In 2008, the London Housing Foundation board carried out a review of its funding strategy. The resulting new strategic direction for our funding is detailed here.
The Foundation will continue its role of supporting the community of around two hundred organisations who provide services to vulnerable single people in London, particularly those who are homeless or at risk of being so.
Where organisations that do not naturally consider themselves part of the homelessness sector propose solutions that we believe could effectively contribute to tackling homelessness, they will be actively considered.
The Foundation may also, on rare occasions, support initiatives and activities outside London where the board feels the learning derived through offering support will be of value to organisations in the capital.
Support will involve:
- Acting as a resource for the sector as a whole, for example by enabling different parts of the sector to improve their collective effectiveness; or by improving knowledge about the sector;
- Assisting individual organisations, particularly those experiencing difficulties, or contemplating a major change in role and/or structure;
- Facilitating research which will improve the ability of organisations in the sector to provide high quality services to the individuals they are serving.
Transitions
The guiding principle for the Foundation's funding decisions is the desire to support and enable both organisational and individual transitions.
In terms of the former, the Foundation will be looking for evidence that agencies are contemplating marked changes that enhance their capabilities, either in scale or scope of their programmes; or the direction of their work.
In terms of the latter, the board want to enable the sector to support individuals to make the transition from chaos and dependence to stability and self-reliance.
Much of this will be achieved by work which the Foundation commissions and publishes itself - all of which will be made available in
the resources section of this website.
The Foundation will also welcome approaches from organisations in the sector that are planning to embark on changes that will lead to quicker and more complete transitions for their clients.
The Foundation board realises that people and services during periods of transitions are frequently at their most vulnerable. But the prize for advancing to the next stepping stone can be enormous. Our “transitions” theme will enable us to help take on risks that agencies, alone, might not be prepared to countenance. The Foundation would like to intervene at points where the potential gains are substantial.
The Foundation is committed to supporting organisations that want to develop imaginative and effective solution to help people making transitions in their lives. We know from the experience of partners working directly with homeless people that there are key moments of change which, if negotiated successfully, can lead to individuals escaping homelessness and positively transforming their lives.
The Foundation wants to help organisations which are contemplating, or are in the process of, change and transition, as we are keen to encourage agencies to continuously reflect on whether their services remain relevant, are adjusting to meeting varied need, and are structurally, and in governance terms, fit for purpose.
The Foundation is interested in receiving proposals from individual organisations, or groups of them, which will lead to change in the way organisations are structured to deliver a service, or in the type of service being offered, or in the area being covered by an organisation. We are especially interested when the transition being supported can be tracked and the learning disseminated for the benefit of the wider social care sector.
We therefore invite ideas, proposals or comments. Our new office in Bankside is easily accessible and we welcome visitors to discuss their plans with us. While current financial conditions mean that difficult choices will have to be made, we are committed to remaining an active resource.
The Foundation hopes that its contribution will, alongside that from much larger funds, enable the community of organisations known as London’s homeless sector to become even more effective in changing the lives of the people they serve.
More
For further information or to express an interest in making an application for support contact
Jane Woolley.