WINTER 2021 | ISSUE 11
SCENE
SUPPORTING COMMUNITIES BI-ANNUAL MAGAZINE
The Winter of Zoom Our summer of Zoom has become the winter of Zoom, but as we put this issue of SCENE together, we hope that we will be able to meet together again soon.
IN THIS ISSUE
SCENE magazine brings you the highlights of our work over the past six months or so, all of which has been delivered online. We are enormously proud of all our groups who have persevered and found new ways of working.
NEW GROUPS IN THE
If we were to look for silver linings, we have seen great progress in our digital inclusion efforts. There is much more to be done, but many people have taken that first step this past year to get online and get connected. Our funding support has helped community groups access over £660,000 to provide essential goods and services to those in need. Our training courses have reached many more people online than we may have done in person, and our development team have maintained their connections and support to groups across the country through trying times. Looking ahead, when permitted, we hope to deliver a more blended approach, both online and in person, taking from the best of both worlds to meet the needs of our communities. Rest assured that by whatever means, we are committed to providing you with the best support possible in the coming year. Stay safe. Lorraine Campbell, Chair, Supporting Communities
GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR MIDST OF A PANDEMIC
WHERE THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S A WAY: VIRTUAL ESTATE INSPECTIONS
ONSIDE PARTICIPANTS ARE LOVING I.T.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE IN CUSHENDUN
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PHOTO BY MARTIN R. SMITH
Good Governance in the Midst of a Pandemic Despite the many difficulties experienced this past year, we have taken solace in witnessing so many civic-minded people coming together to help their communities. One of our Community Development Officers, Gillian Forrest, had several new groups approach her in 2020 to establish new groups due to the Covid-19 crisis. “Whenever a potential new group comes to us, we initially assess if the area needs a new group or if they could join up with an organisation already working there. For some I’ve worked with, this was the case, and the willing volunteers did join with existing groups, however for others, because of their unique circumstances, we have helped them to establish a new community group”, explained Gillian. Gillian says she is grateful to be working from home, but sometimes finds it difficult because she loves providing advice and support to groups in person. But, despite not being able to drop by for a face-to-face meeting as she would like, she says she is getting things done online and by phone just fine! One new group that Gillian supported to form last year is the Ballykeel 2 District and Community Association in Ballymena.
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Group member Rab Picken told us, “Gillian has been very helpful and supportive to us in starting our new group. She provided us with all the documents and guidance we needed, helped us with our first set of minutes, and continues to help us focus on the needs of our community, now and in the longer term.” In Dungiven, a Men’s Shed group has been working on getting up and running. The Covid lockdown and subsequent restrictions slowed their progress but also convinced them that there is more need than ever for their new group. Raymond Brady, one of the founders, wrote to say, “Gillian's advice and preparatory work has been vital in getting our group up and running. She has professional knowledge of all aspects of governance and the requirements of the Charity Commission. She gave us advice in a wonderful friendly manner, and we consider Gillian as one of the family.”
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Funding Support Help to access funding remains one of our most requested services. Our Funding Service ensures that our members know about relevant funding opportunities and provides guidance on the application process. This past year has been especially busy helping groups to access Covid-19 related funds under urgent circumstances.
660K
As a small group, we do need help with funding and the advice and support that Supporting Communities gives us is so important. They are always just a phone call or email away. FUNDING SUPPORT RECIPIENT
funding secured for community groups since the first lockdown
Between April and December 2020, we have helped groups secure over ÂŁ660,400 in funding for a range of work, much of which was in response to the ongoing crisis. "Groups have been so creative and resourceful in finding new ways to help their communities," said Anita, Funding and Social Value Officer. "I have assisted with applications spanning everything from food hampers and meals on wheels to hiring facilitators to deliver all manner
of events and courses online, not to mention just helping groups stay afloat financially when some of their usual income dried up." Anita has also been delivering online sessions via Zoom to help more people learn about popular topics such as 'Writing a Successful Funding Application' and 'Understanding Social Value'. Look out for these and other popular short training sessions to be held again soon. Find out more about the Funding Service and keep up with all the latest funding news at https://supportingcommunities.org/funding and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates!
