House update
Things have moved along very rapidly since my last report. Arcon Housing Association have agreed to buy the house we identified in Withington. They have put an offer in to purchase and this has been accepted. I have prepared a project proposal that sets out how we would hope to finance the rent and running costs of a house for 5 people with learning disabilities and 3 live-in assistants. It is all very exciting but there are a few issues we still need to address.
Although they have been encouraging and supportive, the Local Authority cannot guarantee that they will fill all five places in the house. As I have said before there will always be a degree of tension between the people who want to live in a L’Arche community and those people the Local Authority will agree to fund. The decision the committee need to come to is whether we are prepared to take on a long-term lease with Arcon that would commit us to paying rent on the house whether we fill all the places or not. In practice the worst case scenario for L’Arche is that we have to meet a whole year’s costs with no one at all living in the house. This would probably amount to about £40k.
We also need to establish how much Housing Benefit we are likely to receive for each person who moves in.
We need to agree how much we can afford to pay live-out assistants and live-in's who will have their right to live in the house tied to their occupation in L’Arche so that the day their employment ceases they would lose the right to live in the house.
Feel free to send me you your points of view on these issues.
Other services
In addition to offering an accommodation service we also plan to provide outreach support which would mean supporting people who either live in their families or on their own. This support could be used to help people with very practical issues to do with managing their own homes (paying the bills etc) or it could be geared towards work and leisure activities. People might be supported to join in already established L’Arche community activities or it could mean developing new activities for people to get involved in. For example if we support a few people who want to join a choir then maybe we get some singing lessons, book a hall and start a choir. Equally if some people want to do outdoor gardening activities then maybe we will look to get an allotment and start a garden project.
We have also suggested that once we are established with our first home we will consider how we might support friends of the community to become Adult Placement carers as a new way of living as members of a L’Arche community.
Prayer evenings
Are going well at Chorlton Central Church. The most recent was held on July 6th and was led by Julie R and Kevin where we prepared our banner for the National Gathering. People seemed to enjoy this. We have now agreed to continue prayer evenings throughout the summer so they will continue to be held on the first Wednesday of the month. The next being August 3rd and then September 7th. Stewart has offered to lead August’s prayers but we need someone for September. Perhaps we could have a volunteer to help Stewart in August and so get some ideas for leading in September.
Boogie Nights
The next Boogie Night is on Friday 23rd September. Please make sure this date is in your diaries. We have had quite a few new faces at recent gatherings and it is always helpful to have regular faces to welcome new people and talk about our plans for L’Arche. Unfortunately, this is the same weekend as the quiz night but that shouldn’t be a problem!
Quiz Night
Caroline Slevin who volunteers in the office every Tuesday has organised a fund raising Quiz Night on Saturday September 24th to be held at St Catherine’s Community Centre on School Lane at 7.30pm. Tickets are £5 each and available from the office. Please let me or Julia know if you want tickets. There are only 150 places so we’re only going to hand over tickets on production of the cash so hurry, hurry, hurry!
National Gathering “Celebrating our Belonging”
A storming success! Manchester is on the map! Lots of people commented on the wonderful liturgies and the fabulous party on Saturday night. Elvis was a hit (as was Heather’s decoration of the room.)
There was particular praise for the organisation of the registration and the welcoming process which was largely down to our volunteer helpers here in Manchester. So thanks and well done to everyone who helped out.
Ning!
L’Arche UK has launched its own internal social network called Ning. As members of L’Arche Manchester we can all join the network to do so we each need to read and accept the terms of the related policy which deals with issues of confidentiality etc. I will send around a link to the site and a copy of the policy this week to everyone with an email address.
Monday, 19 September 2011
June update
House update
Great Places Housing Association have told us they are not going to bid for any of the national funding that would enable them to finance a new build project for L’Arche Manchester. This means that although they would be happy to look at this again in the future, they are not in a position to help us open a house at this time. They suggested we talk to other housing associations who might have other property coming available from other projects that are closing down which could be adapted for our purposes.
