I have been in Glasgow for a week - an amazing city full of wonderful gothic architecture and friendly people. Glasgow is interesting - it was identified as having a significant proportion of Scotland's homeless, has the highest number of people affected by drugs or alcohol across the whole of the UK, but also is reported to have some of the best "high end" shopping in the north.
People have been very generous with their time and I have heard about an amazing arts program, Impact Arts, that works with young people using a variety of art and training programs to help them build a home. You can find out more about the range of programs run if you click here www.impactarts.co.uk
Yesterday, I spent the whole day meeting a group of really dynamic and committed health workers. Health has been a major lead in ending homelessness in Glasgow, led by a human dynamo, Alice Docherty, who started in 1991 working with homeless people as a Community Psychiatric Nurse, as she was concerned that they were missing out on services.
I will do a separate post on the health response to really drill in to what has been happening - it is worth investing time to explain what I have heard and learned.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Reflections from one week in the UK
I have now been in the United Kingdon for one week, having a couple of days getting over jet lag in the midlands, then starting work in London visiting homeless services and local government managers who contract homeless services.
What is clear is that the GFC has most definitely had a serious impact on funds available to work with homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. Hard decisions are having to be made about the type and quality of services that can be delivered on reduced funds. I hadn't realized how protected we had been in Australia. Whilst we have definitely been hit by the GFC, it is nothing like I am seeing in London.
I met with Jeremy Swain yesterday, the CEO of Thames Reach, a multifaceted service that has a wide range of programs that work with homeless people as well as those at risk. They have had to cut staff wages to keep their programs operating. The cuts have been from the top down, and gave me a real sense of how tough it is on the ground. Small services would be struggling to exist in this environment. I believe services are having to be creative to keep a strong footprint on the ground to keep working with their client group.
What is clear is that the GFC has most definitely had a serious impact on funds available to work with homeless people and those at risk of homelessness. Hard decisions are having to be made about the type and quality of services that can be delivered on reduced funds. I hadn't realized how protected we had been in Australia. Whilst we have definitely been hit by the GFC, it is nothing like I am seeing in London.
I met with Jeremy Swain yesterday, the CEO of Thames Reach, a multifaceted service that has a wide range of programs that work with homeless people as well as those at risk. They have had to cut staff wages to keep their programs operating. The cuts have been from the top down, and gave me a real sense of how tough it is on the ground. Small services would be struggling to exist in this environment. I believe services are having to be creative to keep a strong footprint on the ground to keep working with their client group.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)