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they could see in the area, and then we filled in the toolkit together in a meeting online. Next, I reported the issues to the agencies, giving them a heads up on what was found. We then all met together to discuss actions to be taken or planned, and any further work we could do together to address the points raised. The pilot group has been very positive about the quick response from agencies. Agencies were happy to have our help identifying work since so much had been put on hold over the summer.” Photo by Janine Freeman, Hill Street Residents Group
Where There's a Will, There's a Way: 'Virtual' Estate Inspections One of the essential services that we facilitate all over Northern Ireland is the estate inspection, or walkabout, to see what needs attention in an area. Supporting Communities helps community representatives connect with statutory agencies quickly and effectively to get things done. We know how things like illegal dumping and hazardous walkways can affect the quality of life in a neighbourhood, and walkabouts help us pick up those issues and direct them to the proper authority’s attention. We have developed a toolkit in partnership with the Housing Executive to progress actions from estate inspections. It’s simple, and it works, but we usually are there in person to use it! Sarah Harkness Robinson, Senior Community Development Officer for the Lisburn and Castlereagh area, piloted a form of ‘virtual walkabouts’ to show how we can continue to support communities even though we can’t be with them in person. “I asked an area volunteer to do the walkabout on their own’, said Sarah. “They made notes and took photos of any issues
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The process worked because the group volunteers were willing, and everyone could attend the online meetings. Sarah has followed up with each issue to make sure all the actions from the meeting are progressing, and the residents can already see the benefits. “I think the main thing is to make sure that the volunteers know what they are looking for on their inspection. An estate inspection can only ever be a snapshot of the estate at a particular date and time. It is designed to pick up issues that we can try and get action on, such as litter picks, dumped items lifted, etc. CDOs have a good knowledge of things like the Department of Infrastructure criteria for actionable defects such as potholes and the like. I had several phone conversations with the volunteers to make sure we were picking up the right sort of things and recording the right information in line with the criteria.” Virtual inspections are not without their difficulties, but we are learning to overcome them as we adapt to doing things remotely. Sarah is working with volunteers to make sure they document
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area issues effectively through photographs.
and it happened quite quickly. Residents are noticing and have said our committee is doing a great job!”
“Including photographs in the toolkit can really help”, she said, “but you have to make sure they show the issues well. One group flagged up a crack in the pavement that didn’t look too bad in the picture at first - but then the volunteer was able to show the size of it by putting a 50p coin in the shot for scale! It definitely needed attention!”
Janine hadn’t done much Zooming before, but after a quick test run with Sarah, she found it easy to use and a good way to hold meetings.
Janine Freeman from the Hill Street Residents Group volunteered to complete one of these “virtual” estate inspections with Sarah. Janine was able to identify a range of issues around her estate, including broken and uneven pavements, and areas that pose an accessibility problem for elderly or disabled people. Work orders have already been raised for the footpaths and to install a new handrail. A couple of broken streetlights were also fixed immediately by the Department of Infrastructure. Janine also flagged up several instances of dumping and untidy areas that the council addressed right away - something the residents have noticed and appreciated! “It worked quite well,” said Janine. “I actually find that when you’re walking around with all the different agencies and representatives there, it can get a bit confusing with everyone discussing who’s going to do what. Doing it on Zoom with Sarah instead was really good! Nearly everything we have brought up has been addressed. For example, we are by the towpath, and we have had hotspots of people leaving their dog bags lying around. We got the council to put in four new bins to help,
“I am really pleased with the way things have progressed. The Zoom meeting was really, really good. It worked so well, I think this might be the way we do things from now on!”, she said.
I am really pleased with the way things have progressed. The Zoom meeting was really, really good. It worked so well, I think this might be the way we do things from now on! JANINE FREEMAN, HILL STREET RESIDENTS GROUP
Sarah was quick to note that this estate inspection was a success because the group members had the digital skills and access to the equipment they needed to take and send pictures and to meet online. “Groups that aren’t as digitally capable might struggle to be as effective in a virtual estate inspection process. We urge anyone who wants to gain the necessary digital skills to get in touch with our digital inclusion officer and take the first steps to get online!” Until we can meet again in person, we will continue to find ways to support our HCN groups, get the important work done, and maintain the excellent working relationships we have with volunteers and statutory agencies across the country.
