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Beyond housing – Talking point

With reviews of Supported People funding, welfare changes and the need to provide quality homes to meet the needs of an ageing population – older people’s housing providers have a lot to talk about

A NEW NETWORK of housing and support providers in South Wales is giving organisations the platform they need to share good practice and discuss challenging issues facing the sector.

Erosh, the national consortium for older people’s housing and support providers started life more than 15 years ago to support and professionalise the role of wardens in sheltered housing schemes.

Times are changing for the organisation, which now has a national voice championing the much wider remit of older people’s housing and support. With Esther Rantzen CBE as a newly appointed patron, its role within the sector continues to evolve as new challenges arise.

As the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales calls for homes to be ‘more than bricks and mortar’ and for increasing joined-up working between health and housing, the drive for us to share good practice is needed more than ever.

To support older people’s housing and support providers in South Wales, erosh has formed a new regional network in the area, which is already proving one of the most successful networks.

Erosh’s regional networks are based across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, giving members an opportunity to come together, share good practice, discuss issues and listen to guest speakers from support organisations in the sector.

Its South Wales regional network is one of the newest networks, having been set up in March 2012. The group has growing membership, with more than 25 housing associations and support agencies already represented.

Chair of the South Wales network and long-standing erosh member Angela Stacey, head of care and support at RCT Homes, explains how the growing interest in the Welsh network reflects the scale of change and challenge providers are facing.

‘Our members find the sessions really useful as they come together with other providers, professionals and support bodies to share experiences and learn from each other,’ she says. ‘With such big changes affecting support services in Wales over the coming months, following the Supporting People Review, this is invaluable.

‘The regular meetings allow us to share updates on ongoing issues such as fire safety, Supporting People Reviews, mobility scooter storage, and benefit changes. This allows us to monitor the effects they are having on members and discuss people’s different interpretations of issues.

‘Being part of a wider network of colleagues allows us to draw on their experiences. For example our peers in England have already undergone significant reductions in their SP funding. This is giving us an important insight into our review and how it can impact on services.’

The network meetings are quarterly and provide lively discussion around ‘hot topics’ with guest speakers.

Members take turns to host the meeting, which means the location changes, giving different organisations the opportunity to showcase their good practice and innovative projects.

Angela explains: To date we have had presentations on the work of the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Cymorth Cymru on working together to support older people in Wales, remodelling of sheltered schemes, feedback from the Supporting People Review in Wales and the role of the Regional Collaborative Committees.

‘Until this network was launched there wasn’t anywhere for people to share issues in the sector. People value the opportunity to get together and discuss common issues and come up with solutions. This network allows us to tap into information and solutions from across erosh’s networks. For example, we have been discussing issues around mobility scooter storage and erosh had published good practice guidance on this so we were able to access this to inform our discussions.’

Rebecca Mollart, chief executive of erosh, works closely with the regional networks ensuring they have access to the necessary support and good practice guidance.

She explains: The regional networks provide the opportunity to sit back and reflect on issues in the sector. It is easy to keep our heads down in our day-to-day jobs and not take the time to look beyond service delivery. Our regional network meetings give people the opportunity to step outside their organisation and meet peers to compare the issues affecting them against what is going on nationally.

‘The role of erosh has shifted from where we started, representing wardens to working with a much wider range of staff from frontline staff to those responsible for strategic management. Our agenda, whilst still retaining its focus on traditional sheltered housing, extends beyond this to include the whole range of models of delivering housing and support services to older people.

‘Working together allows us to harness our power as an organisation. With around 200 member organisations we have been able to make significant inroads to bring health and housing together, championing good practice and highlight the need to maintain funding streams for older people’s housing and support.’

To find out more information about erosh visit www.erosh.co.uk or call 01249 654 249


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