“When I heard that I’d been nominated I was delighted,” said Penny, who is looking forward to the awards ceremony next week. “It really means a lot to me – I never used to think I could achieve anything, so to be recognised like this is amazing.”

When Penny first arrived at Anchor House, she was struggling with a variety of problems, including substance misuse, but now she has really turned her life around. Whilst at Anchor House she took an active part in volunteering, completed numerous skills courses and even ran the Women’s 5K!

“It did me so much good coming to Anchor House – it stabilised my life,” said Penny. “Everything was chaotic and hectic, and I needed something structured.”

Now, with the help of Look Ahead, a charitable housing association that supports around 6,000 people with specialist needs across London and the South East each year, Penny has moved into her own flat and is currently undergoing training to become a Bus Buddy, helping vulnerable adults get out and about in London.

“ I’m so grateful to everyone at Anchor House and Look Ahead for all the help and support they’ve given me. I’m much more confident now and I feel like my life is finally back on track.”

The awards ceremony takes place on May 22nd 2013 at the Science Museum in London. Everyone at Anchor House wishes Penny the best of luck, both for this award and for the future.

Anchor House director Keith Fernett with Patron Julie Etchingham

Euromoney’s FX Survey Awards dinner took place last week on the 8th May 2013 and Anchor House was delighted to be their chosen Charity of the Year. The evening saw a host of awards, comedy and charitable giving, with celebrity appearances in the form of Peter Dickson, better known as the voiceover man from X Factor, and comedian Rob Beckett, who presented the awards.

ITV newsreader and Anchor House Patron, Julie Etchingham, also made an appearance, giving the charity address and encouraging everyone to give generously both through donations and by  bidding on the memorabilia and experiences silent auction. Great interest was shown in the lots, with diners competing for a wide variety of pieces including a Lichtenstein print, an original Messi football shirt, an autographed photo of Tiger Woods and a boxing glove signed by Muhammad Ali.

Overall the night raised just under £12,000, money which will be put towards the Home and Hope Appeal, which aims to raise £9.3 million to build 25 new move-on flats and refurbish the aging facilities.

Auction lots

“We as an organisation believe that we are a Big Society organisation with reach into all parts of the borough that we exist in for a multiplicity of services, which generally speaking are reaching those most in need, those at the margins of society, those who are workless, homeless, and those suffering from various issues of poor health,”  he said. “In essence, we are a social action charity operating a multiplicity of services.”

Click here to find out more by listening to Keith Fernett’s audio on the Big Society.

You can also click here to download the audio transcription.

Keith Fernett and Dominic Raab, MP

When the Centre for Social Justice asked for volunteers to be part of their Inner City Challenge, Dominic Raab, MP for Esher and Walton, immediately put his hand up. The challenge asks MPs from all political parties to undertake a voluntary placement in some of the most ground-breaking poverty-fighting projects in Britain.

For Dominic, who has a particular interest in homelessness and the issues surrounding it, as well as in the London Borough of Newham, Anchor House was the obvious choice. Over the course of three days, Dominic met with various staff and residents and experienced first-hand how the day-to-day running of a modern charity works.

Talking about his experience, Dominic said he was impressed by the ethos of self-help and personal responsibility that is present in everything Anchor House does.

“The business-like approach that Anchor House takes is unusual in the charity sector, but it’s clearly very effective. The people who come here have often hit rock bottom, so it was a pleasant surprise to see how optimistic the atmosphere is.”

Dominic passed on his thanks to all staff for making him feel so welcome and has offered his support for the future.

Dominic Raab is the Conservative MP for Esher and Walton and writes regular updates in his blog, which can be viewed here.

Dominic Raab, MP with Anchor House residents

Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, MET Commissioner with Keith Fernett, Director of Anchor House

As part of an on-going conversation with London’s faith communities, the London Metropolitan Police Service Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, visited the East London Mosque and London Muslim Centre last week on Thursday 30th April. The event was attended by over 40 faith and community leaders, including Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, Chairman of the East London Mosque Trust and Anchor House Patron and his special guest Keith Fernett, Director of Anchor House.

The discussion covered a wide range of topics including how London is policed, stop and search statistics, the recruitment of ethnic minorities to the police force and how the Safer Neighbours teams will work. Sir Bernard made a positive commitment to work with London’s faith organisations, which he said were a vital connection to local communities.

