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12
Nov
2019
New partnership supporting homeless people into long term housing gets started this month

New partnership supporting homeless people into long term housing gets started this month

Kineara is partnering with Cromwood Housing and Bexley Council to deliver a five year project supporting single people in temporary accommodation (TA) in the borough with private accommodation and additional holistic support to break the cycle of homelessness.

The ambitious project, called Opening Doors, aims to tackle the cycle of homelessness by providing flexible mid-to-long term support to access and sustain private accommodation, alongside the provision of private housing ready for people to move into.

Bexley has seen a significant rise in homelessness and TA across the borough in the last 5 years, with an expected 1,600 people living in TA in the borough by the end of 2019, putting increasing pressure on Council budgets. In addition, loss of private accommodation is now the single most cited reason for homelessness, reflecting trends across London and across the country.

Resettling

Kineara’s holistic and tailored programme, called Resettling, will provide wellbeing, therapeutic and practical support, including accessing work and training opportunities, exploring and addressing personal and social barriers, mentoring, support with managing tenancies and finances, and more.

This is the first project in which Kineara has the opportunity to support people on a journey from homelessness into sustained housing with an accommodation offer included, having developed and delivered eviction prevention and tenancy sustainment interventions with housing associations across east London for the last 7 years (find out more about RSP, RSP+ and Reframe).

Maria Morgan, director and founder of Kineara, said:

“Kineara is super excited that Bexley Council have welcomed us into the borough to service the residents of Bexley. We have been given a great opportunity alongside Cromwood Housing to support people living in temporary accommodation into secure housing. The programme is designed to ensure that any issues preventing a person sustaining their tenancy is acknowledged and addressed. Partnership is an integral part of our work with people, the local community and the service surrounding the community, and we look forward to working alongside the people and services of Bexley.”

To find out more about the project, click here or visit Bexley Council’s webpage about the programme.

For any enquiries about the project, contact openingdoors@bexley.gov.uk

Posted by kineara
22
Aug
2019
Practitioner insight: 5 ways to help a young person deal with exam results stress

Practitioner insight: 5 ways to help a young person deal with exam results stress

Having received their exam results, many students across the country will be experiencing feelings of joy and relief, exceeding their own expectations and looking forward to their next ventures. But for those who didn’t achieve as well, feelings of stress, disappointment and uncertainty will begin to loom over them. 

The evident pressure put on young people during exam season, be it from the school, family or themselves, can often impact greatly on pupil wellbeing in school and out. To this end, many schools have introduced, and are doing exceptional work in the run up to exam season – including mental health and wellbeing provision; from equipping students with effective tools and strategies to cope with exam stress, utilising online resources, and providing professional, specialist support for pupils and teachers alike.

But what can we do on an individual level to support a young person deal with the impact of results day?  Here are our five top tips from parents, young people and our own education support practitioners who each bring a unique perspective.

1. Celebrate the wins

Feelings of stress or disappointment are completely normal during this time, and though it’s important to give them space to come to terms with it all, you can help them remember how far they’ve come and what they’ve achieved in school and out.

Having delivered multiple careers related talks at schools and colleges, Tam, Comms Officer at Kineara, says: ”By talking about extra-curricular activities or achievements outside of school, you will be reminding them that there’s more to life than exams and that there’s no one route to success. It’s important to nurture the idea of celebrating small wins, whatever they may be, to maintain motivation and broaden your aspirations.”

2. Don’t add to the pressure

It’s important not to offer immediate judgement or even solutions, rather give them time to accept their feelings, whatever they are.

“I think the most important message is that no emotion is ‘good’ or ‘bad’, it’s what you do with it that counts,” says former Motivate to Educate (M2E) practitioner Roz. “Letting a child know that we all feel angry, worried or sad sometimes and letting them accept these feelings without judgment is a real gift. It’s so important to support a child in being able to talk about their feelings by making conversations with emotion-words part of daily life.”

3. Help them explore their strengths and individuality

In delivering M2E, one of the key learnings for our practitioners has been in adapting their support approach to cultivate the unique strengths of the individual pupil. This is done through active listening and enabling the young person to make decisions and empower themselves.

“If one tried their best in a particular exam and still didn’t do so well, consider what their strengths are perhaps in a different subject,” says Elle, Head Tutor at EDS Education. “It’s not the end of the world and young people shouldn’t feel pressured to do well in a particular subject which their parents might expect them to. For example, I have a student who is great at maths but not so much in Science. It’s about finding your strengths are and celebrating them.”

