HLINks archive

Jeremy talks…

This week has been monumental with the toppling of the statute of the 17th century Bristol slave trader, Edward Colston. People have responded to the death of George Floyd in the USA by taking to the streets in protest. Despite lockdown there have been demonstrations in towns and cities across the UK. We have seen the emergence of Black Lives Matter when this community is at the forefront of the pandemic.

I was thoroughly absorbed by three young men talking about how this situation has affected them, giving an insight into their experiences of racism growing up in the UK over the last 30 years and links with their mental health. Listen to their conversation in this podcast.

And for a selection of resources on housing, ageing and diversity, check out our dedicate webpage, Diversity Matters. Or, if you would like to talk with us or share learning about involving BAME communities in your work, email: info@housinglin.org.uk.

This week saw the first of the APPG on Housing and Care for Older People’s latest Inquiry sessions on the housing for those living with dementia.

Chaired by Lord Best, and supported by Anchor Hanover, the Housing LIN is delighted to provide the Secretariat for this new Inquiry.

Drawing on our extensive experience and expertise in supporting sector research, policy formation and practice development, along with our extensive online knowledge hub, we look forward to raising sector awareness and supporting organisations become dementia-friendly.

Jeremy Talks

Last week we drew attention to Emma Lindley’s first thoughts on 'relationship capital' under lockdown. Her reflections helped me prepare for a presentation on ‘Defining the New Normal’ I gave this week at the Agile Ageing Alliance international e-conference, ‘The future of multigenerational neighbourhoods’.

I highlighted the term I have coined - CollaborAGE - and shared: “In recent months, the global pandemic has exposed the fragility of how we live our lives and how we maintain existing and build new relationships. For our future neighbourhoods, we not only need to urgently think about the physical architecture of our future neighbourhoods, we also need to think about their social architecture and how we forge relationships to co-create an age-friendly future for our homes and communities”.

For a selection of age-friendly tools and resources, check out our online design hub.

Or if you would like to talk with us, email info@housinglin.org.uk.

Jeremy Talks: It's all about 'relationship capital'

I was struck by Ashfield DC's Housing Strategy Lead Emma Lindley's pertinent tweet this week on the value of 'relationship capital' under lockdown.

"I strongly believe people do business with people, not businesses. I'm having some fantastic conversations with health colleagues on services for rough sleepers, but I think these are largely possible because we have got to know each other in person in previous months."

In recent editions of HLINks, I have been sharing my personal insights into the value of networking and the ethos of the Housing LIN. As Emma stated, it's all about 'relationship capital'; in our case providing a networked platform to maintain existing business relationships and build new ones across our professional housing, health and adult social care membership.

At this time, it is even more important to network to help share our learning, build up our knowledge base and exchange information for our mutual benefit. Do share the message!

Networking, the new normal

"Professionals with better skills, better resources and an increased network are expected to be the ones who will more easily manage to transform the negative effects of the pandemic into new opportunities."
The Gulbenkian Foundation

In a short space of time, COVID-19 has transformed our individual and collective working and non-working lives. The Housing LIN and the information and advice we provide to aid your learning and improvement is essential for your post COVID-19 planning in these unprecedented times. To talk through how we can support your organisation operational and/or strategic plans, as outlined below.

In recent weeks the Housing LIN's Jeremy Porteus has highlighted the value of networking at this time and how our business continuity ensures we remain agile in the face of COVID-19 and can target resources effectively to support your learning and improvement requirements.  

A critical component in delivering this in recent weeks has been bringing forward our digital strategy. The result, we have seen better connectivity to:

• access latest sector information on housing and care matters (such as today's HLINks)
• browse our website to source a 'treasure trove' of useful tools and resources
• engage and share knowledge and experience via our Discussion Forum, and
• enquire how we can best support organisations now and/or help prepare them post COVID-19.

Read more about our free networked activities in our Business Continuity Plan or email us to find out more at: info@housinglin.org.uk

In last week's edition of HLINks I drew attention to the value of networking with the Housing LIN. This week I highlight how traditional styles of management will need to adapt to a brave new world post COVID-19. This will require greater organisational agility to:

• respond flexibly to changing customer expectations and changes in our social climate, work patterns and economic environment;
• adopt a more networked approach to cross professional boundaries so we can build new or strengthen existing relationships across housing, health and adult social care; and
• gear ourselves to more inclusive leadership with a greater emphasis on knowledge sharing at all levels to accelerate and spread learning faster.

The Housing LIN is well placed to enable you to connect with people and ideas and to draw on our skills and resources to help you improve, innovate and co-design a better range of housing choices with older people and those with a disability or a long term condition. Get networked with us today.

Jeremy Porteus

We have brought forward the release of our new loneliness and social isolation webpages on account of the Coronavirus outbreak, and the impact it is having on many people. In addition we published a new practice brienfing and blog to accomany these pages.

You can also find the latest updates about Covid-19 on our dedicated Coronavirus Info Hub. This week we also published a new blog on work ready HAPPI design. 

And remember, please clap tonight for all carers, especially those working in the housing with care sector.

Stay well and be safe.

This week we have spent much of our time tracking the latest coronavirus guidance and practice relevant to our sector, and uploading new resources on our dedicated Coronavirus Info Hub.

We also published Housing LIN Viewpoint 100, looking at almshouses for the 21st century.

The Housing LIN will continue working and keeping our members updated on any aspect of the ongoing outbreak which affects our sector.  You can also read our Business Continuity statement.

Stay well and be safe. And remember please clap for all carers.