2008 RBS Innovate Funded Project
The six projects funded by RBS Innovate in 2008 are:
- Adactus Housing Group - financial advice for shared owners
- ARC Scotland - enabling people with learning difficulties to access banking
- Catch22 - financial inclusion awareness for support staff working with young people
- Crisis - a resource pack for vulnerable people moving into the private rented sector
- Ipswich Housing Action Group - welfare benefits advice for people in temporary accommodation
- LHA-ASRA - reaching out to social housing tenants to signpost them to sources of financial inclusion support and more.
Adactus Housing Group
Adactus Housing Group is formed of housing associations which build, renovate and manage affordable housing for rent and sale in the
A Shared Owner Assessment was produced to allow applicants to make informed choices about shared ownership. It provides clear and accessible information on shared ownership, rights and responsibilities and all the costs involved, and it includes an affordability assessment tool. Face-to-face advice sessions were offered on budgeting, money and welfare benefits.
The crash in the housing market meant this project had to work flexibly to respond to the changing needs of the residents. As interest in shared owner properties dropped sharply, the advice service focused on helping existing shared owners to manage their rent and mortgage payments.
The Financial Inclusion service also supported the development of Adactus’ new ‘flexible tenure policy’, which allows shared owners facing financial difficulties to ‘staircase down’ the percentage they own, and therefore reduce their mortgage payments. A ‘rent to buy’ initiative has also been set up to help people into home ownership through a different route.
ARC Scotland
ARC Scotland is a membership organisation, which supports non-statutory providers of services for people with a learning disability in Scotland. RBS Innovate funded Talking Money, a project to raise awareness of and support available to people with learning difficulties around access to banking. Talking Money was run in partnership with ENABLE Scotland, a charity which campaigns for and provides support to people with learning difficulties.
Talking Money established four networks in Scotland to identify and address local issues around access to banking for people with learning difficulties. Network activities included surveys of accessibility of ATM machines carried out by people with learning difficulties disabled and running training sessions for housing association staff. An online information resource was developed and supported by a telephone helpline offering advice around banking and money advice matters for people with learning difficulties. Click here to access the resource.
Learning from the project has been fed into Scottish government to ensure they consider the needs of people with learning difficulties in managing their money. ARC Scotland fed in evidence from this project to the Scottish Executive’s Learning Connections network, of which they are now an active member. ARC Scotland will take forward their financial inclusion work as part of the new Progress Scotland project.
Catch22
Catch22 is a national charity that works with young people who find themselves in difficult situations. RBS Innovate funded the Financial Inclusion Support System, which designed and delivered training to accommodation support staff about financial inclusion and how to support their young people around money management issues.
Working with a specialist training organisation, a training programme was designed for accommodation support workers in the East Midlands, Yorkshire & Humber and the North West. In response to feedback from regional managers, a flexible, two-step programme was designed so training could be tailored to different staff. Several training sessions were held, with an average of 6-7 staff per session. Feedback from staff attending the training was that it was excellent and much needed. The documents from the training sessions will be available to all Catch22 staff as an on-going resource.
Catch22 are continuing their financial inclusion work through a Financial Awareness mentoring project for young offenders and are embedding financial awareness as a priority across their services.
NB: Rainer and Crime Concern merged in 2008 to form Catch22. RBS Innovate funding was secured by Rainer, preceding the merger.
Crisis
Crisis is a national homelessness charity; Crisis SmartSkills offers learning and skills programmes for homeless and vulnerable people entering private rented sector accommodation, and is run through a network of six providers around the UK. RBS Innovate funded the production of a best practice manual and resource bank, based on the practical experience of SmartSkills. It sets out a ‘how to’ guide for anyone interested in running a SmartSkills-style project or adopting elements of the model. An electronic resource bank supplements the manual and includes a self-assessment guide for projects.
The manual was produced with significant input from the SmartSkills network. Delivery staff, management and service users were asked for their opinions on the format and content of the manual. This has ensured the manual is not a prescriptive guide, but gives information on a number of approaches and how to make them work best.
The manual will shortly be available online and disseminated within the housing and homelessness sectors.
Click here for more information on SmartSkills:
Ipswich Housing Action Group (IHAG)
IHAG is a local charity, which provides a range of support services to marginalised homeless people. IHAG’s Money Advice Service provides professional debt, welfare rights and money advice through supported volunteer advisors. RBS Innovate funded advice surgeries in a local authority housing unit, which offered temporary accommodation to homeless families and young people. Debts and rent arrears can be a major barrier to these groups moving on to more permanent housing, and budgeting advice is important for the young people in particular.
Surgeries were held regularly, on average 1.5 surgeries per month, offering advice to an average of 2-3 clients per surgery. Clear referral arrangements with hostel staff and residents’ awareness of the surgeries were vital to the success of the project. The advisor visited staff meetings and held a coffee morning to publicise the service to ensure it worked smoothly.
A workshop on the Social Fund was held for clients to raise awareness about the Fund and their welfare rights. Some clients who attended this went on to make successful claims, making their transition to more permanent accommodation smoother financially. A resource pack on the Social Fund was produced, which continues to be used.
IHAG have secured some further funding for the advice surgeries, as demand still continues.
LHA-ASRA
The LHA-ASRA group is a housing and regeneration agency, delivering affordable housing and regeneration initiatives across central and southern England. RBS Innovate funded the Making Connections initiative, which aimed to raise awareness among residents in Mansfield of the financial support available in the area from specialist support organisations. Tenants were contacted through door-knocking exercises by LHA-ASRA staff. Several internal-facing staff appreciated the opportunity to go out and meet residents, and their dedication in often making repeat visits was key to the success of Making Connections.
The local credit union was publicised to tenants, resulting in many tenants choosing to access these not-for-profit financial services and the Credit Union have committed to locating a new collection facility in the local area. Many tenants were also interested in the training opportunities at the local college often as a means to move into work. A number of residents were referred to the local debt and money advice service. Low cost home insurance was promoted, but did not prove popular. Wider benefits to the housing association included recruiting new resident representatives for their internal governance structures and the fact that the doorknocking generated many other housing management queries that could be quickly resolved.
One of the difficulties in the project was tracking the referrals and results; close relationships and clear protocols for exchanging information with other organisations was important to overcome this. The RBS Innovate funded Making Connections is being used a model by LHA-ASRA for similar exercises in different areas including Northampton and Leicester and is easily replicable in many other communities.
