DENS Annual Review 2012 2013

ANNUAL REVIEW 2012/13

Rent AidDacorum FoodbankAction Against Homelessness Night Shelter

DENS EnterprisesDay Centre Action Against HomelessnessWhat’s inside?

www.DENS.org.uk

YEARSIN ACTION2003-2013

10

PAGE 2Message from theChief Executive

PAGE 3/4/5A potted history of the year

PAGE 7Messages and poems of support from Astley Cooper School pupils

PAGE 8Future plans

PAGE 9/10Business & communitysupportPAGE 11Fundraising news

PAGE 12Events coming up! ‘Become a Friend of DENS’

Recent storiesPAGE 6

Message from ourChief Executive

What started out as a Night Shelter, with Move-On Accommodation, has grown significantly and now, DENS also operates DENS Rent Aid (a deposit guarantee scheme), DENS Day Centre, DENS Dacorum Foodbank and income generating activities with DENS Enterprises.

Over the past 10 years, DENS has helped thousands of individuals. In the last 18 months alone, our Foodbank has provided food for over 3,000 people. All this has been achieved with the help of over 250 volunteers throughout the last 10 years, as well as through the support of local community groups, schools, faith groups and businesses. We have also been supported by a number of charitable trusts as well as the Big Lottery Fund. For all this we’d like to say a very big THANK YOU!

Sadly, the problem of homelessness is not going away. Today there is evidence that the problems are getting worse. We are seeing more people seeking advice and supportacross our services, with a particular rise over the last year in young people aged 18-25 years. You will see through reading the rest of this Review the sorts of difficulties peopleare dealing with, as well as some recent stories of people we have helped.

The Night Shelter is operating at its maximum capacity with no scope to add bed spaces – we hope that the new hostel being planned by Dacorum Borough Council will help to address this problem. So as you can see, there is still much more for DENS to do to help those in crisis in our local community.

Thank you for enabling DENS to reach this significant milestone of ‘10 Years in Action’. Please do continue helping us to support all those who need us,today and in the future.

Andrew LiversidgeDENS Chief Executive

P.S DENS full Annual Report is now available at www.DENS.org.uk


DENS EnterprisesDay Centre Action Against Homelessness










10

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

A potted history of the year

DENS ANNUAL REVIEW 2012/13 | 3

There has been a significant increase indemand for the services offered by DENS across all of the areas in which we work; fortunately we have been able to help 3,165 people.

Unfortunately the Night Shelter was an area where we could not fully meet the demands, as we did not have sufficient bed spaces to meet the need. Over the year there was an average of one person per night being turned away. However, even here the team were able to increase their success rate for getting people into a positive move on – reaching an incredible 85.7%.

DENS Night Shelter

The Day Centre was faced with an increase in visitors of 13% and was visited by 413 individuals - meals have often been served in shifts to meet the demand. The increase in demand reflects the general economic situation and a greater demand for advice following debt issues or redundancy.

DENS Day Centre

Number of people helped by DENS Services

133

106

413

2513

Day Centre Night Shelter

FoodbankRent Aid

Day

Cen

tre

Use

rs

Day

Cen

tre

Visi

ts

Rent

Aid

Use

rs

Nig

ht S

helte

rU

sers

Posi

tive

Mov

e-O

ns

Increase in Services Provided

a potted history of the year

Reasons for using DENS Housing Services

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

35%

30%

25%

Rela

tions

hip

bre

akdo

wn

Alc

ohol

or

drug

issu

es

Dom

estic

vi

olen

ce

Men

tal

heal

th

Job

Los

s

Oth

er

Reasons for using DENS Foodbank

Oth

er

Une

mp

loye

d /

low

pai

d /

dela

yed

wag

es

Pers

onal

/ So

cial

cris

is

Bene

fit

pro

ble

ms

0%

5%

25%

30%

35%

40%

10%

15%

20%

Day CentreNight Shelter

One of the most worrying signs of the people we are helping has been the increase in the number of young people, aged 18–25. This has been true across allof our services but is most noticeable atthe Day Centre and Night Shelter wherethe proportion of that age group amongstour service users is nearly double whatwe would have expected.

DENS age breakdown of users

18-25 26-35 36-50 51-65

DENS Rent Aid were able to increase the housing they were able to support by building effective relationships with landlords in the private rented sector. Changes in the benefit payable to those between 25 and 35 meant that a number of people had to move from self contained to shared accommodation. DRA also continued to manage properties previously operated by DENS Property Services – and as a result of this, were able to generate income.

DENS Rent Aid

Age Groups

The number of people helped by the Foodbank dramatically increased duringthe year. The Foodbank distribution network now extends from Tring to Kings Langley and requests for help have come from every single ward within the borough. During the year 2,513 people were helped with a food parcel. This demand for food was met by the generosity of local schools, faith groups, community groups, businesses and by many individuals. In total over 30,000 kg of food was donated, worth over £100,000.

DENS Foodbank

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

35%

30%

25%

This year showed an increase in activity for DENS across all areas. This inevitably resultedin greater costs, which have broadly been met by an increase in our income. The small deficit has been met from our reserves and does not include the nominal value of thetime freely given by more than 150 volunteers, equivalent to 8 full time employees!

