newsletterLinks

inside this issue...Opening of Tile HouseVolunteeringCommunication StrategyYP Photography Competition AUTUMN 2012

Updates from One Support

Tenancy Sustainment TeamWe are very excited to announce that the Tenancy Sustainment Teamhave joined One Support in April 2012. This service provides supportto 750 former rough sleepers and aims to break the cycle ofhomelessness by providing targeted support to people from the startof their tenancy. The staff team consists of four Team Managers and21 Support Officers working out of four hub offices across SouthLondon.

Enfield Teenage ParentsIn April 2012 One Support became the main provider of support toyoung parents in Enfield.

In addition to our existing young parents service we now providesupported accommodation to an additional seven young parents andfloating support to 15 young people out in the community. The staffteam consists of a Team Manager and three Support Officers. The aimof the service is to support young teenage parents and vulnerableyoung people to develop independent living skills.

Camden Crisis, Transition and Recovery (CTR) Our previous Community Link mental health service in Camden is nowreplaced with this new innovative team. The Camden CTR serviceprovides personalised support to customers with mental health needs.The crisis service provides intensive support for up to six weeks; thetransition service provides medium support for up to six months; andthe recovery service provides support for up to two years. The staffteam is made up of a Team Manager, Support Officers, SupportAssistants, Life Skill Workers and Volunteers.

Lewisham RSLWe are happy to announce that a new Older People service inLewisham started in May 2012. The service provides support tocustomers, aged 55 and over, to stay in their own homes and liveindependently. The staff team consists of a Team Manager, twoSupport Officers and two Community Support Workers.

Roden CourtRoden Court is our brand new extra care service providing care andsupport for people over the age of 55 living in Haringey. The servicestarted in August 2012 and is purpose built to offer an alternative toresidential care for older people. The service provides support withhousing, health, support and care needs, within independent, fullysupported flats. The staff team consists of a Team Manager andDeputy Team Manager, Care Coordinator, Support Officer and twoCare Workers.

Shirland Road and Randolph AvenueShirland Road and Randolph Avenue are high support, mental healthservices that are part of Westminster’s mental health pathway. Theservice opened in August 2012.

Customers initially move to Shirland Road where they receive 24 hoursupport for up to 5 years. Staff work with customers to develop copingstrategies and life skills. When customers are ready, they move toRandolph Avenue where they receive only daytime support with afocus on moving to independent living in the community. The staffteam work across both sites enabling a customer to have the sameallocated worker throughout their time at the service.

Customer Satisfaction Survey 2012 It is almost time for the Customer Satisfaction Survey 2012! We are inthe process of putting together the survey and will post them out to allcustomers during November 2012.

We would really appreciate your feedback and comments on servicesyou receive from One Support. This will help us further improve ourservices to you and ensure we continue to provide a high qualityservice. So please complete the form and send it back to us by thedeadline which will be specified in your letter.

More information about the survey will be published in the next editionof the newsletter. However, you can contact your Support Officer orthe Service Development Team on 020 7428 1157 for moreinformation.

One Housing Group announces partnership with Camden and IslingtonNHS Foundation TrustOne Housing Group is very pleased to announce the opening of a brand newservice in partnership with the Camden and Islington NHS Trust. This partnershipis the first in the UK to integrate social care and housing. The partnership wasformally launched at Tile House Kings Cross on Monday 10 September. Thelaunch was attended by customers, One Support Customer Board membersand staff including One Housing Group Chief Executive Mick Sweeney, WendyWallace, Chief Executive at Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust, KevinBeirne, Group Director of Housing, Care and Support and Councillor PatCallaghan, cabinet member for adult social care and deputy leader.

Tile House provides 15 high quality self-contained supported housing flats forpeople with complex mental health needs. The staff team is made of a TeamManager, Support Officer, Support Assistants, Clinical Practioners and CareCoordinator, OT, Clinical Psychologist, Consultant Practitioner and OccupationalTherapist.

During the launch Kevin Beirne (pictured) said: “this strategic partnership will allow One Housing Group to build on our existing care andsupport offer and extend our high quality service and building offer to a much wider range of people. This innovative partnership will integratehealth and social care services and is essential in delivering modern health services which provide greater customer benefits”.

Diana Fussell, customer at Tile House said: “I moved to Tile House on 20 August 2012. My experiences in Tile House are that they treat meas an individual, they are slowly building up my confidence and they are boosting my independence. They do this by giving me lots ofsupport and I am very happy to live here”.

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Arlington team wins InsideHousing’s Housing Heroes 2012AwardThe Arlington team (pictured) has been awarded a Housing Heroes2012 Award for Ground Breaking Service Team of the Year. The teamwas presented with the prestigious award at a special ceremony onFriday 11 May 2012 at the Hilton, Park Lane.

