Your Own Place CIC

Your Own Place will be attending the launch of Norfolk Anti-Poverty Alliance. Zoe Webb, Jess Luce-Rackham and Bianca Tye are facilitating an activity to capture the voices and commitments of the people in the room - shaping a shared pledge for meaningful change. If you're attending, come and say 'Hi' and share your commitment!

We are thrilled to announce that Adam Clark will be stepping into the role of Chair of the Board of Non-Executive Directors. Adam brings with him a wealth of insight, ardent curiosity, and drive for social change, having previously held Director and Executive roles at Broadland Housing Association and North Star Housing. As a frontline member of staff, Adam was involved in supporting the delivery of Your Own Place early projects and remains focused on that founding purpose. "I am proud to take on the role of Chair at Your Own Place. Our mission to prevent homelessness by empowering people with financial and tenancy skills and confidence is more vital than ever. At a time of increasing polarisation and disconnection, the relationships and values at the heart of Your Own Place’s approach is increasingly needed. I am looking forward to supporting Your Own Place’s continued growth and impact.” ‎ Adam will be taking over from Interim Chair of the Board, Warren Gannaway, who graciously stepped into the role to support Zoe, Rebecca, Jess and the team during the CEO transition phase. Warren will continue in his role as a Non-Executive Director - Thank you for your ongoing support Warren. "I am thankful to Warren for the support and expertise he has provided as Your Own Place Interim Chair, especially during my transition as new CEO. Warren continues to be a valued and skilled Non-Executive Director at Your Own Place CIC and look forward to developing the ongoing relationship" Zoe Webb

Why we have stopped using the word "Case Study"? The dictionary definition is.... Case study - noun "A process or record of research into the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time." For the last 18 months, we have spent time in food banks across Norwich, Thetford and South Norfolk, working with people to build their financial resilience. As we have taken the time to build relationships with people and listen to what is going on for them, we've increasingly felt that this word doesn't fit with what we are doing. It's too clinical, it's not reflective of the relationships we've built, and it certainly doesn't feel like we are respecting the courage of a person to share an insight into their personal situation. With a commitment to sharing peoples' experiences, written 'with' them, not 'about' them, anything shared will be owned by the person and shared in a human way. Please take the opportunity to read some of the experiences people have kindly shared with us already... Bianca Tye Mike Barton Emily Newman Caroline Moore Hannah Worsley Norwich Foodbank Zoe Webb Jess Luce-Rackham

What books have you read recently, that have given you a chance to view your work and approaches through a different lens? We recently created the ✨ Your Own Place CIC Library ✨  and the team contributed titles that really resonated with them so that we can continue to develop our hive mind. Our favourites and top recommendations include: 📗 "The Alternative: Most of what you believe about poverty is wrong" by Mauricio Miller 📗 "Corporate Rebels: Make work move fun" by Joost Minnaar and Pim de Morree 📗 "Radical Help: How we can remake the relationships between us and revolutionise the welfare state" by Hilary Cottam Can you think of any others we should be including?

💚 Goodbye Johnson Place! 🧡 At the end of February, Your Own Place CIC will be moving on from "The Training Flat" A huge thank you to Norwich City Council for believing in the value of delivering tenancy sustainment workshops directly from a social housing property. As our offers have evolved over the last few years - to being more present in the community, alongside delivering workshops - it only feels right to hand back the keys for a new tenant to create a home here. Once we've moved and settled in our new place, we'll update you further.

Charlene's courage to share her experience of the Steps to Tenancy Success project in partnership with SNG (Sovereign Network Group) 💚 The project focuses on delivering tailored digital support to tenants so they feel more confident in facing barriers to keeping their home. As part of the offer, Sovereign Network Group have created unique support package for tenants, including providing digital connectivity, which promotes access to the workshops and continues to strengthen relationships with tenants. After completing the support offer, tenants have shared just how valuable this support package has been...

💨 Our January Round-up 💨 Here is what the team got up to in January... 💨 Beth Esmond has been facilitating small group and 1-2-1 sessions with young people that are due to leave care or are unaccompanied asylum seeking children made possible by our Aviva funded Future Chances project. They have been covering a range of employment, housing, and money-related content. During one of the sessions at Norwich International Youth Project NIYP, a participant shared the Kurdish words to some of the topics discussed, a wonderful moment of shared learning between them and Beth. 💨 Emily and Belinda have been running workshops for young people at Colchester Institute, designed to support them with money and housing knowledge, skill, confidence, and resilience. They included exploring managing money, understanding bills and payslips, increasing knowledge around borrowing money, and knowing where to get support when needed. 💨 We’ve been continuing to offer small groups and 1-2-1 support for those we’ve met via food hubs. We’ve done a lot of sessions supporting people to work on the budgeting methods that work for them, reflecting on what has worked well, what they want to change, and how they’re going to do it. One participant created a beautiful budgeting board for themselves. All made possible by our partnerships with Trussell, Norwich Foodbank, Saffron Housing Trust Limited, and Multiply by Norfolk County Council 💨 We ran two workshops with Sanctuary Supported Living residents in Supported Living accommodations. The aim of both was to equip residents with the money and tenancy knowledge, confidence, skills, and resilience to access and sustain a home. One of the many highlights was hearing what participants look forward to having when they have their own, safe space. For more information on our offers, check out www.yourownplace.org.uk

Want to make a difference? Contribute to homelessness prevention? Honour the value of community? Build your skills? We are looking for a Non-Executive Director to join our Board We are looking for people who care about people and our mission. People who are not afraid to ask questions, who want to understand and will go on a quest to find the answers. We are looking for people who recognise the strength of being a social enterprise and are excited to contribute. If you’re interested in applying - contact our Office Manager, Bianca at officemanager@yourownplace.org.uk, who can share more information and the application pack

Want to make a difference? Contribute to homelessness prevention? Honour the value of community? Build your skills? We are looking for a Non-Executive Director to join our Board A message from our CEO Zoe Webb: “As the new CEO, I am thrilled to have joined Your Own Place and am excited about the changes on the horizon and how we can develop as a social enterprise. I am looking for Board Members who will add value through their knowledge and skill set, who understand governance, join the dots, make introductions and will strategically support Your Own Place through the current and future transitions to achieve our mission.” If you’re interested in applying - contact our Office Manager, Bianca at officemanager@yourownplace.org.uk, who can share more information and the application pack

Building relationships and inclusion is at the heart of everything we do at Your Own Place, so following the introduction of The Charter for Social Housing Residents, it felt like an obvious choice to work with housing association landlords to capture tenant voices. Why? Because strategic, organisational change happens as a result of co-produced solutions with the people who are receiving the service. We know communities are a wealth of assets and are best placed to identify the appropriate solutions. Our workshop delivery style is designed to create safe, non-judgemental spaces so that people feel comfortable to open up and share their thoughts and experiences. Our visual, hands-on method for collecting information means spotting themes and summarising feedback is easy. To find out more about our Tenant Engagement offer on our website - https://lnkd.in/eDtiaaH6 Thank you to Rebecca Claydon at Freebridge Community Housing for being a huge advocate of the work we do together, and to Saffron Housing Trust Limited tenants for their honest feedback on the sessions.