However bad the situation seems there is still a positive aspect - that across allof DENS services we were able to meet so many of the needs of those who came to us for help.

Expenditure - £882kIncome - £859k


Fundraising-Events4%

FundraisingBig Lottery

11%

Fundraising Other grants

10%

FundraisingDonations

10%

FoodDonations

12%

HousingBenefit

and Rents19%

Commericial Rental 2% Herts County

Council30%

Other2%

Staff costs55%

Foodbank food 13%

Marketing/Fundraising

7%Admin costs 15% Other

1%

Rent and rates9%

a potted history of the year

Service users from both the Night Shelter and the Day Centre took part in two adventure training trips whichwere targeted at restoring self confidence, and building trust with others. This proved to be a hugely positive experience for the individuals and was made possibleby a grant from Awards for All. Service users have also fully committed themselves to a project to develop the land behind the Night Shelter into a space which could be used as a vegetable garden and a place to relax, whilststill providing the habitat for local wildlife. This was donein partnership with Hemel Hempstead Conservation.

Recent STORIES

21 year old Claire became homeless after a relationship breakdown and was asked to leave the family home because of her choice of partner. Claire received support from DENS, including budgeting and tenancy training. Due to her emotional state Claire also needed counselling so was signposted to another organisation to help her overcome her difficulties. Claire now lives in a DENS shared house and hopes to move on into privately rented accommodation in the future.

CLAIRE S STORY’

AMY S STORY’Amy aged 40, suffered with mental health issues for most of her life. Over the last 3 years her mental health deteriorated and her marriage broke down. Amy came to the Night Shelter out of desperation and after a short while moved into DENS move-on accommodation which gave her a more stable environment. Staff supported Amy through her mental health issues giving her the opportunity to talk and feel important as an individual. Staff also supported her through her claims for benefit and medicals and when Amy won her appeal for Disability Living Allowance she used this backdated money to payfor private rented accommodation. Now her children can stay and visit and the future is much more positive.

Ben is 22 and has been addicted to cannabis for 5 years, suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. Ben became homeless due to a family relationship breakdown and could no longer stay with friends and family. DENS helped Ben confront his debt problems, gave support when he was depressed and taught him to live independently. Ben is living in a shared house but would like his own home. He hopes to find employment as soon as possible, and to have a family and home of his own.

BEN S STORY’

Messages and poems ofsupport from Astley Cooper

Dear friendYou may feel unloved, cold and that there is no hope. But remember that the people that surround you are there to help you get you back into a better life. These people understand your pain. They will help you andcomfort you.

Dear Homeless of Hemel HempsteadI know when you read this you may be feeling unloved, depressed and wished things had been different but I suppose that’s just life, it doesn’t always go to plan.I know I’m a teenager and can’t do much but everyone’s made mistakes, no one’s perfect! Sometimes the truth hurts but you have got to take it on the chin and get on with life otherwise you will get nowhere on your journey!! There are people out in the world that do care for you and do want to make a difference for you. Life isn’t easy, everyone has their problems but maybe not as bad as yours but there are still hurdles to jump in everyday life.

As she lay there stone cold, with no one to hold,Sitting next to the door and her only friend the floor,

She’s bored and wished she was at the shore,So desperate for a hot bath and a filling meal,

Lost in the moment just thinking how lovely that would feel,Do the people in those homes really appreciate what they’ve got,They don’t know what it feels like to be all alone so probably not,

No one knows the background she has had,People don’t think it is that bad,

Don’t give up you can cope,You always need to have hope,

Maybe someday if you just pray,All your troubles will just fly away.



10

Samples from a collection of writing from Year 9, Mr Walker’s English class, Astley Cooper School. Written to inspire and give hope to anyone who needs it.

Future plans

DENS Dacorum FoodbankFollowing the changes in government policy to theway in which Crisis Loans are made DENS will consider how we can continue to meet our obligations topeople in crisis.

New HostelDacorum Borough Council is building a new 42 bedroom hostel. This will include a number of emergency bed spaces to replace the current DENS Night Shelter with more beds and modern facilities, work should start by 2015. The running and management of the new facility will be put out to tender during 2013. DENS will be seeking to ensure that they remain active in providing the services to those we currently help.

DENS Day CentreA full review of the services and structure of the Day Centre is currently underway with a view to seeking funding whenour present Big Lottery Grant expires in 2014. This will be essential if we are to meet the increasing demand for Day Centre services.

Equipped to ChangeDENS has funding from the Big Lottery Fund for 5 yearsto run an Equipped to Change Project (ETC), supporting 30 service users a year and will establish a structured programme encouraging them to take up education,training, volunteering and employment opportunities.

DENS Rent AidDRA plans to increase its role as a managing agent of properties from both social housing providers and private landlords. This will have the dual function of providingan income to DENS and accommodation for our users.

DENS EnterprisesThe retail enterprise will continue to be developed along with other enterprise schemes that will raise money to support DENS. Hopefully these will also provide opportunities for those on the ETC projectto be involved through work or volunteering.

