Gardiner [david.gardiner@essex.police.uk]):Dave reported on recent activities with respect to homeless people and rough sleepers:-There has been a slow increase in calls to well-known locations where homeless people gather and drink (e.g. Tyler’s Avenue Car Park at the top of York Road) with anti-social behaviour having to be dealt with.The B&Bs were generally quiet but there has been a slight recent increase in calls from residents about “domestics” spilling out onto the streets.There has also been a slight increase in calls to some of the South Essex Homes hostels.Overall, since lockdown has been relaxed, the demand for their services has gone back to almost what it was before. Fortunately, staff sickness has not been an issue.Dave said that they are still available to support any agencies with their work (e.g. OtS’s building).Daniel asked what had happened to the mental health triage police car. Dave replied that the service couldn’t operate from the cars (because of social distancing), but the service had been provided by phone. It will come back to the cars asap.6) CAST Update (Stanford Biti / Washington Ali): Neither Stanford nor Washington were present.7) Aspirations Update (Marie Edmonds [marie@aspirationsprogram.co.uk]):Marie reported that:-She had got enough funding to be able to rent a property for at least 12 months, so she is looking for a house in the Southchurch area.The girls on Ambleside Drive are now engaging with her. She has a meeting with Nelson’s Trust on Thursday (16/07/20) to discuss having a drop-in for them.Thanks to pressure from SBC, she is now working with STARS/CGL to help rough sleepers with substance abuse.She is starting a family support group for family members of addicts; the first meeting of the new team is on Saturday (18/07/20).She is applying for more funds and is open to co-production and partnership.Daniel thanked Marie for her help in understanding how families of addicts are affected.8) HARP Update (Gary Turner):Gary summarised what had happened at HARP since lockdown began to be relaxed:-All the residents in the Bradbury Centre Hostel [Heath House] (18) and in White Heather House (20) continue to be supported, although some are still struggling with the rules.The Day Centre is now open but with an appointments system. They are now looking at how they could manage to deal with 50 people per day alongside bringing in other support agencies and running groups. He asked for our patience as they do this work.An average of 118 breakfasts per day were made for the B&B guests (and distributed twice a week) in June. However, this number is now down to 77 per day.Support continued to be provided to all their other residents by phone, on-line (new TALK on-line chat service) and face-to-face (with PPE, etc.) Wi-Fi has now been installed in all their properties and, where necessary, mobiles, tablets and laptops have been provided to enable residents to contact families and friends and do on-line forms and training.The Outreach team carried on working and are now covering most of the week (7 days). They link up with the Peabody Outreach team to cover Streetlink referrals. They have identified a new 9 bed property for those with substance misuse and are working with partners to obtain funding to run it as a Housing First model.There are some new vacancy adverts on their website.[From Greg Headley (greg.headley@.uk): We are offering free job listings on our website; see: .]Cllr. Keith Evans mentioned that Admiral Insurance had donated 100 mobile phones somewhere up north. He suggested asking them for a similar donation and/or mentioning this to other insurance companies! 9) Storehouse Update (Rob Carvosso):Rob reported that:-The café remains closed and will be for the foreseeable future.They are still providing about 500 food parcels per week.They have seen an increase in the number of families and homeless people; in particular, a 30% increase in referrals to them.The Outreach to the sex-workers has restarted.Although they are no longer providing packed lunches to most of the B&B guests, they are providing them for those with NRPF (and also some food parcels for them).[From Kelly Clarke: Great work Storehouse. Thank you for all your support over the last 4 months; really appreciated!]10) One Love Update (Zoey Smith - via the ChatBox):[I'll leave a quick update here: We are having around 60 visitors to the soup kitchen in the evenings now. Our guest relations and outreach teams are currently quite busy supporting people with their move-ons from the B&Bs to accommodation and mediating between Housing Solutions and the guests.] 