NEWS

STOP PRESS: CYRENIANS SELF BUILD IN GRAND OPENING

Innovation - hostel improvement - best practice - training - employment - national recognition...that's the Tyneside Cyrenians hostel self build scheme which was officially opened by Hilary Armstong MP in November. Read more here. To get the full picture about Cyrenians innovative schemes contact neill.baird@tyneseidecyrenians.co.uk.

£74million pledged to tackle homelessness

Tackling the changing face of homelessness - Ruth Kelly pledges £74m to tackle youth homelessness and to transform hostels into places of change. Jenny Edwards, of Homeless Link, offers support for this initiative.

Great Expectations: Arts & Homelessness

On October 25th around 100 people attended a conference about arts and homelessness at The Sage Gateshead, organised by Homeless Link.

Speakers from the Arts Council, Northern Rock, De Paul Trust, Cardboard Citizens, DCLG and service providers took part in lively debates about the contribution of arts to positive outcomes for homeless people. Streetwise Opera facilitated a fantastic interactive workshop, and their show Whirlwind received its world premiere the same evening - featuring inspiring performances by many local service users.

Homeless Link campaign: Ending Homelessness

Ending Homelessness: From Vision to Action has been launched, setting targets for government and the sector in the fight to tackle homelessness. A parliamentary reception on November 1st recieved cross party support and London Mayor Ken Livingstone backed the bid by committing to end rough sleeping by 2012. Why not sign up to the campaign?

Employability seminars

In September, Off the Streets and into Work led successfull and well attended seminars discussing homelessness and employability, in Newcastle and Stockton. Key action points included making a submission to the regional employability framework, setting up a local forum in Newcastle and giving feedback to One North East - the regional development agency.

For more info on the Newcastle forum contact anna.brook@crisis.org.uk.

BBC No Home season

The BBC's season of television and radio programmes dedicated to homelessness is underway. The season includes a showing of 1960s drama Cathy Come Home (BBC 4, Sun 26th Nov, 11pm), a special episode of Casualty (BBC 1, Sat 2nd Dec, 8.55pm), as well as documentaries, radio debates and a mass appeal for volunteers to help the sector achieve its aims.

Find out more about the No Home season and volunteering here.

IN THE MEDIA

• Places of change, a Connect article about the work of Homeless Link's Regional Managers.

• Fit for the future - a report by the Princes Trust highlighting the need for education, training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged young people

• Cathy’s home? – reflection on homelessness over the last 40 years

• Streets Apart – opera director Keith Warner works with Streetwise Opera

• On the outside - majority of ex-offenders denied help with housing

• Guardian Public Service Awards 2006 - London HL members Eaves Housing for Women’s Poppy Project and St Christopher’s Fellowship short-listed

• Thames Reach - the new name of Thames Reach Bondway (TRB)

REGIONAL EVENTS & TRAINING

Spotlight on quality

Places are still available for Homeless Link's Spotlight on Quality event on 11th December. This will be at Community Campus '87 in Stockton. It is an opportunity to explore the approach to quality assessment within your organisation and to meet, and share ideas with others. There will be presentations, discussions and workshops. It is free for Homeless Link members - £30 for non-members.

Also coming up Spotlight on Outcomes, Newcastle February 13th.

Contact Richard Andrew, Innovations Project Officer, on 020 7960 3014 or richard.andrew@homelesslink.org.uk

Further details will be posted soon on our website at http://www.homeless.org.uk/developyourservice/events/calendar

• Effective keyworking training - how does your organisation approach keyworking? What can your staff learn to improve their practice? This is an excellent training event for any organisation. Taking place in Stockton on December 12th.

• Supporting Vulnerable People - Support Action Network's first annual conference - 29 November

• Skills in resetlement - a 2 day training course for all and any organisations wanting to move their service users on effectively. Taking place in Newcastle on February 15th 2007.

RESOURCES

• Creating Change – Homeless Link's new strategy to act as a catalyst for change in front line services to bring about an end to homelessness

• New CRE Housing Guide – Section E focuses on homelessness provision in the statutory and voluntary sectors

• Respect phoneline – for perpetrators of domestic violence or those who work with them

• ICT services – FreeCharity.org.uk offers FREE website support and other services

• Off the streets and into work - Launch new website

• Crisis rent deposit bulletin. Great bi-monthly news bulletin with recent articles and seminars concerned with homelessness, housing and rent deposit schemes - produced by Crisis.

• Shelter Housing Act website - New website for housing professionals.

• Newcasle Homeless Liaison Project - details of all accomodation and services in the city.

CONSULTATIONS

• Service User Involvement: what's the score? Homeless Link is expanding it's regional resources for supporting service user involvement. The first step is to find out what you do. So, take five minutes to answer the following questions and send your responses to ben.dickenson@homelesslink.org.uk. 1. how does service user involvement take place in your organisation? 2. what woudl you like to change or improve? 3. how could other organisations help?
• Help shape regional policies by giving best practice examples and case studies to Regional Housing Board. Contact chris.connell@centrepoint.org.uk.
• Clean break - Call for good practice examples in developing integrated Housing and Care pathways for homeless substance misusers

• Charities and Public Service Delivery – Charity Commission Consultation – closes 5 January 2007

FUNDING & AWARDS

• Adult Learners Week Awards – nominations open, deadline 13 November

• Linking services for BME homeless individuals – ROTA invitation to tender in connection to their homelessness programme – Deadline 15 November

• Social Enterprise - The SEU is looking for innovative social enterprises to take part in its pathfinder programme

• Football Foundation – funding available to develop grass-roots football

• Northern Rock Foundation launch new programmes.

• New Introductory Pack - guidance funding and finance for small-med organisations FREE from NCVO

• Outcomes reporting - Big Lottery guide to using an outcomes approach on funding reports

DIARY DATES

• November 29th 2006: Tyneside Cyrenians launch their Transitional Spaces Project - another exciting initiative tackling worklessness. Contact neil.baird@tynesidecyrenians.co.uk.
• December 6th 2006: HANE conference launching Shelter's new web site and resource - contact paulw@shelter.org.uk for more info.
• December 8th 2006: filimg for Newcastle youth homelessness prevention video. Contact karen.adamson@yhn.org.uk.
• January 18th 2007: First regional homelessness sports network meeting - contact ben.dickenson@homelesslink.org.uk for more details.

JOBS

Job opportunities. Full details on Homeless Link's job pages

For Homeless Link national news and updates see http://www.homeless.org.uk