Ron Eager House declared John Laing Charitable Trust ‘Day Centre of the Year’
Wednesday 6 February 2008 - Yesterday, at an event in London, Tyneside Cyrenians’ Day Centre, Ron Eager House, won the John Laing Charitable Trust ‘Day Centre of the Year’ Award as part of a national awards scheme run by Homeless Link. The Awards recognise the tremendous contributions of homeless people and day centres to the communities in which they live.
Ron Eager House is part of the Tyneside Cyrenians organisation in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The centre was nominated for three projects which make a contribution to the local community:
- Trading Places project, where service users trade places with staff to become experienced in service delivery, and eventually deliver services themselves;
- Adults facing Chronic Exclusion project, which provides assertive outreach to make contact and support rough sleepers and those facing chronic exclusion; and
- Girls Are Proud project which supports those involved with sex work in Newcastle.
The judges commented that the Trading Places programme was an excellent example of how service users could be involved in service delivery in such a way as to make it more responsive to the needs of the community, and also as meaningful occupation and a route to employment. Twenty two people have gained employment through the programme so far, and out of the sixteen permanent staff at Ron Eager House, twelve are ex-service users.
Mick Hamilton of the John Laing Charitable Trust, said:
“Tyneside Cyrenians’ amazing entry illustrates that this type of funding has made a substantial difference to the individuals, the organisations and the local communities of each of the Day Centres that entered this competition.
“Day centres continue to provide a vital support function to those within our communities who need it most and Ron Eager House is a fitting winner of this award, their efforts in changing lives and building futures are exemplary.
"The Trust has been providing support for Day Centres either directly or through Homeless Link for nearly 15 years; we try to ensure each one ‘Makes a Difference’.
In addition to the achievement of Ron Eager House, Tyneside Cyrenians ‘Project Avame’ was recognised as a Special Achievement within the Michael Whippman Award. ‘Project Avame’ involved seven homeless people, together with three members of staff from Tyneside Cyrenians setting out for Ghana, West Africa last year. For two weeks the group provided vital manpower to build a school and worked to understand, compare and contrast the difference in material wealth of ordinary people in both the UK and Ghana. In the months prior to the project the group participated in a wide range of community and team building events in order to raise the funds for their activity in Ghana.
Commenting on the Awards, Stephen Bell Chief Executive of Tyneside Cyrenians said;
“I am both proud and delighted. For two of our projects recognised nationally in this way is a fantastic achievement. I am pleased for both our service users and our staff – the service users as they benefit from these great projects in so many ways and the staff because they are unsung heroes; dedicated, hard working and, most of all, innovative.”
Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national umbrella organisation for frontline homelessness agencies, said:
“Tyneside Cyrenians are worth winners – I am very familiar with their work and it’s great to see them recognised in this way.
“The John Laing Charitable Trust ‘Day Centre of the Year’ Award and the Michael Whippman Award are schemes with a difference. They focus on the contributions of homeless people and day centres to their communities – aiming to challenge false stereotypes about people who are homeless. They really do show that, given the right support, anything is possible for people who are homeless. Communities see real benefits and, for the people involved, seeing their work making a real difference is a key step towards ending homelessness.”
The award ceremony took place in the grand setting of Portcullis House, London and were presented by Iain Wright MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Grant Shapps MP, Shadow Minister for Housing, Conservative Party; Lembit Opik MP, Shadow Minister for Housing, Liberal Democrats and Mick Hamilton of The John Laing Charitable Trust.