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Diane, who works at the Larne Community Care Centre, found the training very practical and says she uses it in her everyday work, especially the sessions on establishing good governance practices, completing funding applications, and setting up an effective committee.
Diane Houston in Larne. Photo credit: Housing Executive
Diane has plans to continue her studies at Ulster University, taking advantage of Supporting Communities' pathway to higher education in Community Development.
Spotlight on Training One area of our work that has experienced a real boom over the past year has been online training. When the first lockdown went into effect, we quickly transferred many of our most popular courses online using a blend of Google Classroom and Zoom sessions. The series of Community Capacity Building Level 1-3 OCN accredited courses, which are free to members of the Housing Community Network through Housing Executive funding, have always been well-liked, but our trainer Karla noticed new energy and popularity in the digital format. "I was surprised to find that the online version of these courses worked very well, both for me and for the students. We have been able to accommodate more learners than usual online and mix groups from different geographical areas together. They are really benefiting from learning from each other's experiences as well as completing the standardised material to achieve an OCN accreditation," remarked Karla. Diane Huston started the Level 1 course in May and continued on right through to Level 3 before the year was over. “It’s all down to my trainer Karla who has been so encouraging and given me the confidence to continue progressing,” Diane told the Housing Executive for their Streets Ahead magazine.
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Without the support and guidance of Supporting Communities, I would not have had the confidence and opportunity to consider Community Development as an area of further education. DIANE HOUSTON, LARNE COMMUNITY CARE CENTRE
Karla was delighted with the progress of all of her online learners. "I'm blown away by the hard work and dedication that everyone has shown this year. These courses are not easy, and it shows real perseverance to complete all three, especially in such a short period of time and with everything else that is going on in the world", she said. As restrictions start to lift, we'll look at bringing back some face to face learning again, but it is clear that online training has worked very well for many people.
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Digital Inclusion Update One lesson that really sunk in all across the world last year is the importance of digital inclusion for all. Supporting Communities has been working with the Department of Finance since 2012 to train older people, especially those living in rural areas in basic digital skills. It is a key part of our mission to empower communities to make sure no one is left behind or disadvantaged by the rapidly changing digital world. Being digitally connected has also become a literal lifeline for many isolated people during the pandemic and Supporting Communities played our part in reaching out getting people online with help by phone and then Zoom training sessions. Between April and December 2020, we helped 561 people gain basic digital skills through online sessions. We also held a special series of 'Get Online Week' events reaching 33 people through our partnership with GoONNI and Libraries NI.
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DIGITAL SKILLS PARTICIPANT
scam awareness session held
83%
144
of participants got help by phone first
people attended
100%
Keeping safe online has also been a huge priority for us with so many scams and dangerous phishing emails and texts making the rounds. We worked closely with Ulster Bank NI to deliver interactive Scam Awareness sessions to 144 people giving them the practical knowledge they need to stay safe online. It's certainly been a challenge adapting to remote training, but we are pleased to report our standards haven't slipped when it comes to customer satisfaction! 100% of our participants said they gained new skills, 98% said they rated our support Good or Excellent, and 98% said they'd like to learn more!
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The tutor is a gifted teacher, such a lovely manner. Extra help was offered, and nothing was any trouble. I'm so grateful that I attended the course. Older people are scared of new technology, and we were put so much at ease.
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gained new online skills 'Intro to Zoom' was one of our most popular sessions and our Digital Inclusion Officer invested considerable time in helping people to get set up over the phone. In fact, 83% of our new learners received assistance by phone before engaging with us in online sessions.
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ONSIDE Participants are Loving I.T. The ONSIDE Project is now fully up and running online! Having started the digital skills training aspect of the project just before the March lockdown, we had to change our approach to deliver all the training online quickly.
and ensure they can use their tablet to look after their health and wellbeing," said Digital Inclusion Coordinator, Tracey Mimna.
The Outreach, Navigation, Social Inclusion, and Digital Engagement Project is a cross-border effort that aims to improve the health and wellbeing of disabled people living in Northern Ireland and the border regions. Disability Action NI leads the project in partnership with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, the Independent Living Movement in Ireland, and Supporting Communities.
