Rough Justice: social policies creating homelessness
The origins of the word ‘Democracy’ stem from the Ancient Greek words dēmos meaning ‘the people’ and kratia – ‘power, rule’. So it stands to reason that government policy should be designed in a way that values and aids these very ‘people’. Whilst we should live in a society where all people matter, where everyone is treated…
Read More
Homelessness services need to reach women sooner
Many homelessness support services that specifically help women are finding it difficult to get women to reach out to them early enough. On finding themselves without a roof, men often seek out help from such services much sooner than women. A number of organisations have recently been discussing ways to overcome this issue. Advocacy services…
Read More
Exiting Re-Unite – lessons learnt from a successful project
One of the first lessons I was taught when training to be a project manager was: never take on a project without knowing how you are going to get out of it. We’re not talking in this case about when a project goes ‘wrong’. What this maxim refers to is when a project has…
Read More
Julie tells all about volunteering at Commonweal
Julie tells us about her experience of working as a volunteer with Commonweal Housing. Can you tell me a little about your role as Volunteer? I get involved in a variety of things, from office administration, filing and answering phone calls to liaising with councils about our properties e.g. to sort out things like service…
Read More
What we do, why we do it and what's the problem with getting it wrong now and then?
Helping expert partners realise and deliver the new projects they wish to test is what Commonweal does. Providing the housing and trying to test models that otherwise may not see the light of day. We don’t support guaranteed successes – if something has already been tried and tested then we encourage others to support the…
Read More
Getting it wrong and admitting it – can the Government do the same?
Commonweal’s Chief Executive Ashley Horsey discusses the challenges faced by the Libra project, designed to support miscarriages of Justice victims. Imagine serving a lengthy prison sentence for a crime you didn’t commit. Then envision what it would feel like, if after years of struggle and appeals, to finally have your conviction quashed because you are innocent. Only to find you are left alone to fend for yourself on…
Read More