Lemos&Crane worked with homelessness charity Thames Reach to develop insight and guidance on how digital technologies can engage and empower homeless people. The research will explore how digital technology can be used to improve the lives of vulnerable people by giving them a voice, enhancing and expressing their capabilities, facilitating peer-to-peer support and making the services they receive more personalised and enabling.
…….and the winners of the LankellyChase Digital Empowerment Awards are….
WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The Digital Empowerment Awards ceremony took place on the 13th May 2014 at the LankellyChase Foundation, awarding prize money and awards certificates to six projects. The projects were celebrated for excellence and innovaion in using the growing potential of digital technologies such as the internet, social media, apps and SMS to improve the lives of homeless and vulnerable people, giving them a voice, enhancing their skills and capabilities, facilitating peer support and making the services they receive more personalised and empowering.
71 entries were received in total and we would like to thank everyone for their effort and involvement. The range of people involved with the projects was extremely wide: from homeless people and people with learning disabilities to women in the criminal justice system and members of the traveller community. The judges faced a difficult task in short-listing and selecting one Winner, two Runners Up, two Highly Commended Entries and one Judges’ Special Award.
Julian Corner, Chief Executive of the Lankelly Chase Foundation, commented:“Thanks to all those organisations and projects that entered the LankellyChase digital empowerment awards for homeless and vulnerable people. We are delighted that we have tapped a rich vein of exciting and impressive work. It was a hard job to get the shortlist down to 12 and was even harder to choose the winner and runners up. We hope that these awards will be the beginning of a real breakthrough.”
Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive of Thames Reach said:“These are hard times for homeless people. Agencies need to be constantly thinking of new ways to empower their service users. The LankellyChase Digital Empowerment Awards have given us real food for thought at Thames Reach. Technology is a real opportunity and this is an area of work that Thames Reach will want to actively develop in the years to come.”
WINNER OF THE DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT AWARDS 2014
Core Arts
Core Voices
The Core Voices project promotes positive mental health and combats isolation by helping to give vulnerable people who suffer severe mental health issues a voice to enhance and express their creative talents to the public, rather than focusing on their perceived difficulties. Clients are able to access 60 creative classes a week and produce their original creative works such as art, poetry and music.
Core Arts has helped a number of clients set up websites using free web and blog technology such as Wix, Tumblr and Instagram. Digital volunteers have helped the clients. The quality of the technology and the work is extremely strong. The judges wanted to
commend the project for supporting service users to gain a creative and public voice as well as a sense of agency.
Read more about Core Voices
RUNNERS UP FOR DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT AWARDS 2014
Stonham
Moving On Android phone app
The “Moving on” app helps young people move home with as little stress and cost as possible.
The app has been developed to help younger Stonham clients moving on in their lives. It helps people to get information about where they can get secondhand or recycled furniture, local services including health care and day centres, local crime rates, emergency accommodation and advice. The app has been used by 60 service users and is available from the Google app store, one of only a few apps for homeless advice.
The judges wanted to commend the practical help the app offered and the encouragement it gave to people managing their own affairs and building their own future.
Read more about Moving On
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Digital Empowerment for Stable Way Travellers’ Site
This project addresses inequalities and aims to improve social inclusion and life chances for the Traveller Community on Stable Way through enhanced digital technology.
Kensington and Chelsea have installed free to use wi fi for residents at the traveller site. The council has also supplied the residents with refurbished computers to access the internet.
The judges particularly commended the face that this was a simple low cost idea with potentially transforming impacts which could be easily and cheaply replicated in many settings. The judges also wanted to recognised that this was a particularly vulnerable client group which needed a great of support in social inclusion.
Read more about Digital Empowerment for Stable Way Travellers’ Site
HIGHLY COMMENDED FOR DIGITAL EMPOWERMENT AWARDS 2014
Papworth Trust (Museum Street Centre)
My Safe Social Network
A comprehensive and bespoke project including a mainstream qualification course in Safe Social Networking skills that was written with and for the support of vulnerable disabled adults to access social networks and communicate with peers, friends and family in a safe and meaningful way.
The judges wanted to recognise the strength that this project had brought to the idea that the internet was a resource and an opportunity, not just a risk for vulnerable people – and a really helpful resource for people who are often isolated and lonely.
Read more about My Safe Social Network
Creativity Works
The Re|Source
The Re|Source is a peer led virtual studio and community development tool, designed and developed by women in the criminal justice system.
The studio enables women to share their creative work with friends, family and other women in the criminal justice system, safely and securely. People can comment, share and discuss works uploaded to the site. The next step is to commercialise the site so that users can sell their artistic work.
The judges particularly wanted to commend the user led element of the Re|Source and to commend the ambitions for commercial sustainability.
