We are the champions!

EC1 New Deal for Communities (NDC) was victorious at last Thursday’s Regeneration & Renewal Awards – scooping the title of Neighbourhood Renewal Project of the Year for its outreach project, EC1 Connect.

The award recognises EC1 Connect as effectively demonstrating social and economic benefit to the EC1 area whilst involving local people in the leadership of the project.

Beating competition posed by Coventry Council and Bristol City Council who joined EC1 Connect as the category finalists at a grand awards ceremony at the Hurlingham Club in Fulham; the award is a triumph for the project which has been operating for three years.

Judges praised EC1 Connect for its professional and innovative approach in raising the performance of local agencies and connecting them with people who are hard to reach.

Judge Paul McCreery of planning and design consultancy, Barton Willmore said:

“It’s a highly innovative programme which establishes a unique way of delivering services where they are most needed. The model should be replicated elsewhere.”

EC1 NDC Chief Executive, Andy Murphy said:

“We’re delighted to have won this prestigious award. We knew we’d developed a service that makes a genuine difference to some of our most disadvantaged residents - a recent evaluation of the project which included interviews with recipients confirmed this. And now it is fantastic to be acknowledged by industry experts.”
 

Background

EC1 Connect was set up as a pilot project by EC1 NDC in 2005. It became a fully- funded, stand alone project in 2006.

EC1 Connect advisors contact residents directly through systematic door-knocking on all social housing estates and at community events. The advisors’ role is to identify all the issues present in each household and link them to agencies that can provide support, either through signposting or referral.

Initially focused on tackling worklessness, the project has evolved to deal with a broad range of issues. Referrals are made to a wide range of services including employment advice, training providers, benefits advice, older people’s services, child care, small business support, housing advice, volunteering opportunities and health support.

The project has generated involvement and commitment from 41 partner agencies across the statutory and voluntary sector, some of whom accompany the advisors on their door-knocking. Referrals to services are made on the doorstep, and the team has a public-access office in EC1.

Four weeks after a referral, EC1 Connect contacts both the partner agency and the client to confirm that contact took place and that the support or advice provided was effective. In the event that it was not, EC1 Connect will work with one or both parties to resolve the issue. It is this tenacious approach that makes a real difference to standard service delivery.

The project was originally conceived and designed by EC1 NDC’s Employment Sub-Group. This is a resident-led forum that brings local residents and service providers together to combine local experience and expert knowledge and agree how best to use NDC grant to tackle worklessness in the area. The project itself is managed by a local resident and employs an advisor who has deep-rooted family history in the area and so is a familiar and trusted face to most people living in EC1.

There are plans to expand and extend the project in terms of its scope, methods of engagement and geography. Recently, an agreement has been made with the local ALMO (Homes for Islington) for EC1 Connect to contact new tenants soon after they move into the area.

EC1 Connect features prominently in EC1 NDC’s emerging plans for succession.