I have opened discussions with Arcon Housing. Unlike Great Places, Arcon are not dependent on the national funding and are used to borrowing from commercial lenders against their current housing stock, to fund new property. We have identified a former care home in Withington which, with some redesigning and adaptation could accommodate 5 people with learning disabilities and 3 live-in assistants. The cost of purchasing and converting the property is likely to be in excess of £500K but Arcon are suggesting they have the ability to fund this. Arcon know of L’Arche and are keen to work with us.
Our suggested design includes one ground floor fully adapted bedroom with en suite bathroom with tracking and hoisting. We would therefore be offering support to people with varying levels of ability. The whole of the ground floor would be wheelchair accessible including the garden, conservatory, outbuildings and greenhouse. There would be a separate disabled toilet on the ground floor for visitors and the ground floor layout lends itself to being used as a community space for 20 or people or more.
It is easy to get carried away but I am beginning to feel confident that this could come off. Arcon are in negotiations with the vendor over the price. (Although it is not our money that will pay for the house it is still important to us that they negotiate a good price as the lower the capital costs the lower our rent payments will be.)
I am meeting with the Local Authority commissioners to discuss what level of funding we can expect from them and who would be placed with us. There might be a certain amount of tension here when we come to discuss those people commissioners want to place and those we feel would best suit a L’Arche community. There may be people who would like to live in our first house who the commissioners refuse to fund and equally there may be people the commissioners want to place who we do not think would fit in. But I am sure we will be able to work through this.
Income raising schemes
Together with the Committee I am considering what schemes we might develop alongside the house which could generate income and complement the community life of a house. Currently we are exploring Adult Placement, Advocacy, Community Outreach Support and ‘Activity co-ordination’ – this last being the way I describe how day services are going to develop in the future. We have yet to decide where to focus our efforts some will suit our ethos well and others will be more likely to raise income so we will need to give this careful consideration.
Prayer evenings
Are going well. The most recent was held on June 1st. This was not particularly well attended but was a good cementing of the relationship with the Chorlton Central Church as many of the parish attended. The next is on July 6th. I suggest we do not hold a prayer evening in August but continue with the pattern of the first Wednesday of the month starting again on September 7th. Need to consider how we reach out to others to attend this group.
Boogie Nights
Boogie Night was held Friday May 20th. This was a good evening and quite well attended with a few new faces mainly young people with learning disabilities and their carers. (The DJ was also new and he was well received by everyone.)
Didsbury Festival
We had a stall at the Didsbury Festival on June 11th. We sold merchandise from Liverpool and distributed information on our own group and our forthcoming events.
National Gathering
A lot of time in the coming weeks will be devoted to the planning of the National Gathering on July 8th, 9th 10th July. We hope that it will provide a platform for Manchester to advertise our presence and get people involved.
We need to gather names of everyone who wants to come so we can enable as many people as possible to take part. Some people will come only for the mini-pilgrimage and others will come only for the party in the evening. There is no lunch on Saturday so people wanting to stay throughout the day will need to make their own arrangements for lunch. Anyone wanting to stay for the evening meal needs to buy a day ticket for £15. We will need to set aside some time at the next Community Support Group meeting on Tuesday 21st to consider this.
New Brochure
I have created a new brochure for Manchester (with a lot of help from various sources). It is aimed at potential assistants, carers of people with learning disabilities and others who might get involved in the community. It will be ready for distribution at the National Gathering.
International Consultation Process
We are invited to take part in a Federation-wide consultation on the International structures, the process of discerning and choosing the new co-ordinators and agreeing their mandate. I will invite people to a special meeting to join in with this if they want to. It might seem far away but we are part of an International Federation and I think it is important that our voice is heard. (We may not have a long history in L’Arche but we are part of its future!!)