The Housing Heroes Awards, organised by Inside Housing,acknowledge the “unsung heroes” of the housing sector who makea positive impact in their workplaces and communities.

Head of Arlington Jason Pryce-Kennedy said: “The award is afantastic achievement for Arlington. The Arlington team is adynamic, motivated team who are committed to tacklinghomelessness, worklessness and assisting our customers to realisetheir hopes and aspirations. We are extremely proud that ourcommitment to supporting our customers has been recognised. Iwould like to thank the team for their hard work and dedication inmaking this possible.”

Based in Camden, Arlington offers extensive care and support tocustomers as well as high quality accommodation. It provides amixed community of 95 supported housing units for the homeless,35 submarket rental studios for working people on low income andan extensive social economy hub with training and employmentopportunities.

My Community, My world - YoungPeople Photography competition One Support and the Hyelm Group celebrated the announcementof two young creative winners in a photography competitionentitled ‘My Community, My World’ at an award ceremony in OldStreet on Friday 17 August. The competition encouraged young

people to show ‘theircommunity’ through the artof photography.

Gowad Wael (pictured infront cover) from Islingtonand Ana Lima from Camdenboth won a Nikon 3000Digital SLR camera for theirwinning photos. Sarah

Lanham (pictured in front cover), One Support Assistant DirectorBusiness Development, presented the winners with their prize.

Rikki Garcia, Head of YoungPeople at One Support, said: “Iwould like to congratulateGowad and Ana for being ourcompetition winners. We havebeen particularly impressed bythe standard of work andoriginality and we would like tothank all those who

participated. We hope thiscompetition has inspired youngpeople to take up photography as ahobby or a profession.”

The finalists from six Londonboroughs all produced inventiveworks that were on display at theceremony. Individual portrayals of,‘My World’, depicting Londonthrough the eyes of young peopleincluded winning images of TowerBridge and surrounding areas ofLondon. All who contributed to the

competition from One Housing Group, are in receipt of care andsupport and those from The Hyelm Group are all in housing need.

Hackney Older Persons service celebrates the Queens Diamond Jubilee

by Alan Gunn, Team Manager, Hackney Older Persons Floating SupportThe Hackney Older Persons service held a Jubilee Celebration Come and Go Day on Friday 1 June. The event washeld at St Anne’s Community Hall and was attended by 67 customers!

During the event Support Officers Bev Burke and Otilia Ndhlovu did a presentation on some of the significant lifeevents the Queens 60 year reign. This was followed by a Diamond Jubilee quiz and prizes were presented to thewinners.

The customers enjoyed a light afternoon buffet with scones and clotted cream andalso fresh sandwiches donated by Pret A Manger and some Turkish pastries from the local Turkish shop.

There was also a DJ present on the day so after lunch customers enjoyed a little dance and said that it wasvery much fun to be dancing to some of the very popular dance music of the 1940’s.

The event was very successful and the general consensus was that even the Queen herself would have beenhappy with the celebrations!

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Be Involved - One Support’sCustomer Involvement ProgrammeFollowing on from the last issues of Links, preparations are underway forthe rebranding of our Customer Involvement Strategy in to the BeInvolved programme.

Since the last edition we had consultations with customers at variousservices to help us develop a logo to go along with the new Be Involvedbrand. We would like to thank all the customers who were involved inthis process; your feedback assisted the development of the new logowhich you said is the one that best represented our core offer to you!We are very happy to announce and present our new Be Involved Logo(pictured).

The new Be Involved logo will be used in all the customer involvementdocumentation very soon so watch this space!

If you would like more details on the Be Involved programme speak toyour Support Officer or contact the Service Development Team on 0207428 1157.

Communications StrategyOver the past 18 months we have been doing much of thegroundwork for developing a more comprehensive and proactiveapproach to communications both internally with our staff, andexternally with customers and stakeholders. The development of acommunications strategy will help us achieve our overallorganisational objectives, engage effectively with stakeholders andensure you, our customers, understand what we do.

We have held focus groups and consultations with managers todevelop a more detailed assessment of our customer-based keymessages.

Further consultation work will be undertaken with customers to testout the proposed key messages identified before these areadopted into the service information that is used with customers.The messages will be used to inform communications withcustomers via;

• Service information leaflets• Information displayed at services• Links• Annual reports• Customer involvement initiatives

The Service Development Team will develop a specific action planin October 2012 and this will be presented to the Customer Board.

VolunteeringFeedback from customers at the Customer Conference, Customer Board and a series of focus groups showed there was overwhelming supportfor the development of volunteering opportunities at One Support. We are now happy to announce that we have developed a Volunteering Policyto help us recruit and support volunteers at One Support.

