1. The Caritas Anchor House way
Client involvement
16th December 2016
The Caritas Anchor House way
Keith Fernett, CEO,
Caritas Anchor House

2. Agenda 1. The ‘beginning’ 2. Bumpy road to success 3. Results
4. The Caritas Anchor House approach

3. Agenda 1. The ‘beginning’ 2. Bumpy road to success 3. Results
4. The Caritas Anchor House approach

4. There was a lot to do… The organisation in 2005 was useless
6 D’s under the QAF
No Policies and Procedures
103 residents and 1 PERSON 2 days a week providing support
£29 a week per person Supporting People Grant
Drug dealer controlled the residents

5. Violence was an everyday feature
Had a bar and gambling machines – hangover from being a sea farers mission
Staff would not make me a cup of coffee
Residents were shown no empathy
Building had millions of pounds of repair problems, rats, cockroaches, the works
Unsupportive Local Authority

6. Agenda 1. Our journey: the ‘beginning’ 2. Bumpy road to success
3. Results
4. The Caritas Anchor House approach

7. Hard questions… How can you have client involvement in that context?
Started talking
Started communicating
Took the bullies on!
Took the Police on! We had such an awful reputation

8. Sense of Humour
Undertook questionnaires to ascertain views and priorities
After 12 months did in depth interviews
The results discussed openly
Standards agreed

9. Agenda 1. The ‘beginning’ 2. Bumpy road to success 3. Results
4. The Caritas Anchor House approach

10. Hard work paid off…
Place started to calm down and devised Residents Involvement model together
Won the Inaugural Michael Whippman Award for Innovation in the Homeless sector

11. After the award we went to the pub, the residents were delighted, nobody sat next to them, they were disgusted
They asked why was talking to them Innovative? I could not answer that, as it was a mystery to me!
One of those residents is still with us as an employee, one of 20% of our staff who are former residents, ‘our experts by experience’

12. Our impact increased…
We won the second Innovation Award in the sector for ‘Community Involvement’ – having been a pariah we involved ourselves, picking up rubbish with the police and the Council – recognition and hard work was paying off
First and second ever Innovation Awards in the UK homeless Charity SECTOR FOR RESIDENT INVOLVEMENT AND Community involvement

13. We were establishing role models
Our resident won the National Apprentice of the year and the ‘ Most Inspirational Trainer In the UK’ from the UK Skills Council
We were establishing role models
A former resident became our Head of Education and Training. He became the ‘Most Inspirational Trainer in the UK ‘ – UK Skills Council. We became a NATIOANL CENTRE OF EDUCATIONAL Excellence and he went on to receive his PhD from a NEW YORK UNIVESITY
Most Inspirational Trainer in the UK ‘ - UK Skills Council

14. Agenda 1. The ‘beginning’ 2. Bumpy road to success 3. Results
4. The Caritas Anchor House approach

15. Our approach… All our Policies and Procedures are resident centred
All our Policies and Procedures have a resident input
The residents designed a warning framework to deal with anti-social behaviour, non payment of rents,
drugs, alcohol abuse etc. etc.
The colour schemes for bedding, curtains, flooring chosen by residents

16. We are a community, we are one, the residents are supportive of each other
When drug dealers taken on the residents protected the staff
Staff disputed Police behaviour towards residents
Protocol in place with Police about their behaviour – really works – residents trained Police Recruits about Community Cohesion and Diversity issues

17. Client involvement is not the issue, it is about communications, ownership, motivation, empowerment, getting rid of the dependency culture, taking ownership of their lives
We offer an introductory license of one month and the resident will make the decision about whether they stay by their behaviour and engagement

18. Final thoughts… INVOLVEMENT IS PATRONISING? Ownership is powerful?
Ownership challenges staff!
I have visited a number of hostels, we do not use the ‘hostel’ phrase. Ours is ‘Residential and Life-skills Centre’; language is developmental

19. Canning Town Funk Canning Town Happy
Canning Town Happy
Play video

20. Where are we at? Monthly Sounding Board meetings
Introductory Welcome Host Gold meetings
New residents meeting led by Chief Executive
We say hello, we open doors, we hardly swear
General meetings, quarterly, up to 80 residents attend, talk of the future and results

21. Where are we at? Invariably we get a round of applause
All staff members are encouraged to spend time talking to residents informally
Residents attend Mindfullness sessions in the country, run a market stall, steward the Copperrbox mayoral hustings
Challenge Planning applications

22. Where are we at? We have our moments but they are rare
We talk performance
We have volunteers at midnight
They have a stake
They return to see us for years afterwards –role models