Connor Road Young Persons Support Service

Connor Road Young Persons Housing Support Service provides a wide range of support to young people aged 16 – 25 both living independently in the community and within the 11 purpose built flats within Connor Road itself.

Connor Road as a project aims to equip young people with the skills and experience they need to maintain a tenancy and live independently.

In 2016/17 a series of “meetings” identified a range of issues that support staff had previously not encountered, which became the broad aims of what we were trying to achieve. They can be summarised as:

  • A desire on the part of residents to strengthen the relationship between the young people living in Connor Road and their neighbours and project staff
  • Empowering young people giving them and staff the opportunity to discuss living in Connor Road and how it can be improved
  • A realisation that for many living there, isolation is an issue particularly at times when they do not have contact with project staff; this will be an opportunity to share those experiences
  • Engagement tends to be very formal, traditionally something that young people do not readily take part in and as such, they do not have a voice to feed in to how the project develops or understand how the decision-making process works.
  • Provide a space to allow these ideas and conversations to happen

Key Activities

Informal drop in sessions with residents that allows residents to feed into issues such as:

  • Discussions around what support to vulnerable young people should look like
  • Local area regeneration plans
  • Small environmental projects organised in Connor Road such as a “growing” project to supply free vegetables to residents
  • The development of a recreational area outside where residents could relax
  • Input to the Local Housing Strategy – in particular services for young people
  • Input to choice based lettings strategy discussions
  • Input to the day to day running of the service
  • Discussions around real life and living within communities facilitated by housing staff prepares young people for independent living
  • Organise fun events that allow the residents to meet and develop friendships

Benefits & Impacts

  • Greater engagement with residents
  • A culture shift within housing services which focuses more on the service user
  • Greater understanding from members on how Connors Road is run and how wider services influence the way the service is run

Learning

In developing this initiative we had a broad aim of alleviating isolation and empowering young people moving in to the Connor Road Young Persons Accommodation.

From the outset we have avoided the “formality” that often goes along with setting up groups such as this, we have not looked at constitutions or committees but have focussed on identifying and responding to the issues young people have living in the unit.

Through these informal ways of engaging we have seen progress in how young people have both engaged with us around these issues but also that they recognise there is support available.

Further Information

Young Persons Housing Support Service in East Renfrewshire https://www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=14256&p=0

Contact Information

For further information on this case study, please contact

Brian Coles
Tenant Customer Engagement Officer
East Renfrewshire Council

Email: brian.coles@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk
Phone: 0141 577 3695