Business and Community Support


Iguana Creative Services, a Hemel based creative design agency, have come on board with DENS to help us with our branding and design of leaflets, newsletters and other promotional materials. They are doing this free of charge, sharing their skills and expertise, as they wanted to make a difference to a charity in their local community. We would like to say a big thank you to them for their on-going support, it really does make a big difference! David Morley, Director at Iguana Creative says, “Having been successfully based in Hemel Hempstead for the last 17 years, this was a real opportunity to put something tangible back into our local community. We watched DENS grow since it’s inception and think they do a remarkable job for the homeless in Dacorum. Iguana are a full service creative agency for small to medium size companies. Specialising in creative messaging. For further details please visit our website www.iguana-creative.co.uk or telephone 01442 234 966.

NEW DENS BRANDING

THANKS TO ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS


We get by with a little help from our Friends … We all know how much better life is if you have really good friends and DENS is no exception. Following the launch of the Friends of DENS scheme over 80 people have signed up as Friends, and in doing so have given us pledges of nearly £4,000 p.a. Remember a true friend is the one who supports you when you need it but doesn’t back away from letting you know if you are getting it wrong. DENS ’ Friends have been active in maintaining support for DENS in churches, schools, businesses and community groups to which they belong.

Business and Community Support

Sportspace, Hemel Hempstead – gave free swimming passes for service users, held a Spinathon to raise money for DENS and allowed us to hand out flyers and put up promotional display boards in their foyer.

1st Berkhamsted Beavers - collected food and other essential items.

Churches and Schools – donated a huge amount of foodand other useful items at Harvest and Christmas time, as wellas other times throughout the year.

Aitchisons Estate Agents - helped us promote all of our events, particularly the Sponsored Walk with their boards.

Vanarama provided us with a much needed van touse across DENS services and local Ford dealer...’ Roy Chapman will be servicing this for us, free of charge.

Sweetness Catering, Hemel Industrial Estate provide meals on a regular basis.

Sainsbury’s Woodhall Farm continue to provide food for our Night Shelter.

A big thank you to everyone who has contributed to DENS whetherin time, skills or money, either individually or as part of a group, it is much appreciated! Here are a number of ways you’ve helped:

THANKYOU

for your support

over the past year!

Fundraising News


Over the past year we have put on many fundraising events.Perhaps you joined us at one or two. Check out the back pagefor more events coming up!

70 people took part in our 10th Anniversary Quiz in March with a fish & chip supper and helped us raise nearly £700!

DENS Week will run from 12th-19th Octoberto raise awareness and funds for DENS. We’ll be needing lots of volunteers to help throughout this week so mark it on your calendar and get involved!

DENS 4th Sponsored Walk took place on Saturday 18th May. It was great to see over 30 people take part with lots of new faces. Sponsorship money is still coming in and we hope to raise over £3,000. Make a note to take part next year, it’s a lovely walk!

DENS Charity Cabaret was a great success and was attended by many people from across the community. The evening was a celebration of DENS achievements over the past 10 years and raised £4,000! We’d especially like to thank all of our Cabaret acts, our caterers and John Bly our MC and auctioneer for the evening.

Photo - David Satchel, Gazette

If you’d like to raise money for DENS contact us now! 01442 800268, [email protected], www.DENS.org.uk

Some of the brave people sleeping out last December on that chilly evening at St Albans Abbey! Will you sign up to the Sponsored Sleepout 2013 on the 6th December.

Become a friend of DENS

11th SeptemberDENS AGMParish Hall, St Peter & St Paul, Tring

26th SeptemberTring Brewery Tour & Fish & Chip Supper

12th – 19th October DENS Week

12th OctoberDENS SaturdayBandstand, Hemel Town Centre 25th October DENS Business & Community LunchCivic Centre, Hemel Hempstead

6th DecemberSponsored Sleepout St Albans Abbey

£10 DONATION COULD PAYFOR ONE NIGHT’S DINNER IN THE NIGHT SHELTER.

FACTS AND FIGURES

DATE

S F

OR

YO

UR

DIA

RY

For more details on these events please visit our website www.DENS.org.uk,email us at [email protected] or give us a call on 01442 800268

We are encouraging as many supporters as possible to become regular givers to DENS by becoming a ‘Friend of DENS’.

To find out more or tofill in a request form, visit www.DENS.org.uk or email [email protected].

Visit www.justgiving.com/DENS Become a Friend of DENSSend us a cheque made payable to DENSOr text us through JustTextGiving! Simply text DENS01 £2/£5/£10 to 70070

DON’T FORGET TO GIFT AID IT!

DID YOU KNOW THAT A ....

£10

£20 DONATION COULD PAYFOR A ONE-TO-ONE ADVICE SESSION.

£20

£50 £50 DONATION COULD PAYFOR A SERVICE USER TO ATTENDA SKILLS TRAINING SESSION.

HOW TO DONATE

Events coming up in 2013

DENS, Bury Lodge, 1 Queensway, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP1 1HT.T 01442 262274 E [email protected] W www.DENS.org.ukCharity no. 1097185 Company no. 4610820

DENS Annual Review 2012 2013

Documents

Transcript of DENS Annual Review 2012 2013