Great Places Housing Association have told us they are not going to bid for any of the national funding that would enable them to finance a new build project for L’Arche Manchester. This means that although they would be happy to look at this again in the future, they are not in a position to help us open a house at this time. They suggested we talk to other housing associations who might have other property coming available from other projects that are closing down which could be adapted for our purposes.
I have opened discussions with Arcon Housing. Unlike Great Places, Arcon are not dependent on the national funding and are used to borrowing from commercial lenders against their current housing stock, to fund new property. We have identified a former care home in Withington which, with some redesigning and adaptation could accommodate 5 people with learning disabilities and 3 live-in assistants. The cost of purchasing and converting the property is likely to be in excess of £500K but Arcon are suggesting they have the ability to fund this. Arcon know of L’Arche and are keen to work with us.
Our suggested design includes one ground floor fully adapted bedroom with en suite bathroom with tracking and hoisting. We would therefore be offering support to people with varying levels of ability. The whole of the ground floor would be wheelchair accessible including the garden, conservatory, outbuildings and greenhouse. There would be a separate disabled toilet on the ground floor for visitors and the ground floor layout lends itself to being used as a community space for 20 or people or more.
It is easy to get carried away but I am beginning to feel confident that this could come off. Arcon are in negotiations with the vendor over the price. (Although it is not our money that will pay for the house it is still important to us that they negotiate a good price as the lower the capital costs the lower our rent payments will be.)
I am meeting with the Local Authority commissioners to discuss what level of funding we can expect from them and who would be placed with us. There might be a certain amount of tension here when we come to discuss those people commissioners want to place and those we feel would best suit a L’Arche community. There may be people who would like to live in our first house who the commissioners refuse to fund and equally there may be people the commissioners want to place who we do not think would fit in. But I am sure we will be able to work through this.
Income raising schemes
Together with the Committee I am considering what schemes we might develop alongside the house which could generate income and complement the community life of a house. Currently we are exploring Adult Placement, Advocacy, Community Outreach Support and ‘Activity co-ordination’ – this last being the way I describe how day services are going to develop in the future. We have yet to decide where to focus our efforts some will suit our ethos well and others will be more likely to raise income so we will need to give this careful consideration.
Prayer evenings
Are going well. The most recent was held on June 1st. This was not particularly well attended but was a good cementing of the relationship with the Chorlton Central Church as many of the parish attended. The next is on July 6th. I suggest we do not hold a prayer evening in August but continue with the pattern of the first Wednesday of the month starting again on September 7th. Need to consider how we reach out to others to attend this group.
Boogie Nights
Boogie Night was held Friday May 20th. This was a good evening and quite well attended with a few new faces mainly young people with learning disabilities and their carers. (The DJ was also new and he was well received by everyone.)
Didsbury Festival
We had a stall at the Didsbury Festival on June 11th. We sold merchandise from Liverpool and distributed information on our own group and our forthcoming events.
National Gathering
A lot of time in the coming weeks will be devoted to the planning of the National Gathering on July 8th, 9th 10th July. We hope that it will provide a platform for Manchester to advertise our presence and get people involved.
We need to gather names of everyone who wants to come so we can enable as many people as possible to take part. Some people will come only for the mini-pilgrimage and others will come only for the party in the evening. There is no lunch on Saturday so people wanting to stay throughout the day will need to make their own arrangements for lunch. Anyone wanting to stay for the evening meal needs to buy a day ticket for £15. We will need to set aside some time at the next Community Support Group meeting on Tuesday 21st to consider this.
New Brochure
I have created a new brochure for Manchester (with a lot of help from various sources). It is aimed at potential assistants, carers of people with learning disabilities and others who might get involved in the community. It will be ready for distribution at the National Gathering.
International Consultation Process
We are invited to take part in a Federation-wide consultation on the International structures, the process of discerning and choosing the new co-ordinators and agreeing their mandate. I will invite people to a special meeting to join in with this if they want to. It might seem far away but we are part of an International Federation and I think it is important that our voice is heard. (We may not have a long history in L’Arche but we are part of its future!!)
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