Ed Rogers - Community Campus 87 in
The task: To work alongside the professional youth workers in a voluntary sector housing project.
Manager’s Report: The first week was spent with the housing support team in Middlesbrough, a team whose focus is to house 16-25 year olds in need of support and guidance. Ed had the opportunity to see the young people in the accommodation, work with the Care and Repair Team helping in maintaining the quality and safety of the properties. He also sat in on the allocations process which left him to reflect on the choice we make in selecting somebody and by not selecting somebody for the project. For every referral we house we are not housing another three young people, Ed was able to witness the efforts of the staff and trustees, working on a Sunday, and gained a valuable insight into the resourcing of the project and the hopes and hurdles of a variety of funding streams.
Within the first week Ed also spent some time on our Allotment Project which is the site that we work with five excluded pupils from a local school. Ed contributed to digging the hole for our new cesspit, a role which he put his back into.
On the Sunday he attended our management development day and willingly contributed his views, ideas and knowledge. He reflected on the commitment of the staff and trustees – working on a Sunda, and gained a valuable insight into the resourcing of the project and the hopes and hurdles of a variety of funding streams.
The second week saw Ed working with the Key Skills Project helping design a flyer for a new training house and a small poster based on the theme ‘more than just a roof’. On his final day he worked with the Youth Project working with other young people to prepare and serve a two course lunch to young people and staff, again Ed took this in his stride and worked well as part of a team.
Ed’s Report: This has now been my third and final placement for the Rank Foundation. Due to the ever increasing need for me to work harder for my exams I chose to postpone my placement until the summer after my exams and to then do a two week placement. I informed Rank of that decision and was subsequently sent a letter informing that yet again I as going “up north”.
I had very few expectations on the journey up and did not know what was ahead of me. I had received information on Community Campus ’87 in the post and had read through the leaflets and the like, but I had little understanding of what they actually did. Upon arrival I was collected y Carl Ditchburn, director of CC87, and filled in on the ins and outs of homelessness in the North-East of England – the reasons, the consequences and what Campus do to help.
The first few days I spent working in their Middlesbrough office. I helped out at the community allotment (I never knew digging a cess-pit could be so much fun), I measured door, window and glass sizes for the housing database and I compiled a form for future “measurers”. I also had several opportunities to go and visit various tenants in their accommodation. This gave me an insight into their lives and into a whole different world to mine. I was also allowed to listen in on the application procedure as people explained why they were looking for accommodation and the issues that they were facing. Along with these opportunities I was also given a guided tour of Middlesbrough’s “finest” housing estates – this was an eye opener as the North-East has some of the most deprived areas in the country.
After a very wet day-off seeing (albeit through the mist) the sights of Whitby followed by a change of hosts, it was back to work. I spent Sunday observing and listening in on a management meeting, which was discussing future plans for the organisation. This gave me a great insight into the voluntary sector, how it works and the troubles that they face in their day to day decision making. (The meeting and consequently free lunch also gave me the opportunity to taste a local gastronomic “delight” known as Chicken Parmesan. This parmesanless dish is made of ½ kilo of chicken thickly coated in breadcrumbs and oozing in an inch thick layer of cheese –( rarely am I defeated by the food on my plate!)
I spent the next few days observing the Key Skills group and working in the Stockton office. Key Skills are a sub-group of Community Campus that are responsible for the renovation and upkeep of the CC87 properties and also keeping the tea import companies in business. I also produced a flyer for their new Training House, developed some of the ideas that had been brought up in the management meeting and drafted various other documents for the Key Skills group. Due to my new host’s lack of automated transport and my new working location, I now had the opportunity to put Middlesbrough’s public transportation system to the test. To cut a long story short it took me 3 hours to do a 45 minute journey and lead me to the conclusion that the Soviets were right and that Tashkent still has the best public transport system in the world – even if it is somewhat temperamental!
On my final day I had the pleasure of assisting in providing lunch for various tenants and Campus workers. This was another great opportunity to meet some more of the staff and tenants and find out some more information about Campus from lower down in the chain of command. To date and to my knowledge no-one has complained about the food yet, although it is only 3 hours since they ate it …
In conclusion, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I am leaving exhausted, but happy. The 2 weeks have given me the opportunity to catch a brief glimpse of life in the voluntary sector although I fully understand that I have only really scratched the surface. I have learned many things about homelessness in the North-East and Britain as a whole – and have a much fuller understanding of what needs to be done and how this can be achieved.