West Midlands landlords join forces 'to smash social barriers'

Social housing landlords in the West Midlands have joined forces at a city summit to smash social barriers.

Whitefriars Housing Group, Orbit Housing Group and Midland Heart Group have been tackling problems such as debt, unemployment, hate crime and racial abuse head-on as part of the Midlands Cohesion project.

The project aims to build communities by finding and sharing practical solutions to problems that can lead to a breakdown of neighbourhoods.

To recognise the work completed throughout 2009, experts from the health, education and local authority sectors came to learn from the region’s largest housing providers plus others and celebrate their achievements at an event held at the Nishkam Centre, Soho Road, Handsworth.

Delegates attended in-depth sessions to increase their knowledge on topics including tackling financial exclusion, creating successful mixed-tenure neighbourhoods, giving frequently ignored groups a voice and engaging with specific deprived communities to help break down barriers caused by differences such as age and ethnicity.

Coventry-based Whitefriars Housing Group was one of seven organisations to take part in the event.

For 2009/10, Whitefriars, working with Gedling Homes, specifically focussed on tackling financial exclusion by finding new ways to signpost people, who are struggling with finances, to the local service they need.

Its achievements include producing a pack of 35 debt advice cards tailored to local areas in Coventry. These are used to help residents find the right advice quickly on things such as claiming benefits, finding employment and accessing credit unions.

The roll out of the scheme follows an announcement made by Citizens Advice this month that £16bn of benefits and tax credits go unclaimed in the UK every year. This is because people find the system too complex or do not know what they are entitled to.

Professor Richard Tomlins, a nationally recognised expert in community cohesion, has been leading the programme. He said: “It is important for organisations to have the opportunity to share their experience and learn about creating positive diverse communities.

"Many of the barriers that people face don’t need to be there, but the key to removing them is understanding why they exist. This project gives the chance for people to share and discover best practice in a practical way.”

Rachel Hobbs, director of housing services at Whitefriars Housing Group, said: “Over the years while taking part in the Midlands Cohesion programme we have run projects to tackle issues from domestic violence to fire safety. This year it seemed timely to find a way to help people that are excluded from communities because of money problems.

“Without the right advice it can be difficult for people to find out what services are available to them. So we developed the cards to help people through the maze of money advice services available. We recognise that our customers are individuals with individuals needs; this project is all about meeting those needs in a personal way.”

Organisations that took part in the 2009 Midlands Cohesion Project include Whitefriars Housing Group, Orbit Housing Group, Midland Heart Group, Gedling Homes, Aspire Housing, Sandwell Council and West Midlands Police.

Any other organisations which would like to learn about best practice in social cohesion can take part in the 2010/11 Midlands Cohesion project. For more details contact Fiona Hall on 07876 205898 or Joan Oates on 07977 192223 at Cohesia Ltd.

Picture shows Katie Moran from Whitefriars Housing Group with the new debt advice cards.