Zak, a Youth Panellist at YoungMinds, adds that it’s crucial not to compare students to their peers: “Someone may graduate at 21, but can’t find a job until 25. Someone else may graduate a year or two later – perhaps due to taking a gap year or retaking a year – and then find a job immediately upon graduating. Everyone is on their own journey.”

4. Talk to them about their feelings

Our practitioners use a wide variety of tools in tackling worry and anxiety in pupils, such as the use of bubble wrap, practicing breathing and relaxation techniques, tailor-made emotion cards and daily post-it notes for both the child and parent to express how they are feeling.

M2E practitioner Davinia says: “Art making has been a useful tool for helping children access and express difficult memories. Using materials that allow a child or young person to make mess, should they want to, creates a freedom to access these memories and to begin to make sense of them.”

Roz adds, “Talk about how characters feel in films and books, why and what they could do about it. This way a child or young person will learn not to judge their emotions but to acknowledge and express them usefully.” Whether it’s through art or a different creative outlet, help a young person explore their feelings and let them know you’re there for them.

5. Encourage them to stay positive and motivated

Sometimes it helps to step back from it all and be hopeful about the future, no matter the outcome. This may involve helping them reflect on key learnings or what could have gone better, but more importantly, encouraging them to celebrate and plan some fun activities they can look forward to.

Head tutor at EDS Education, Elle, was pleased to find so many of her students receiving high grades in their exams, however, one student didn’t get the exact grade she wanted. “The advice I would give is not to be disappointed and understand that everything is a learning process. You need to think and reflect on your grades. Ask yourself why did this happen? What could you have done differently to better your grade? Did you plan your revision timetable? Once you’ve answered these kind of questions, you can take your next step in further education.”

What’s more, studies show that positive mindset yields a higher sense of wellbeing and fulfilment, as well as practising self-determination and having a sense of control over one’s life. Director of Kineara, Maria Morgan, says: “There’s nothing stronger than recognising and accepting where you are to move forward.”

Posted by kineara
22
Feb
2019
Shortlisted as an ERA finalist!

Shortlisted as an ERA finalist!

Yesterday we received the brilliant news that we have been shortlisted as a finalist by the Education Resource Awards, and we are incredibly honoured to be recognised for our work in education over the last couple of years.

We’ve been shortlisted for the Collaboration between School and Supplier Award for our partnership with Harrington Hill Primary School in Hackney, which began back in early 2017 and has been going strong since with thanks to the dedication of Kineara practitioner Roz, the guidance of our M2E lead, Gail, and the openness of headteacher Kirsty – as well as all the staff at Harrington Hill.

Over that time, we’ve worked with seventeen families to provide M2E programmes – intensive, 1:1 and holistic family support interventions for a variety of emotional and practical needs, using tailored interventions that help to build confidence and motivation for school, develop emotional awareness and communication, and support families within the home to improve wellbeing, communication and ease practical challenges such as housing insecurity or mental health.

We’ve also been delivering unique, free drop in sessions for both parents/carers of pupils at the school, and for school staff, as part of our broader approach to school support that offers a wraparound support service for differing needs. It has been well used and has become very valued by the school, and is an example of how Harrington Hill have integrated wellbeing and support services not only for their pupils but for the whole school community.

We are very proud to be among the many other businesses, schools and organisations in the shortlist which are working to improve school life and education for children and young people.

We wish good luck to everyone, and offer a huge thanks to Harrington Hill for the fantastic collaboration we’ve built together.

Find out more about M2E.

Find out how M2E has made a difference in Harrington Hill.

Posted by kineara
09
Jan
2019
Reflections on Reimagining Rent: 1 year on

Reflections on Reimagining Rent: 1 year on

One year on from starting the Reimagining Rent programme, Kineara’s director Maria Morgan talks about our progress since leaving their first cohort of participants, and how the programme has helped us develop our Rent Support Programme (RSP+), a new and upcoming venture aiming to reduce evictions for vulnerable tenants in the private rented sector using holistic support.

How did you find the Reimagining Rent programme?

