Investing in Communities

Sue Coulson, Group Director of Housing and Communities, DCH Group

15/04/2023 1

DCH Group

Delivering great customer service

Investing in our communities

Growing our business

15/04/2023 3

Community Investment

DCH are a commercial business with a strong social ethos

We recognise that investing in our communities and empowering tenants is the right thing to do, and has business benefits too

If we contribute toward improving people’s lives, through health, jobs, financial and social inclusion we create:

high quality places to live

sustainable tenancies

access to the services people need

DCH as a landlord of choice

opportunities for levering investment

15/04/2023 4

Challenges in the South West

The geography - we operate over 3,961 square in urban areas and often isolated rural communities

Limited employment prospects, low pay, young people’s prospects

having a job which is sustainable and provides a decent wage

people being able to maintain their tenancies

access to services

health and wellbeing

confidence, aspirations and achievement

keeping our young people in the region

Why community investment

Balanced & sustainable communities

Develop skills & confidence to widen opportunities and choices

Support to successfully sustain tenancies

Address health, educational and employment barriers

Effective use of DCH assets, land and community facilities

Creation of social enterprise within DCH’s communities

Added value and business benefits

5

15/04/2023 6

Community investment can be complex

People are complex and it’s important that:

our approach is about doing things that meet people’s needs – not what we think they should have

we work with people to contribute toward achieving their aspirations

15/04/2023 7

DCH Community Investment Strategy

Focus

Financial inclusion

Employment & training

Health & wellbeing

Social exclusion

Social enterprise

Community Sustainability

15/04/2023 8

Community Investment – What we’re doing

Enabling, empowering and working with tenants

Our engagement is good and we are developing this further to enable a broader representation

Transforming DCH through making informed decisions that include tenants

Enabling tenants – helping develop local skills and knowledge and opening doors

Using our capacity to provide opportunity, jobs, employment, enterprise, social activities, being healthy and well

How DCH is making a difference

£13k – the average cost of a failed tenancy*

9 out of 10 young people not ready for work~

DCH facts:

Community Engagement team

£65k pa – DCH grants and awards programme

63 active residents associations, supported with £20k investment

5 job clubs helping 224 people; work with DWP to access further 75 job clubs

£1m+ external funding, particularly digital inclusion & youth work

£5m Big Lottery for young person’s financial inclusion project (5yrs)

200 places for young people in projects and Foyers

Supporting digital inclusion through external funding & grants

Successful Timebank schemes

Some facts and figures

• DCLG troubled families programme~ Dept of Education

10

15/04/2023 11

Community Investment – What we’ve done

Timebank, Barne Barton

50 individual members

Over 500 exchange hours banked - equating to £6,950 (based on gross average hourly rate £13.50 - Volunteering England) 

Helped enable a wide range of added value events including:

the Homeworkclub

Summer Fun Programme

community consultations

a community planting initiative and herb garden

community allotments

Barne Barton Job Club.

Ocean Timebank - Impact

100% more part of their community

95% positively contributing

80% more choice & control

52% improved health & wellbeing

*gross average hourly rate of £13.90 (Volunteer England)12

Community Organisers – empowering communities

Community Organising - building relationships and networks in communities

Pilot in 2012 – DCH first HA to be a host (Cornwall)

Locality provide funding and training; hosts provide a ‘place to be’

Encourages and enables people to take action on their own - power and confidence to tackle the issues important to them

Community Organisers listen to residents to help develop their collective power to act together for the common good

13

2012 Community Organiser outcomes

1,200+ residents listened to

30+ isolated residents regularly engaged with activities

10+ residents accessed training opportunities

20+ residents volunteering in their communities plus

programme to continue the work and provide employment opportunities

RA-led homework club, toddler group and bingo club

New residents’ associations and groups working to improve their areas

14

2014/15 - 3 more DCH Community Organisers in Devon & Cornwall

15/04/2023 15

Young people

Investing in skills in our foyers

Targeted at those aged 16-25 who are

homeless, or at risk of becoming

homeless, often from chaotic

backgrounds with low self-esteem

and confidence and uncertain prospects

Valuing people – providing opportunity for them to discover and build upon their talents and skills. E.g.

working as support to other young people in the foyer and volunteering in their spare time – using personal experience to empathise and support others

currently spending time with DCH working as an IT support, using their skills and knowledge to help us deliver our business

Plymouth Foyer – our approach

Stats (2013/14): 72% 16 – 17 yr olds/66% male

89% unemployed

66% no qualifications

59% excluded or suspended from school

100% life skills need/86% multiple needs

Outcomes:5% in employment

14% volunteering

56% in further education

5% in government training

32% completing qualifications

86% completing in-house lifeskills

Umbrella for young people services in Plymouth

Clear three stage pathway from high support to independence

Asset based approach to working with young people

Range of support according to need

Access to training & education through Activity Programme

Peer mentoring, volunteering

16

Helping people into work

MyWorkSearch takes a jobseeker on a journey:

Assessments to reveal transferable skills and career interests

Access to vacancies on thousands of job boards and employer sites

eLearning to understand the employment market and how to secure a job

Building one or more CVs

Using tools to ensure the jobseeker remains organised and focused

Monitors and tracks usage

Tool for job clubs, completely flexible

17

Other initiatives

C2 partnership, Barne Barton

Enterprise Cube – “business for everyone”

Community insight to map gaps and opportunities

Volunteer programme & work opportunities

Tempus Leisure – low cost sport

Peter Gorton, MasterChef

Community Hubs

15/04/2023 18

Measuring value & social impact

Developing internal SROI methodology and cost benefit analysis

Longitudinal studies

Investment evaluation matrix

15/04/2023 19