An AP residential course...
AP co-director Suzanne Quinney has been nominated for the prestigious Andy Ludlow Award for her work with homeless people in London, alongside partners Riverside ECHG and Westminster City Council’s deputy rough sleeping commissioner.
The project, called Back on your feet, started in 2010 with a group of residents at King George’s in Westminster, a Riverside ECHG hostel. The residents there are working to recover from drug and substance misuse, and came together with hostel staff and AP’s facilitators to create new ways of thinking about their lives and the ways they wanted to move forward. The programme was designed to help them:
- be more aware of their strengths, and identify goals for themselves
- develop resilience as they take their next steps, making them less likely to slip back into addiction
- set up small communities of peer led support
- enable future residents to anchor the newer ones through peer-led groups
Since its inception the project has been rolled out to cover six more hostels, and Westminster City Council’s rough sleeping team; it has also garnered press attention, most recently appearing in the June issue of journal Drink and Drugs news.
Back on your feet has been recognised by the Andy Ludlow Awards, which celebrates innovation and good practice amongst organisations tackling homelessness in London, and is one of only six shortlisted projects. The awards were set up in 1998, in memory of Andy Ludlow, director of housing and social services at Haringey Council. Andy was a known as a pioneer in developing a ‘holistic’ approach to housing and social services in his borough. Today, the award is sponsored by the London Housing Foundation, a trust that supports homelessness charities and agencies, the 33 London councils and Shelter, and is run by London Councils.
The awards ceremony will take place at Speaker’s House in the House of Commons in October this year. The winner will receive £25,000, with £15,000 to second place and £10,000 to the runner up.
Suzanne said: ‘I’m delighted and honoured to have been shortlisted for the Andy Ludlow Awards. Back on your feet has always been hugely satisfying – it’s fantastic to see the progress the residents make when they’re given the opportunity to think about things differently – and this is also a great opportunity to see it rolled out further…’
One hostel resident, who attended the first Back on your feet course described it as ‘a watershed in my life giving me freshness; it taught me the essence of commitment’ which proved a new beginning, especially with regards to his budgeting and drug use. Have a look at our video here for comments from other participants…
One participant at a recent residential had not been given long to live because of his alcohol addiction. He has now completely given up alcohol and has made a successful move on.
Leo Richardson, a specialist support worker for Riverside ECHG’s Support Link Service, said: ‘For some residents this has been the most positive interaction with an activity they could remember for many years and they found the experience new and refreshing.’
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