Read more about The Re|Source
SPECIAL JUDGES AWARD
Simon Mott
Card readers for Big Issue Vendors
This project aims to provide mobile Chip and Pin card reader devices to Big Issue Vendors to enable increased sales of the magazine.
The judges wanted to congratulate Simon on his creativity and spirit of enterprise.
Read more about Card readers for Big Issue Vendors
AWARDS CATEGORIES
- Voice – homeless and vulnerable people have new opportunities to express themselves and their experience ‘as citizens’ to reach a public audience and to challenge cultural stereotypes
- Dialogue – homeless and vulnerable people have new ways to communicate ‘as consumers’ with service providers, redressing the power imbalance between them, and providing feedback to inform and shape service development
- Support needs – providing live information feeds, ‘nudging’ take up, and reminding homeless and vulnerable people of appointments for housing, health, employment and welfare services
- Capabilities – improving skills in numeracy and literacy for employment and enterprise, offering volunteering opportunities, and providing information on mainstream / high-street services that make day-to-day life easier, cheaper and safer
- Social networks – homeless and vulnerable people have new opportunities for contact with family members, peer networking and support, and creating new opportunities for friendships through shared-interests and social activities for happiness, well-being and life-enrichment.
ENTRANTS
71 entries were received from UK non-profit organisations including:
- Homeless agencies
- Supported housing agencies
- Charities
- Third sector organisations
- Housing organisations
- Local authorities
- Adult social care organisations
- Other public bodies.
Twelve projects were shortlisted for the LankellyChase Digital Empowerment Awards for homeless and vulnerable people working with new and emerging digital technologies. 71 entries were received in five categories. The awards, presented by the LankellyChase Foundation with Lemos&Crane and Thames Reach will give a total of £2,500 prize money to projects using the growing potential of digital technologies such as the internet, social media, apps and SMS for improving the lives of homeless and vulnerable people, giving them a voice, enhancing their skills and capabilities, facilitating peer support and making the services they receive more personalised and empowering. Winners will be published on the website in May.
Digital Empowerment Awards Shortlist (in alphabetical order)
Action Homeless Leicester
Down Not Out
Down Not Out is a news agency run by and for homeless, vulnerably housed people and other marginalised groups, providing access to media related courses and offering opportunities to develop and amplify their own voices to tell their own stories and to raise awareness and challenge stereotypes.
Big Issue
Card Readers for Big Issue vendors
The project aims to provide mobile Chip and Pin card reader devices to Big Issue Vendors to enable increased sales of the magazine and thus increased income from customers who previously may have walked on by due to insufficient/no cash as we move forward into an increasingly cashless society.
CoolTan Arts
CoolFruit
CoolFruit is an inspirational, stigma busting digital magazine project developed by vulnerable people with complex needs, facilitating a peer lead opportunity for people to express themselves, have a voice and share their experience ‘as citizens’ whilst challenging cultural stereotypes developed by media and myth.
Core Arts
Core Voices
Promoting positive mental health, through clients who suffer severe mental distress and isolation creating creative digital profiles that will showcase their creative talents in music, art and writings.
Creativity Works
The Re|Source
The Re|Source is a peer led virtual studio and community development tool, designed and developed by women in the criminal justice system.
Home Works
Digitall
A dedicated digital inclusion worker embedded in Home Works housing support team, providing flexible and personalised one-to-one digital inclusion coaching to vulnerable clients who are homeless in East Sussex.
Mayday Trust
‘ME’ mobile phone app
‘ME’ is a mobile phone app for homeless and vulnerable people to experience real time access to their own development plans, social networks, local services and opportunities.
P3 The Social Inclusion Charity
Community Reporter Scheme
P3 Community Reporters gives people a voice. People experiencing social exclusion use exciting digital technology to have their say on things that matter to them; through blogs, social media, newsletters, videos and photos.
Papworth Trust Museum Street Centre
My Safe Social Network
A comprehensive and bespoke project including a mainstream qualification course in Safe Social Networking skills that was written with and for the support of vulnerable disabled adults to access social networks and communicate with peers, friends and family in a safe and meaningful way.
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Digital Empowerment for Stable Way Travellers’ Site
Addressing inequalities and improving social inclusion and life chances for the Irish Traveller Community on Stable Way through enhanced digital technology.
Single Homeless Project
Unheard Holler
In 2011 SHP set up Unheard Holler as a platform for the people passing through SHP to express their views, either in writing or on video, on social issues and other topics that are important to them.
Stonham
‘Moving On’ Android mobile phone app
An Android mobile phone app to help young people move home with as little stress and cost as possible and to assist young people who find themselves homeless.