During the last few months our Volunteer Coordinator, Marie-Michelle Mouse, has been talking to staff to gauge volunteering opportunitiesavailable at our services and we are now looking for people to volunteer at One Support. Some of the positions volunteers are likely to undertakewithin One Support services include:

• Befriending• Assisting with service events, for example catering, organisation, promotion• Assisting with group activities, workshops and social outings• Property inspections (Housing Services)• Helping out on the duty desk• Fundraising• Admin and office duties• Carrying out welfare checks with customers• Helping out at surgeries and drop ins• Helping with the move on scheme at our Tenancy Sustainment Team (TST)• Carrying out research• Providing peer support • Assisting customers with specific tasks, such as completing surveys

All volunteers will be asked to complete a Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) check before they can work on their own with customers. In addition,all new volunteers will attend Volunteer Induction Training following their successful application. They will also receive a local induction with theTeam Manager for the service where they are volunteering.

If you are interested in volunteering or would like to find out more information please contact Volunteer Coordinator Marie-MichelleMouse on 020 7428 4127 or email osvolunteering@onehousinggroup.co.uk

Beautiful Concert - Beautiful Worldby Ian Gibb, customer

In September 2012 customers from our Haverstock Hill service went to a classical music concert atthe University of London. The concert was held to celebrate international music culture and theLondon 2012 Paralympic Games. The event was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Trade ofKorea and the Korean Foundation, Beautiful Mind.

Customers from Haverstock Hill thoroughly enjoyed the rendition of theclassical music by talented musicians who had various disabilities. Below isan account of the day by Ian Gibb (pictured);

“There was a piano quartet in the first segment, they played a piece writtenby Brahms. There were guest performers of a soprano, Denise Leigh, andaccordionist, Stefan Andresyschyn, who performed three opera classicswho are both visually impaired.

The second segment began with a piano solo by Kim Kyeong-min. He has cerebral palsy yet he wasable to faultlessly perform Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and a piece he wrote himself calledReminiscences.

The final part of the first segment was performed by a young people choir who came from anorganization that assists deaf and hard of hearing children. The choir also performed at the openingceremony of the Paralympics.

The courage and quality of the performers was very inspiring. The evening saw traditional Korean instruments mixed well with classicalinstruments in a perfect marriage of music. The audience were lifted by singers and musicians alike and were clearly gratified when it cametime for them to deliver a rapturous applause”.

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Customer Enterprise Fund -Progress ReportsThe Enterprise Fund is aimed at increasing participation and customerinvolvement across all One Support services. A maximum award of £500is available for each initiative, which customers and staff can bid for to setup customer led initiatives.

As promised in the previous edition of Links; set out below are reportsfrom the first round of the Customer Enterprise Fund.

Bedford Golf Experience This event was delayedfor some time due to thetypically English Summerand finally in Septemberall customers enjoyed agame of golf atMowsbury Golf Club inBedford. John Edwards,a customer, organisedthe day with support fromstaff at the service. Theday was a great successand customers enjoyed golfing and even riding the buggies. So far, twogolf events have taken place and customers are already looking forwardto the third and the final event in the next few weeks.

One Support Football ClubThe project was advertised to all customersacross One Support. Those who showed aninterest were invited to a meeting to discussparticipation - despite an initial slow take up,momentum built and there is now a team ofcustomers who are getting ready to participate

and compete. The games will take place at Russell Square astro-turf andthe team is awaiting an official start date for their first game.

Edible GardenThe Edible Garden sessions are held every fortnightfor two hours and so far 13 sessions took place.There has been a regular attendance throughout withan average of seven customers at each session. Thegroup has grown a variety of vegetables ranging fromtomatoes, potatoes, herbs, sweet corn, beetroot,lettuce, mustard leaves, squash, and cucumber.Customers who took part found it to be an enjoyableand therapeutic activity.

Music GroupMusic group sessions were held at “The Shed” Camden CommunityCentre where Key Changes (a music specialist organisation for people withmental health problems) have a recording studio and performance area.They held five weekly sessions with eight customers attending from variousservices across One Support. The Musical Director of Key Changes ledthe group through learning the chords,keys, chorus and verse of a song usingacoustic and bass guitars, percussionand vocals.

The customer’s confidence grew as theweeks went by and they recorded threesongs which were burned on a CD. Thegroup had a chance to showcase theirwork at a concert performing a song infront of an audience. One of the customers said “This is a great space tomeet people with the same interests and to be brought together with musicis a joy”.

The second round of applications have been open for a while, thank youfor all those who have applied so far.

Dates

for your

Diary

How many Gold medals did Team GB win duringthe Olympic Games?

