Chance meetings lead to new partnerships for North East charity

A North East charity says fortuitous timing played a part in the formation of innovative partnerships that are now helping to positively impact the lives of people in their community.

Citizens Advice Hartlepool, which is in part funded by British Gas Energy Trust, is now working with the local probation service and the homeless charity Cornerstone following chance meetings and opportunities that aligned at the right time.

The three organisations are now working as part of a new referral network, supporting individuals to overcome their various barriers in life.

Ross Brooks, Manager at Citizens Advice Hartlepool, said:

“Our partnership with the probation service started, like most do, as a referral from a referral when we started to support someone who was slightly ‘out of area’.

It was serendipity that about that time, we had an opportunity to use a local Methodist church to have regular tea, coffee and chats with people out in the community. But then we formalised the relationship a bit, organised for one of our energy advisors to attend and speak to probation clients who needed support.

What we find is that most people who have come out of prison and are put into accommodation are often at a loss as to what support they can get access to.

But we also know that the fewer points of contact they have, the better. So, because we offer many services, we can act as a ‘one stop shop’ for this client base and build up the trust, which is key.

We use energy as the hook, but we also look at income maximisation, debt issues, help with benefits and all sorts.

Almost always they’re economically inactive, and often present with mental health issues. But from an energy perspective, they’ll mostly be struggling with prepayment meters, so the British Gas Energy Trust vouchers that we can offer are an immediate help for them, which again starts to build up that trust.

Building that relationship is the difficult bit, right at the start. We make it clear that engaging with us is not part of their conditions, that we’re not part of the ‘establishment’ and whatever they tell us is confidential. It often takes time but when we’re able to start to help them, the barriers start to come down.”

Linked to its work with the probation service, the charity is also working with housing charity Cornerstone which is supporting local people who find themselves homeless or at risk of being homeless – another partnership which came about almost by chance.

Ross added:

“Cornerstone moved in across the road from us, and we held a couple of sessions to ensure both our teams knew about each other’s services.

Again, it’s been really good because people who they’re supporting – in temporary or permanent accommodation – present with very similar issues. From an energy perspective, if they move to a permanent residence, they’ll likely face the same prepayment mater issues as many come across, so again the vouchers are much needed.

But we tend to find that the level of debt is higher, as is the level of people’s mental health problems. So our rounded service really can make a difference.”

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