CONNECT DECEMBER 2012 | ISSUE 47
FEATURES
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ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUTURE
HTF Director Samantha Rennie asks: what could your service do with £25,000 to help prepare for the future? On first glance, the £20m Homelessness Transition Fund
to engage and adapt brings the risk of being left behind.
might sound like a lot. That is until you realise it’s targeted at a sector that has already lost an estimated £200m in
And that is where we come in.
Supporting People funding. FUNDING TIME This isn’t the time for sticking plasters. But it isn’t time for
The Homelessness Transition Fund was set up to help
cynicism either. If we are going to face these challenges
organisations to adapt, change and turn new challenges
head on, we need to be able to influence the changes.
into opportunities. Our main grants programme is all
We need to rethink the way the voluntary sector does
about supporting major reconfigurations in service
business. We need to ask what these reforms mean for
delivery. But now we’ve launched Future Ready. It’s a
people at the sharp end of homelessness. It’s time to
quicker, more agile option, with grants of between £5,000
draw on the resilience and creativity we’ve used in the
and £25,000.
past, engage with the new structures and adopt new ways of working.
How much closer could you be to taking advantage of the local opportunities I mentioned if you could backfill a
We may face threats but there are also real opportunities.
key post or recruit consultants to get you started? Would you buy yourself time to build relationships with other
BEING NOTICED
sectors and pilot new service models – or would you
In health, new GP led Clinical Commissioning Groups
investigate systems for collecting data so you can provide
are being launched, bringing evidence-based
evidence to commissioners to demonstrate the need for
commissioning to the fore. The robust collection and
the support you give?
analysis of client data could really influence local clinical priorities – so again, making sure your service is known to
Or perhaps a future ready grant might help you recruit
the chair of your CCG will put you in the frame for future
and develop your volunteers, or join up back-room
discussions.
services across local organisations, such as IT and personnel. Or would it buy you the space to restructure
Then there are the recently elected Police and Crime
your organisation and reconfigure your service – or
Commissioners. They have new powers and budgets to
apply commercial expertise to turn a profit in your social
tackle - so there’s an opporunity to be part of their plans
enterprise?
when plans are drawn up. The list could go on – and it isn’t designed to be So while the sector has been hit hard, there are still
prescriptive. Ultimately, future ready gives services the
opportunities, if we’re prepared to adapt. But how do
breathing space to adapt to the changing landscape.
you find the time and resources to seek out and grasp new opportunities, meet key players, and getting your
This is the first step to making the transition to more
organisation fit for the future while carrying on with the
sustainable funding.
essential everyday work you do? Not many organisations can easily afford to do this but on the other hand, failing
homeless.org.uk/fund
WWW.HOMELESS.ORG.UK
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