Participants who have already completed the training have gained a lot from it.
All participants are given a tablet with a keyboard and case and the opportunity to do eight weeks of online IT training, along with social inclusion workshops and personalised support. The Supporting Communities ONSIDE team, made up of Carla, Colin, Matthew, and Tracey, are currently delivering training to 225 individuals from all across Northern Ireland and the border counties via eight sessions on Zoom. "We cover various topics, such as downloading apps and using email, accessing audiobooks, and shopping online. We aim to equip participants with the skills to keep themselves safe online
“I love having my tablet and listening to podcasts on it. It’s a way of connecting with the wider world." ONSIDE PROJECT PARTICIPANT
One woman told us, “I was able to join Tesco and Iceland and do online grocery shopping while I was shielding during the lockdown. I love having my tablet and listening to podcasts on it. It’s a way of connecting with the wider world.” Another participant said, “I’m now able to link into my church service online, which is great as I was really missing it. I also enjoyed the session on online safety. I now know not to click on links in emails as they could be scams.” "It’s been fantastic to see everyone's digital confidence grow. We’ve had people send their first-ever email, connect to their first Zoom call, or do their shopping online for the first time - it's a brilliant project,” Tracey remarked.
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PHOTO BY MARTIN R. SMITH
It Takes a Village in Cushendun This past October marked our first year of a three-year partnership with the National Trust in the beautiful village of Cushendun. In that time, we have worked together to create opportunities for positive engagement with the community by building partnerships with the Trust, community groups, and residents from the village. The National Trust is the principal landowner in the area; they own many local amenities, shops, and residential accommodation within the village. It is fair to say that over the years, the Trust’s relationship with the local community has come under strain at times. Wishing to improve the situation, the Trust brought in Supporting Communities to act as an independent intermediary to help them re-engage positively with local stakeholders and the community in general. Our Community Development Officer, Christine McNeill (a Cushendun native herself!) has begun to open the lines of communication between the community and the National Trust by taking on an administrative role for the Village Forum, a group made up of representatives from various community groups and local business owners. "The Village Forum is a vital tool for the community groups within the village. Christine’s role has been greatly appreciated and has enabled meetings to take place supporting the community”, said representatives from the Cushendun and
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District Development Association. The forum quickly found it had urgent work to do to help their community through the pandemic. Christine has supported the group to get their meetings running online to sustain this vital connection and progress their plans. “The online meetings are working well now, and it has been invaluable to have local community groups, businesses and the National Trust work together to support the Village during Covid-19. Representatives have organised activities such as Zoom yoga classes, weekly quizzes, craft packs for children, virtual art classes and socially distanced pottery workshops for the community,” said Christine. Christine’s next goal is to set up a new National Trust Tenants group which she says will be a forum for meaningful tenant participation and will create opportunities for positive engagement for both tenants and the National Trust.
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Raising the Standard of Tenant Participation in Northern Ireland Supporting Communities has begun rolling out its new accreditation framework to housing providers in Northern Ireland. It is designed to provide social landlords with an objective measurement of their tenant participation activities through three standardised levels of accreditation: bronze, silver and gold.
TP Standards
Accreditation from Supporting Communities
BOTH TENANTS AND STAFF ARE INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS There are five stages to the tenant participation accreditation process including self-assessment, independent assessment and focus group input. All landlord accreditations are validated by an independent panel of trained assessors. Accreditations are awarded as bronze, silver or gold - each at a higher and lower level - and successful organisations are accredited for three years. Interested in learning more about accreditation from Supporting Communities? Email siobhan@supportingcommunities. org.
ABOUT TP ACCREDITATION The framework that we will be using to assess Tenant Participation (TP) Standards was first developed by our colleagues in TPAS Scotland. It recognises landlords that demonstrate excellence in tenant participation and provides an in-depth assessment of their engagement practices and activities. Most importantly, accreditation is a tool for continuous improvement.
Supporting Communities has adapted the Scottish model to reflect Northern Ireland's regulatory requirements and has created a unique scoring matrix aligned to Bronze, Silver and Gold. As the Independent Tenant Organisation for NI, we use accreditation to help landlords raise the bar for tenant participation and exceed the minimum standards as set out in the Tenant Participation Strategy NI. It also acts as a benchmark against other landlords in NI, RoI and across the UK.