11) Public Health Update (Georgina Beadon):Georgina reported that their main recent piece of work has been getting the 5 Clinical Commissioning Groups together to work out how they are going to support Primary Care and Community Health across the larger area.It is recognised that there is a need for investment so they can move to a more adaptive approach to supporting local health needs.12) Frontline Network (Joe Coules):Joe mentioned that the Frontline Network are holding an event for staff and volunteers in Southend. The focus will be on staff wellbeing and resilience. It’s on Thursday (16/07/20) from 14:00 - 16:00.Sign up here: .13) Southend Healthwatch (Jean Broadbent):Jean reported that:-They were now starting to re-engage with people but not face-to-face.They are working with Thurrock Healthwatch and Essex Healthwatch especially regarding CV19 and the hospital mergers.They are trying to avoid surveys!They are championing vulnerable people so would like to hear about any issues with service users e.g. with hospital visits.14) Homeless Link Update (Greg Headley):Greg mentioned:-That the new Homeless Link grant fund is now open with ?5.5m available; see: .Expert Link are running more webinars about Co-Production; see: .The On-Line Rough Sleeper Conference went very well last week.[From John Simmons: It was very good; all the sessions I “attended” were excellent!]15) Council Update (Abigail Agba):Abigail said that:-The Council were very grateful for all the help given to “Get Everyone In” and then support the guests in the B&Bs. Many of them said it was a good experience, but a few had struggled.They are making good progress with moving them on to accommodation in the PRS, in supported housing of different types and in Council housing. Some have refused offers but are still being supported. There were approx. 140 in B&Bs at one point, but this is now down to approx. 70.They are very grateful to the B&Bs who, unlike in some areas, are still working with them.They are now working with Peabody to support those who have been moved-on and others who are at risk. They are asking landlords to speak to them first if there is any prospect of evictions happening.(Abi added that he had met with local landlords to discuss incentives and procedures that are now in place for when courts resume dealing with evictions.) With MHCLG help, they are increasing the council housing stock. But this is a slow process, so these units probably won’t be available this year.Abigail is now also responsible for the local CV19 Test and Trace team which is working closely with Essex County Council. SBC will be sharing any info. about local outbreaks with SAVS.[From Gemma Cartwright: You can also contact me at SAVS if there are any track and trace issues to feed into SAVS.From Kelly Clarke: For reporting for TTCE you can contact the council on 01702 215000.]Questions:Cllr. Keith Evans asked if Abigail and Abi had investigated the opportunity he had forwarded to them about a charity having up to ?12m available to build houses; they just need the land. Abi offered to speak with Keith outside the meeting. Keith said that more than one group needs to be involved.[From Greg Headley: It’s probably .From Cllr Keith Evans: Thanks, but it’s moved on from this. My number is 01702 534260.From John Simmons: Green Pastures also have ?12m available!From Nina Stewart: Cllr Evans, are charities able to apply for the funding you mentioned individually?]Lynne Channell asked if face-to-face appointments were now available at the Council.Abigail replied not yet. Kelly confirmed that there are no plans to open the Civic Centre to the public.[From Lynne Channel: My e-mail is channelllynne@.From Gemma Cartwright: Citizen's Advice is open for face-to-face consultations.From Kelly Clarke: The Community Hub in The Victoria is open.From Gemma Cartwright: Thanks Kelly - the Shoebury Hub is also open.From Tania Miller: Peabody are not doing face-to-face or hubs just yet, but we still provide phone support on 01702 445870.] John Barber (wearing his Chair of Street Spirit hat) said that the soup kitchens are now running again and asked how the Council think they fit into the big picture.Abigail said that with CV19 still out there, they are taking a risk. She doesn’t have authority to say yes or no, but SBC can’t endorse them. However, there are concerns for neighbouring residents and businesses and about food hygiene. She thought it would be better if they all worked together under one umbrella, maybe offering take-aways from one building.