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A Right Royal Affair
On Tuesday 20th July 2010, Forum Housing Association’s senior team had a day out! A day with a difference.
They had received invitations to attend a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace! With new outfits and haircuts, down to London they went. |
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The weather was glorious; the tea tent provided excellent food; the bands played beautifully and the gardens and lake were fantastic!
The Royal Family members, the Queen, Prince Phillip, Prince Charles, the Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Anne, all passed nearby, but alas, no-one stopped to speak. Nevertheless, a fabulous experience which had the team lost for words, a really rare event in itself!
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Big Lunches with the Association
During July the Association organised a number of Big Lunch Events through-out the boroughs in which we work.
For a full run down on what went on in your area and to see some photographs please click on the links below. |
Big Lunch Ellesmere Port
Big Lunch Wirral
Big Lunch Bootle - information coming soon
Big Lunch Southport - information coming soon
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Forum's Resident Reps Team Double Winners in Awards Stakes!
Forum’s Residents Representative Team have deservedly picked up 2 awards within 24 hours of each other, in an amazing show of commitment and passion last week.
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On Wednesday 23rd June, Amy Butterworth and her team Tony Fitzgerald, Chris O’Toole and Jordan Rawlinson, picked up the ‘Make Space Youth Team of the Year Award’ at the 4Children’s Stars Awards 2010. As finalists, they were invited to attend the very glamorous gala dinner in central London, hosted by BBC Political Correspondent Reeta Chakrabarti, the event was also attended by clinical psychologist and TV Personality, Linda Papadopoulos; Guardian columnist- Polly Toynbee and Chief Executive of Barnardo’s, Martin Narey.
Anne Longfield OBE, Chief Executive of 4Children, said: “No job is more important than caring for and inspiring our children and young people. Amy has achieved something remarkable and fully deserves the recognition that this award brings.’
In a haze of triumph and excitement, the team hardly had time to polish their new trophy when they were attending another ceremony in Liverpool! Held at The Crowne Plaza Hotel in Speke, the Merseyside Police Authority held an awards ceremony and awarded £3000 to the Association’s Project Panel in recognition of their outstanding contribution to community safety and crime reduction on the Wirral.
The Project Panel is a group of young people aged 16 to 25 who are supported and accommodated by Forum. They are democratically voted in by their peers on a six-monthly basis. The group has worked tirelessly to build a community further than just their project and challenge misconceptions and improve people’s knowledge of the real capacity of young people today. They achieved this through a range of innovative sessions designed and delivered by themselves with the support of Forum.
Chairman of Merseyside Police Authority, Cllr Bill Weightman said: “We are delighted to present the Forum Housing Project Panel with this award to honour their hard work and dedication to making their community a safer place. Merseyside Police Authority and Merseyside Police are committed to working in partnership with groups such as this to reduce crime across Merseyside.”
Our Chief Executive, Chris Allen, herself the 4Children’s Stars Lifetime Achievement Award Winner for 2009, had this to say of her team,
‘We are so excited and thrilled for the team. They do an excellent job within the Association, working alongside young residents, their contribution is amazing.’
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Access to young people's housing made easier
February 1st 2010, saw the exciting launch of Forum Housing Association’s Housing Solutions Service for young people in need of accommodation and support.
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The service was created following an extensive review in 2009 which looked at the journey for young people wishing to live with the Association. Forum spent time talking to stakeholders, pulling apart processes and considering new ways forward that continue to offer a quality service.
Supported by a Housing Solutions Team of enthusiastic and professional staff (pictured below), the service offers access to Forum’s accommodation, in addition to a growing need for advice and information.
Ringing free on 0800 234 6007 places young people straight through to the team 24 hours a day all year round. A telephone assessment is carried out which in most cases allows the Association to determine whether they can accommodate and allows applicants the opportunity to discuss where they wish to live.
Since the launch the team has been very busy offering a much improved, responsive, customer service. Forum is keen to continously improve and welcomes all feedback and opportunities to develop this service. Some early feedback from agencies and young people:
“it’s great that Forum have developed this service and are positively responding to change – its much easier for our clients to gain access to accommodation with one simple call now. Our Team have reported the new system is very efficient with excellent customer service and we wish more organisations would follow their example in customer led initiatives”
Julie Lomax, Deputy Manager
Wirral Council Housing Options
“In developing this new service Forum Housing Association responded well to early feedback from Response and our staff have found that when they speak to the Housing Solutions Team about a young person, they listen without judging, they are flexible, efficient and prepared to give young people a chance”.
Marie Charlesworth
Operations Manager, Response
"It was pretty quick and easy and friendly. The woman I spoke to talked and joked with me and it was quite nice. I came to see the Project I wanted to move into on the day I referred and thought it was brilliant, I was completely amazed!"
CP, New Resident
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The Matrix Accreditation Achievement...Forum Did It! |
During March the Association was assessed over a period of 3 days against the Matrix Standard. The Matrix Standard is the unique quality framework for the effective delivery of information, advice and guidance on learning and work.
The assessment process engaged 19 young people, 11 staff and 4 partner agencies. All of whom contributed to informing the assessor of the great information, advice and guidance we provide to those whom we serve.
The Assessor highlighted many strengths in our service delivery which included:-
‘Placing the young person at the centre of the support process’
‘Information, advice and guidance delivered through Forum staff is integral to everything that Forum does with its residents’
‘A major strength is the excellent understanding that staff have of the needs of young people’
‘ Engagement with, and the involvement of, young people is central to Forum’s ethos and there are a variety of mechanisms through which Forum staff successfully engage with young people and gain feedback about its services’
As an Association we strive for excellence in all that we do, we are committed to our own learning and development and to bringing improvements in service for young people wherever and whenever we can. The Association is proud to hold the Matrix Standard and is looking forward to further improving our service delivery.
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Angela Eagle MP congratulates Future Jobs Fund recruits from Forum Housing Association
Department for Works and Pensions Minister, Angela Eagle met 3 successful Future Jobs Fund recruits from Forum Housing Association at the jobs fair held at The BT Convention Centre, Liverpool, on Wednesday 10th March 2010.
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Debbie O’Connor, Andrew McCombe and Philip Burchardt, seen here with the local MP, had been originally employed with Forum through the £1bn Future Jobs Fund initiative, part of the Government’s Backing Young Britain campaign. This then led to full time employment with the local Housing Association.
Angela Eagle took the time during her visit to the jobs fair, to speak with the 3 successful recruits individually, congratulating them on their success. Speaking to Debbie O’Connor a newly appointed Business Support Assistant with Forum, Ms Eagle said that ‘the first steps are the hardest’.
Angela Eagle said, ‘We have invested £1bn on the Future Jobs Fund to not only provide job opportunities but also help young people learn new skills that will assist them for the rest of their working lives.
I have enjoyed meeting the recruits from Forum Housing Association to see how the investment is working. We are determined to give young people the help and support they need so their talent isn’t wasted and they can have confidence in their futures.’
Debbie O’Connor, said of her experience, ‘I had a fantastic morning and feel so privileged to be given the opportunity to prove my worth to society again.’
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