How does your housing provider measure up? Ask about getting accredited by Supporting Communities!
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Wicklow, Waterford, Meath, and Kildare. They have an ambitious growth programme in response to the need for more housing.
Some members of Circle VHA's new Tenant Engagement Focus Gorup
Circle VHA Housing Becomes First RoI Member Supporting Communities’ membership is growing. Our trading arm, known as Empowering Communities, now has 16 housing associations in Northern Ireland and one new member in the Republic of Ireland. “We have been in the planning stages with Circle for a few months now,” said Siobhán ONeill, Tenant Participation and Engagement Officer at Supporting Communities. “The pandemic slowed our initial timeline a bit, but we are getting to work in earnest now." Liz Clarke, Head of Housing at Circle VHA, explained how her team came to Supporting Communities. “We were eager to find someone with tenant participation expertise that understood Irish housing. We had met with some consultants in the UK, but their approach didn’t match our experience.” Liz found Supporting Communities’ website and got in touch. After talking with Siobhán, she felt confident that she had the right match. “It’s important to have an understanding of our communities. Supporting Communities gave us confidence that they knew what our situation was and how to help us,” she said. Sheenagh McNally, Head of Corporate Services, is enthusiastic about her newest customers. “The staff and tenants at Circle VHA demonstrate a real desire to engage more effectively with each other. We've had some great discussions! I’m looking forward to continuing this dialogue in the new year."
Liz, who joined the organisation in 2018, is eager to work on their first full tenant engagement piece. “This is an exciting time for us to train our growing staff and board, and we look forward to taking on more dedicated tenant participation staff soon!” she said. John Hannigan, Circle’s CEO, said, “We are delighted to be working with Supporting Communities to develop our national Tenant Advisory Group and new Tenant Engagement Strategy. At Circle, we firmly believe that how we interact with our customers, communities, colleagues, and key stakeholders is of fundamental importance."
Excellent presentation. Tenant Participation is key to the future success and development for AHBs. AUDREY PURTELL, TENANCY SERVICES OFFICER AT CIRCLE VHA
Siobhán and Sheenagh began delivering training to tenants, staff, and board representation in November 2020. These sessions resulted in establishing a focus group to kick-start Circle’s new tenant engagement journey.
Circle Voluntary Housing Association, based in Dublin, has a staff of over 40 people managing approximately 1,800 homes in 16 local authorities, including Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Wexford,
The first meeting concentrated on forming a tenant advisory group and making plans for the New Year. They are looking forward to the next steps!
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Join 'The Amp'! Tell us what matters to you through a regular survey series Help us provide valuable data to decisionmakers who can make changes Win prizes for submitting surveys Amplify your voice! Sign up to be part of The Amp Survey Series for Northern Ireland! Go to supportingcommunities.org/the-amp and fill in the registration form today.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S MESSAGE In the last edition of SCENE, I reflected on my participation in the Emergency Leadership Group, a group established by DfC Minister Deirdré Hargey last March to develop a coordinated response to Covid-19. In this edition, I am delighted to report that I was recently appointed to sit on the Joint Government and Voluntary Sector Forum as part of the Voluntary and Community Sector Panel. This group, convened by NICVA, aims to ‘facilitate increased engagement and collaboration across the voluntary and community sector (VSC) to build effective partnership working between government and the VCS.’ The Joint Forum, which started in 1998, comprises representatives from central and local government and the voluntary and community sector with 15 representatives from across the VCSE sector serving three-year terms.
Although I have only participated in one meeting so far, I am looking forward to articulating on behalf of our vitally important grassroots sector and working with my panel colleagues to promote engagement, communication, and good practice. I also aim to improve the way government works with the V&C sector to deliver more effective outcomes and encourage the kind of joined-up approach that we have seen in our response to the pandemic over the past ten months. I intend to keep Supporting Communities members informed of any progress from the Panel and the Joint Forum through our usual communication channels including, our fortnightly E-zine and social media platforms.
More information about the Joint Forum can be found at https://www.nicva.org/groups/joint-government-andvoluntary-sector-forum