[From Nina Stewart: I agree Abigail; they all need to come together to achieve the main objective.From Kelly Clarke: I agree with Abigail. So much good will but we need to ensure it's directed to the right places and community groups come together From Gemma Cartwright: If groups would like to work together which I think would be positive. Please let's get together after the workshop next week and explore things.From Kelly Clarke: Great idea Gemma!Greg wondered if any research had been done as to why people came to the soup kitchens; he recalled some was done in Brighton when he worked there.John B. recounted the history of when and why Street Spirit started. Although a few Councillors ad Council officers had visited, he felt that there was a lot of ignorance and some false news about what soup kitchens did. He reported that the soup kitchens are talking and, partly because of the lockdown, relationships are now better than before.[From Kelly Clarke: Greg, can you share the study from Brighton? Perception versus facts...From Gemma Cartwright: I agree, it’s very important to understand why they come to the soup kitchens.From Rob Carvosso: Do other regions have similar reports?From Kelly Clarke: I can ask our Policy Team at SBC to do some research for us.From Nina Stewart: I feel a meeting with all the volunteer groups is the best way forward.From Gemma Cartwright: Kelly, let's do this research together - coproduce / design from the beginning.From Kelly Clarke: Of course, Gemma. Main reasons are probably pastoral care given and a listening ear.From Georgina Beadon: Greg, was that part of the Galvanise work? If so, could we contact someone from that group to share it maybe?From Greg Headley: @Georgina: No, this was something I did as part of my role for The Passage. Thinking about it I could try and locate it via B&H City Council. I will drop them an e-mail.From Greg Headley: Maybe a code of good practice for soup kitchens and a partnership working agreement. From Kelly Clarke: This was something we looked at a few years ago Greg....From Greg Headley: See .]John Barber (still wearing his Chair of Street Spirit hat) asked about if food was still being provided to the B&B guests. Abigail replied that they are trying to help them be more independent so are only providing breakfasts to all. However, they are supplying lunches and evening meals to those with NRPF, those who are vulnerable and those with no benefits. She had now realised that Southend is special with many resources available. But these need to be channelled for the best of all rough sleepers, etc. This fits well with the Pride and Joy aspect of SoS 2050.Abi said there is a need to improve cooking skills amongst the street community; perhaps the VCS could help?[From Greg Headley: Do people have access to cooking facilities in B&B/Hotel accommodation?From John Simmons: Some do.]Gemma said that she had been at SAVS for 5 years and had supported many soup kitchens in that time - sometimes, it seemed there was a new one every month! She thought that they need to be valued for responding to an immediate need and was very much a good example of “the community doing it for themselves” - trust and relationships were key - we should not try to over formalise it. She also felt that during the pandemic the soup kitchens had gone above and beyond to help the B&B guests be fed - this should not be forgotten. She would be very happy to co-produce/design any local research.Rob suggested the soup kitchens write a joint proposal covering how they would work within guidelines and boundaries.Nina (helps at Homeless Street Hub) thought that fragmentation stifles the soup kitchens; it would be far better to have 1 agenda, 1 goal and 1 objective. This would also make it much easier for SBC to liaise with them.Keith agreed; this would also enable donations (especially food) to be better targeted.16) Final Round the Room:Tuula (SACC): The college are planning to restart face-to-face work in September.Rob: Requested that all are careful what is put on social media concerning the recent suicide of the 19-year-old boy. Many are criticising the Council and Mental Health services without knowing the facts and are causing distress to his family and friends. Greg shared 2 links to Homeless Link support that can be shared with service users:-; and . We are also facilitating a Free Webinar this Wednesday 22/07/2020: 15:00 – 16:15. Sign up by clicking here: Understanding Local Authority Structures and Responsibilities in England) Conclusion:John B. thanked all for their input. The next meeting will be on Tuesday 8th September - hopefully, face-to-face! [From Kelly Clarke: Well done all. It’s been a tough few months but shows by working together what can be achieved!]The following links have been shared re. Test and Trace Further links from Greg from Homeless Link:C-19 Homeless Response Fund Homeless Link are also offering free job listings on our website. follow this link: Expert Link Co-Production learning events and webinars: ? NACCOM - useful resources for NRPF Homeless England Website: Groundswell Lived experience research: The CALM Zone The South East Homeless Forum: ? ................
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