The Young Foundation (YF) found me actually, which is amazing! Last year, Kineara held a workshop with Azuko and Poplar Harca, where we invited professionals and practitioners across the housing sector to discuss how we could improve the journey through temporary housing. It was during the workshop that I met Radhika Bynon from YF and she told me about Reimagining Rent and encouraged me to apply. I asked when the deadline was and she said, “today!” So I went home and started the application straightaway.

It’s the best thing we did because prior to that we were delivering the programme on a much smaller scale, and only really working with organisations who already knew about us, stayed with us and continued to renew their partnerships with us. It was a blessing that we made it onto the programme at such short notice, and it was exactly what we needed to elevate our work. The most exciting thing about Reimagining Rent is the common desire to make the private rented sector work better for vulnerable people, and that’s certainly what we’re all about at Kineara.

How have you been reimagining Kineara and the Rent Support Programme (RSP)?

The inspiration for our programmes comes from the FIP (Family Intervention Project) model: a dedicated keyworker approach with intensive, purposeful intervention. I took the ethos of the FIP model as the foundation to write Kineara’s first programme, the RSP, viewing rent arrears as a trigger issue and shortening the intervention. But we wrote RSP in 2011, before the housing crisis had become so entrenched and before the worst of the welfare reforms. So I had to ask myself: how can RSP continue to make a difference in the changing context of housing?

At the same time, I’d been thinking about how to scale up Kineara’s work and expand our reach but also take the programme into the private sector for vulnerable tenants. It took time for the idea to fully form and it finally came when I was sitting in a Reimagining Rent session listening to a speaker, I think it was Susan Aktemel actually. I was listening to her and then OMG! The penny dropped.

We’re now beginning to have conversations with Local Authorities about RSP+ and I don’t yet know the outcome of this work, but we’re motoring ahead and wishing for the best. I hope that RSP+ can be duplicated across councils. I’d like our original RSP to be resurrected within housing providers too, and working on scaling up all of Kineara’s work, which was one of the drivers for me joining Reimagining Rent.

As an organisation, we are reshuffling the way we do things to make it more efficient. I have an amazing team full of great people. We are all in it together and Kineara is not a one man band. I’ve been so blessed to have such amazing people to go join me on this journey.

It’s been exciting to see the development of the Rent Support Programme Plus (RSP+) pilot in the last few months. Can you explain more about the new model we are piloting?

First of all, it is about working with Local Authorities to connect, support and engage both landlords and private tenants in their boroughs. Many councils have now introduced Landlord Licensing Schemes and accreditation schemes to help improve standards, and most do offer some form of advice line for private tenant in insecure tenancies or who are threatened with homelessness.

Of course, our RSP is not a silver bullet for all housing issues. But I asked myself, how can we build on the kind of support we’ve delivered with our social housing tenants in the past and extend it to the most vulnerable tenants in the PRS? As far as I could see, there were no other services providing this offer. So the first part of this pilot is to offer RSP to council’s and work with them to strengthen their relationship with private landlords, offering alternative options to issuing Section 21’s, preventing additional costs to the council in the form of re-housing, temporary accommodation and the rest, as well as, of course, preventing homelessness for households.

If you live in a council property, there is a far greater obligation to work things out with the tenant when problems arise such as rent arrears. It made me reflect on why a private landlord want to pay for a service like RSP when they can issue a Section 21 and have a brand-new paying tenant come into their property. This is why our delivery model is much stronger working with Local Authorities and they can also save a lot of money by participating. The difference between RSP and RSP+ is that the original programme is delivered for social housing tenants where the housing association pays for the intervention, whereas in RSP+ the Council invests in the programme, offering landlords a route away from eviction via our service and enabling intensive support to be delivered to private sector tenants whose vulnerability often goes under Local Authorities’ radar until a households’ needs become urgent.

Finally, do you have any advice for this year’s cohort?

My advice to them is be open.

Sometimes we can defend what we know and we miss out on learning something new – it’s a trap I have fallen into. Just let go and be open to allow your mind to think, take in new ideas and think creatively. And use the room, use the space, use the people around you. If you immerse yourself in that experience you will get so much more from it. It was the best thing that we’ve done as Kineara. It has really elevated our thinking. And I would say to everybody, enjoy it and make the most of it!

The group are very varied which is amazing. They seem to be coming from different perspectives but have the same goal, which is working to make the private rented sector better for vulnerable people, including those on low incomes. It’s also a useful opportunity to reflect on where society is at. There are so many changes in the UK, and it’s important that we have a strong foundation and identity about what we are doing, but have the flexibility to meet changing needs.

