rebecca

An Election coming might be a time to rethink foodbanks. Many people have found their stride working or volunteering in foodbanks over the last few years.  It’s a boom industry. In turn, (and we’re delighted to have played our part training Trussell Trust volunteers as well as visitors to foodbanks), people have got so much more than just food. Communities and individuals have developed new skills, found jobs, made connections, got and given help and created new more resilient communities.  

You’ll no doubt be aware of foodbanks’ meteoric rise to infamy for all the wrong reasons.  On our high streets, in under-used ecclesiastical buildings and community centres also used for Zumba and Pilates, the Trussell Trust alone has now distributed 3.1 million food vouchers with 3628 of those being in Norwich during 2023.  17% of families are food insecure and 4.7 million people are in food poverty. 

However, the Trussell Trust in particular wants to put themselves out of ‘business’ and at the time of potentially massive political upheaval, it is, well, a timely conversation. 

Is ending the need for foodbanks possible and is it even desirable?  

What would our communities look like without foodbanks?

What might we lose?  

I am reminded of a conversation with a friend.  She volunteered on the phone during Covid19, speaking to people who were isolated.  At this time, going to a foodbank was not an option and many people’s situations deteriorated. She told me of one older woman she spoke to, with almost no training, but who, she quickly became aware, needed mental health support.  My friend, untrained, but full of compassion and common sense, stayed in touch with her, whilst the rusty cogs of the state kicked into action.  Not without trying to pass the buck back to my friend and asking her to make the introduction, such was the woman’s situation that she didn’t want to pick up the phone to the authorities, help was finally sourced. It could have gone horribly wrong and from what my friend says about what she did, she did a lot right, including asking some great questions at the right time and recognising when the time for questions was done and the woman needed help. She was lonely.

So whilst foodbanks have become a part of the landscape, what my conversation with my friend reminded me of, and I’m old enough to remember this, is the gaps they fill in the services we’ve lost.  The neighbourhood housing offices, the SureStart centres, youth clubs and community venues – with food as the hook, foodbanks are now in this space with poverty driving demand.  What many don’t see, is that as well as Your Own Place supporting people with the most obvious and presenting need of financial inclusion support, you’ll also find someone from Shelter, the British Red Cross, Citizens Advice, AgeUK as well as the friendly face of a volunteer with at least a cup of tea (possibly a cheese straw), a crêche, a warm space, possibly a WiFi connection – all at a foodbank. 

1 in 4 people will experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England, at least 309,000 people are homeless, Citizens Advice are seeing record numbers of people in debt and 1 in 4 older people suffer with isolation. If we lose foodbanks we lose spaces that have become a rarity in our communities – a place to come together, meet our neighbours, build communities, learn about available help from our peers, get warm, use the WiFi and more.  Add in your local authority or association housing officer and some wellbeing help, and you’ve got nearly the whole complement of a community.

So maybe their meteoric rise isn’t all bad, or at least, we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bathwater after whatever happens on July 4th.  We should aim to eradicate the demand whilst recognising that they present us with a model to build on and invest in. For the volunteers, the people that work there, local employers and services, local authorities, housing associations, you, me and those that visit them, they are an opportunity to come together and connect. We might develop new skills, be part of creating or finding jobs, make new connections with our neighbours, proactively get as well as give help as equals and play a role in new more resilient communities.

Well now you can with Train the Trainer dates now available from July

With our flexible Train the Trainer offer there is now the opportunity to embed the Your Own Place tenancy sustainment and money support approaches and knowledge in your organisation as well as have access to a vault of resources, workshop plans and support.

Your Own Place has built a stellar reputation for its delivery of Train the Trainer workshops. 

With a proven track record of developing colleagues in housing associations, supported housing and the third sector to become confident and empathic trainers in their own right, our workshops are designed to provide comprehensive money, housing and tenancy knowledge, practical training skills, and engagement techniques that inspire confidence in supporting your tenants and residents.

Whether it’s our use of neuro-diverse friendly Pinpoint facilitation that’s always intrigued you, or the coaching, restorative and asset-based approaches, or maybe the content of a budgeting session, together we’ll take a Show-Do-Review approach as you build your skills as a confident facilitator.

Options to train include a spot purchase option (four three-hour workshops in Norwich with the first two coming as a package) as well as more bespoke group workshops if you want us to train up a whole team and come to you – anywhere in the country.

Spot purchase participants will be able to book immediately onto the first two or all four workshops.

Join us at Your Own Place to reach more people to make a difference in preventing homelessness and experience the transformative power of our Train the Trainer workshops firsthand.
Visit our webpage to book your spot purchase place now.

On 31st August this year Rebecca, CEO and founder of Your Own Place CIC, will be leaving to pastures new, leaving behind an organisation that has impacted 1000s of lives in its quest to prevent homelessness – near and far. 

Working as a trading social enterprise, Your Own Place counts all sectors among its friends, customers and partners in delivering services that support people, often on the cusp of losing their home or actually rough sleeping. In equipping people to find their own solutions and to recognise their strengths as a means to taking more support and knowledge on board, the aim of Your Own Place has always been to be a bit different from crisis and more traditional charitable services. 

And this has been the driving mission of Rebecca. Rebecca experienced a career observing short-term, often inequitable fixes that did little to see long-term change for people left behind through no fault of their own. 

Rebecca says ‘I’m proud of the last decade, working against many odds, sticking to my guns, and alongside many wonderful people inside and outside the team to create a culture of compassion and a sustainable social business. I will enjoy looking from afar at what the next decade brings to an organisation that sadly is more needed than ever’. 

For now it’s business as usual and Your Own Place will be recruiting a new CEO from 2nd April.