Sr Stan

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Eoin O'Sullivan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gert Ackerman

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Summary Points from Sr. Stan Briefing:

* Greatest value of the Church/ non-Govt. sector – Identify new needs and possible solutions

* Use ‘demonstration projects’ and evidence their success.

* Fundraising, volunteerism, service user involvement - People want to give time and money (see

* Use fundraised/independent money to pioneer new initiatives and to advocate.

* Place great importance on values from the very start- Strive for the best

* Christian values are really human values

* Our work is the future of the church – great church writings on social justice

* We can learn most from the people who use our services. 

* Change comes from the fringes – The centre wants to protect the status quo.

* Word poverty is less used. Poverty orgs. (Combat Poverty Agency etc) gone. We need to put poverty back on the agenda.

* The spread of work Crosscare does is a great advantage.

* Don’t get too big. Stay close to the edge.

* Large NGO’s need to come together re advocacy with a simple agreed message

* Fundraising – If you believe in what you do allow people to contribute and support work

* Don’t focus on problems focus on solutions

* Compliance etc isn’t funded but has to be done – can make orgs. risk adverse.

Summary Points from Eoin O'Sullivan Briefing:

* Homelessness is likely to get worse in 18-24 months due to spikes in rent, new builds not coming on stream yet, new developments being blocked, HAP tenancies still easy to terminate, etc.

* Short-term, humanitarian responses incl. ‘subsistence orgs.’ (providing food to rough sleepers etc.) are increasing in number. In other sectors, decongregation is the trend whereas, in homeless services, people are still expected to live in large congregations.

* Possible approaches for Crosscare incl.:

o Promotion of ‘experts by experience’ - people who can speak from their experience of homelessness

o develop emergency projects into long term homes for people

o Facilitate a cohesive voice from homeless sector e.g. in relation to law around eviction. 6 biggest NGOs (incl. Crosscare) and 5 large AHBs use the majority of State funding for homeless and social housing services. Working together on issues, these are in a very powerful position. Look abroad for best practice e.g. private rented sector isn’t used for social housing but acknowledged as ‘for profit’ by owner

o Invest in robust, empirical, quantitative research and small pilot projects (not qualitative or emotional)

Summary Points from Gert Ackerman Briefing:

* Why focus on comms? 96% of 16-24 yr. olds have a smart phone, 87 % of Irish politicians are active on Twitter etc.

* Make a comms. plan based on strategic plan – for every goal ask what comms. action will help to progress this goal? Twitter etc. are only the tools. The message is key.

* Think about different comms. actions e.g. charity ambassadors

* Website is hub for all comms, need a new site every 5-8 yrs.

* Politicians will collaborate with us if they know more about us, people will donate more if they have heard of us,

* Branding - uniform look and feel across all documents, all need to tie together

* Risks – link to Dublin Diocese creates comms risk. We need guidelines and agreed key messages etc

* Most orgs the size of Crosscare have a dedicated comms person

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