A European funded project which is helping social housing tenants in Cornwall to better manage their finances, build their confidence and give them the skills they need to find work has been praised as “truly life changing” by organisations involved in the scheme.

Part of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Growth Programme and led by the Learning Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, SMART Tenants is working with housing associations and food banks to test a range of different programmes to help unemployed and economically inactive social housing tenants manage their money, develop new skills and prepare them for the introduction of Universal Credit. The results of the individual programmes will be evaluated by the Learning Partnership at the end of the three year programme and then used to develop future projects.

One of the projects being trialled is a Money Box course which provides short term intensive support to help tenants keep track of their money so they can avoid bad debts in the future, and increase their confidence to help them access education, training and work opportunities.

There are three levels of courses available to tenants which are run as group sessions and are available as either three day or six days courses over a number of weeks. Level One provides general information and advice on budgeting, dealing with debt, borrowing and Universal Credit. Level 2 helps tenants prepare for the job market with information on customer service, presentation skills and preparing a CV, with Level 3 offering a range of volunteering opportunities to help people increase their confidence and self esteem so they can take the next steps.

Priscilla Samuel, who manages the project for the Learning Partnership, is excited by the results of the project so far.  “We know that some tenants struggle to make ends meet and are worried about the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit. The aim of SMART Tenants is to help these people manage their finances by providing practical advice and support. We also recognise that lack of confidence puts many people off looking for a job or taking part in training. The programme works by encouraging people to take small steps rather than giant leaps to help them build their confidence and self esteem.

“Since the project was introduced in January 2017, we have seen people take part in the different programmes with some incredible results.”

Wadebridge Food Bank is working with ECCABI to provide support for up to 50 people during the three year project and organiser Victoria says they have already seen some amazing results.

30+ people have worked with the Foodbank during the first 18 months, of these some have found employment, or gone into training and actively searching for work. Some of those who had completed the Level 2 course then used their personal experience of the programme by becoming a volunteer on the Level 1 course.

Some of the people who join the course are incredibly nervous and suffer from severe anxiety, however once they join the course and realise they are not alone, their confidence grows each week. The empathy shown by other members of the group really helps and close friendships grow along the way.

One person who has completed all three courses is Tracey who overcame the impact of serious domestic problems which had destroyed her self confidence, leaving her shy and reserved and nervous with strangers. Just a few months later she was successfully managing her money, had agreed to be featured in a campaign to promote the foodbank and had become a volunteer on a Level 1 course. She has now made new friends and is much more confident. She has volunteered in the food bank, helped to design a promotional banner for the Money Box courses and is working to gain a greater understanding of the paperwork so she can help others.

Another person who successfully completed the course is Lauren who had severe anxiety and had been unable to leave her home or walk to her local shops. After being encouraged to attend her first session, she successfully completed the Level One and Level Two course and then went on to help with design work at the foodbank using her previously hidden creative talent. Since completing the two courses Lauren is much more confident, and has gone on to further training.

“Many of the people who have joined the programme have faced significant challenges in their lives and are lacking in self confidence and belief in themselves,” said Victoria.  “They are all committed to making a change and it has been fantastic to watch that change take place.”

Like Wadebridge Food bank, Cornwall Housing has been testing the effectiveness of using group sessions rather than one to one interviews to provide support to their social housing tenants. Their approach is based on the results of a pilot project they carried out with residents of a Bodmin estate where they found that encouraging tenants to work in groups helped build their confidence and encouraged them to build relationships with other people in their local community.

“We know that some of our tenants feel very isolated and suffer from anxiety and depression, with some never leaving their homes,” said Emma West. “We had some fantastic results in Bodmin, with people becoming more confident in their day to day lives and making friends with their neighbours . We wanted to explore this further to see if we could make it work more widely.”

Working with ECCABI, Cornwall Housing support workers offered places on the Money Box courses to both their own tenants and people who were at risk of becoming homeless.

One of the key challenges facing Cornwall Housing was persuading tenants to attend the courses. “Some were worried about walking into a room of strangers and we had to do lots of door knocking and talking to people in their local communities to persuade them to give it a try. In some cases that involved driving them to the building and then promising to take them home if they did not like it. Once they had taken the first step to go into the room, they stayed to the end of the session and then came back next time!”

Since joining the project Cornwall Housing has staged courses for 125 people in Liskeard, Bodmin, Falmouth, Truro, Launceston, Saltash and Looe.  Emma is thrilled with the results which, she says, show how working in groups can really help people to build their confidence and encourage each other.

“Not only have our tenants become more confident in managing their money, some have gone on to get jobs or go into training. The difference in people at the end of the course has been fantastic – not only have people amazed us, they have also amazed themselves.”