I would like to also say thanks to The Young Foundation for delivering such an impactful programme. Looking at the cohort that I was part of as well as the new cohort of participants, the ideas people are developing are pretty incredible and being introduced to investors who are willing and keen to support projects with a social purpose is awesome.

All the best to the new cohorts!

…

You can read the blog in full on the Young Foundation’s website.

Posted by kineara
20
Dec
2018
Looking back at 2018: A Year of Transformation

Looking back at 2018: A Year of Transformation

Here at Kineara we’ve had an extremely busy, exciting and breakthrough year, which we wanted to share with all our friends who have helped us get to December 2018 with so many more things to look forward to in2019.

We started off with the publication of our new look website and our first Impact Report back in January, which collected all the outcomes of Kineara’s work in housing, education and employment since we started back in 2013.

Soon after, Maria took Kineara to the Young Foundation’s excellent Reimagining Rent programme, a support programme for social business with big ideas on tackling vulnerability in the private rental sector. Needless to say, the programme brought us more than new knowledge – we’ve built friendships with innovators across the sector whose projects are really making a difference in tackling insecurity vulnerability and marginalisation in the housing sector, just when it is needed the most.

In May, we launched a new housing support programme called Reframe with Southern Housing Group, to deliver mid-length intensive interventions with SHG residents whose tenancies have become insecure and require specialist key worker support. This project has kept us busy across London working with families with all kinds of complex mental health and support needs, and runs alongside our tailored employment support programme, also in SHG, which offers specialised employment support for those with complex needs.

Soon after that, we welcomed two new members of the Kineara family to serve as our Board of Advisors, Radhika Bynon and Chuks Aguocha. We are lucky to have advisors with such vast experience, knowledge and commitment to social change for the most under-served communities. At the same time, we also rounded up our year-long Resident Voice project with Poplar Harca and Azuko, where we delivered research and insight on how best housing and rent teams could support their most vulnerable residents.

In June, we moved into our wonderful new office in Bethnal Green, which has become our team hub and a place to gather, work and share –our team is made up of tenacious and independent workers whose work means they are often in many places across London in the week, so our office has become important to us being able to build for the future. It is a space we share with community groups and other employment support services, so we feel very at home.

In the meantime, we’ve continued to deliver Motivate to Educate programmes in primary schools, and added ‘Our Space’ drop in sessions for teachers and staff to our school wraparound service. This concept came after our M2E practitioners, who had been running open, free drop in sessions for parents, noticed that members of the school staff were also in desperate need of spaces to share, get guidance, and find additional support. What our practitioners have been seeing in the schools they work in has been borne out in recent studies that have shown teacher wellbeing decreasing in recent years, as they struggle with stretched resources, low pay, and high housing costs.

By the time July came around, we were ready to hire new staff to support our growing organisation; we’ve been lucky enough to find brilliant new practitioners, Sandra and Rujia, and fantastic new Communications support from Tamanna, who has been busy showcasing our work to the online world.

Finally, in late September and after much grit and graft from our Director, we successfully secured an investment from Sumerian Partners to enable us to build our infrastructure, scale-up, take on new partnerships, and grow further. We are extremely thankful for the investment and offer of support from our new partners. Since then, we’ve also been putting foundations in place to take our flagship support, the Rent Support Programme (RSP), to the private sector. RSP Plus is an idea we had been incubating for some time and we’re looking forward to piloting the work in the New Year. We have been working hard on the planning of this project – watch this space!

As we move into the new year, we want to thank everyone of our partners who have worked diligently with us to provide the best support; the families and children who have been brave enough to let us in and open their lives to us; and to all our supporters and friends who have helped us over the course of the year with advice, knowledge, and collaboration – you know who you are and we thank you!

Posted by kineara
09
Dec
2016

Congratulations to Maria, SEUK’s Women’s Champion!

seuk-awards-2016-winnerWe are absolutely delighted to announce that last week, our director Maria Morgan was awarded the prize of Women’s Champion at Social Enterprise UK’s annual awards ceremony.

 

We can’t imagine a more deserving winner than Maria, who founded Kineara social enterprise in 2012 and has dedicated an incredible amount of energy, determination and love in creating what Kineara has become today.

 

Posted by kineara