Paralympic Team GB won 120 medals in the London Paralympics

(a) How many Gold? (b) How many silver (c) How many Bronze?

Who invented Mo Farah's signature Mo-bot?

Who was the poster girl of the London 21012 Olympic games?

What will the next 2016 Olympics take place?

Answers:1)29.2)a)34Goldb)43Silverc)43Bronze.3)ClareBalding.4)JessicaEnnis.5)RiodeJaneiro,Brazil

PostOlympic &ParalympicQuiz

BEDFORDNational Trust Walking Festival 2012National Trust Dovecote and Stables,Willington, Church End, near Bedford,

MK44 3PX

Saturday, 27th October, 11am – 2pm

As part of the National Trust Walking Festival2012, local volunteers will be hosting alaunch event at these unique stone buildings,the remains of a Tudor manorial complex in apeaceful setting close to Bedford River ValleyPark Woodland and riverside trails, withguided walks at 11am and 2pm. The walksare free of charge.

For more information call 01480 301494 or

visit their website atwww.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-willingtondovecote

CAMDENDance Around The World FestivalCecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Rd,

NW1 7AY

Saturday, 20th and Sunday 21st October,10am – 11pm

This is an inter-generational, inter-culturalevent, celebrating the music, dance andcostume of over 50 of London's ethniccommunities. Most dances are folk, but alsonational dances like Tango from Argentina, orLine dance, Street Dance, Cheerleading tobring in a broader range of audience. Thefestival is open to anyone - absolutely norestrictions. The tickets are £12 per day andnight, £9 evenings only. Children go free withan adult.

For more information contact Elsa Perez on

020 8769 3619 or emailnat_elsa.perez@btinternet.com.You canalso check out their website atwww.datw.org.uk for up to date information.

ENFIELDForty Hall Creative ResidenciesForty Hall & Estate, Forty Hill, Enfield, EN29HA

30th June – 30th November 2012. Every daybetween 11am – 5pm

Inspired by Forty Hall, Amelia Crouch looksat how people feel about their own home;Cate Goulding draws inspiration from SirNicholas Rainton the Haberdasher toproduce beautiful embroidery work and JoeRobinson explores the stunning estate thatsurrounds Forty Hall. These exhibitions havebeen developed with the local community andpromise to offer you a new perspective ofForty Hall & Estate. Admission is free.

For more information please visitwww.fortyhall.com

ESSEXWorkers of the World UniteEssex Record Office, Wharf Road,Chelmsford, CM2 6YT

Saturday, 13th October, 10am - 3.45pm

SinceWorldWar II there has been an influx ofpeople and families coming to Britain andEssex to work. This special one-dayconference looks at the contribution and thetype of work people from other countries andcultures made to the working life of Essex.

This event is sponsored by the Essex CulturalDiversity Project, who have made all thetickets available for free, including a flavours-of-the-world buffet lunch and refreshments.

For more information and to book tickets inadvance call 01245 244 620.

HACKNEYHackney Youth Sport Fund1 Hillman Street, E8 1DY

10th September – 27th December 2012

AYouth Sport Fund grant is available from theCouncil to athletes, clubs and coaches within

Hackney to help them achieve their potential.Please use the contact information below torequest an application form and guidancenotes.

Closing date for round 3 is 21st Septemberand round 4 27th December 2012.

For more information contact Darren English020 8356 4897 or emaildarren.english@hotmail.co.uk.

ISLINGTONThe Importance of Black History – UKPremiere film screeningKings Place, 90 York Way, Islington, N1 9AG

Tuesday, 23rd October, 7pm - 9pm

In this riveting and engaging newdocumentary, award winning filmmaker NosaIgbinedion teams up with young people fromIslington, and experts in the field to explorethe importance of Black History and whetherit is underrepresented in mainstreameducation and the impact of that in amulticultural Britain.

This is a free event aimed at young peopleaged 12+ and adults. For more informationand to book a place visitwww.kingsplace.co.uk or call the box office020 7520 1490.

WANDSWORTHBlack History Month: Exhibitions fromthe National ArchivesSouthfields Library SW19 and WandsworthTown Library SW18

1st October - 31st October

An Indian Album - Southfields Library andMemories from the Islands - WandsworthTown Library

These two exhibitions show photographsfrom the National Archives. An Indian Albumdisplays Cecil Beaton's images of pre-Independence and Partition " India ".Memories from the Islands is a communitycurated exhibition by Caribbean eldersfeaturing their choice of photographs andaccompanying memory narrative of theCaribbean from the 1960s.

For more information contact SouthfieldsLibrary on 020 8871 6388 and WandsworthTown Library on 020 8871 5588.

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