Speaking about the evening, Anchor House Director Keith Fernett said, “I was very honoured by the invitation to be part of this important dialogue. Anchor House has a large number of Muslim residents and it’s heartening to hear a warm and respectful discussion on ways to improve relations between the police and the wider community.”

View Keith Fernett’s video blog about the evening here.

He also praises all the residents he interviewed recently for the post of Time Bank Co-ordinator at Anchor House, commending their enthusiasm and eagerness to make a meaningful contribution society. It is his hope that this kind of community spirit will continue to thrive and grow despite the current austerity measures.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Made up of three teams of three plus four individuals, the athletes, who include Anchor House’s very own Appeal Board member Gerry Strahan, will take on the world’s largest and most iconic triathlon in an effort to raise money to help the homeless and vulnerable in East London. Starting off with a 1500m swim in the Thames, the teams will then pedal their way through the streets of London on a 40km bike ride before donning their trainers for a final 10km run.

All funds raised will go towards Anchor House’s Home and Hope Appeal, an ambitious project that aims to raise £9.3 million in order to renovate the 50 year old building and construct 25 move-on flats for residents making the transition into independent living.

Currently supporting up to 220 residents a year, Anchor House does so much more than simply give its residents a roof over their heads. Working with a Lifestyle Architect, each resident agrees to a personal development plan and is encouraged to address the root cause of their homelessness through education, training and personal rehabilitation. With the help of this programme, residents are given tangible and sustainable solution to the challenge of homelessness and can gain the skills and confidence they need to go on to live successful, independent lives.

Newham is one of the places where the welfare reforms will hit hardest, according to new research.

A study by university researchers into the disproportionate effect of the reforms has places Newham among the 20 districts with the largest absolute loss – £127million a year – attributable to welfare reforms out of 379 areas in Great Britain.

The researchers say that a working age in Newham will lose £580 a year because of the reforms.

I am concerned about the injustice that this report has uncovered.

Although some reform of the welfare system is necessary, I cannot turn a blind eye to the injustice that it is the poorest people in our poorest communities who will be paying the price of the current welfare reforms.

Of course benefits should not be paid to those who don’t need them or to anyone who is claiming them falsely, but in a time of austerity there is actually a greater need to support the poor and to ensure that everyone in society bears the costs of any reductions, especially those who are better able to afford it.

The report called Hitting the Poorest Places Hardest – The Local and Regional Impact of Welfare Reform was written by Christina Beatty and Steve Fothergill from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University. They have calculated that the reforms will take up to £19 billion a year out of the British economy when they have come fully into effect.

See: http://www.shu.ac.uk/research/cresr/sites/shu.ac.uk/files/hitting-poorest-places-hardest_0.pdf

Source: Newham Recorder, Wednesday 24 April 2013

Kick On, a London based project aimed at rebuilding the lives of the homeless and vulnerable through football, played their first ever football match this Wednesday and the turnout was overwhelming. Started with the help of Nigel Miles and Anchor House, Kick On was founded by John Knowles, who got the idea of organising a homeless football team while volunteering at a local hostel.

“We had 15 guys turn out today to play football together, and watching them smile and laugh made all the work worthwhile,” said John, speaking about the match. “All our players are homeless or live in hostels and some of them have problems that run a little deeper, so at the moment just taking them away from their daily life for a couple of hours a week is more than enough.”

The club currently trains at facilities provided by the Docklands Settlements, where Ben North, Operations Manager and Director of the Homeless Football Association, has offered his support and is even helping John to find funding for the team.

“When we have established ourselves as a club, I would like Kick On to become a place where people can not only gain fitness and a healthier lifestyle, but also offer support with courses, work placements and advice,” said John. “It’s early days at the moment but that’s the plan.”

If you know of anyone who might benefit from playing and socialising each week with like-minded people then please get in touch by emailing John at kickon2013@yahoo.com, or follow Kick On on Twitter @jjk1882.

The scheme works by giving customers a token at the checkout which they can place in the charity box of their choice, and at the end of the month Waitrose splits a donation of £1000 between three charities according to how many tokens they received.

As an added bonus, Waitrose pledged to triple charitable donations this Christmas season instead of spending extra money on advertising. As a result, we are delighted to report a total donation of £990, which will be collected from the Stratford branch of Waitrose on Friday 26^th April by Anchor House Community Fundraiser Stephen Watson and two residents.