engagement model case study northampton cab

7/29/2019 Engagement Model Case Study Northampton CAB

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Promoting Digital Accessibility Through Partnership

2012

Engagement Model Case Study

Northampton CAB


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Richard Wall

Northampton&District

Citizens Advice Bureau

7/8 Mercers Row

Northampton

NN1 2QL

01604 235080

Our CCB plan approach is to develop strong

partnerships with like-minded organisations

in Northamptonshire to provide a

sustainable county-wide support structure

which meets the identied needs of the

digitally excluded

Design: Marvin Mudzongo / [email protected] / 07835165583 / University Of Northampton / 2012


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Northampton Citizens Advice Bureau is part of the UKs largest advice provider which is equipped to deal with any

issue, from anyone, spanning debt and employment to housing and immigration plus everything in between.

In doing so we work with a vast array of organisations which sit comfortably into the ve headings below:-

- Community and voluntary sector organisations dealing with a range of distinct client groups, who have the

willingness to help get people on line.

- Statutory agencies such as local councils and government departments through whom we have contact with the

likes of housing associations and the library service, where opportunities exist to support and promote our services.

- Onsite partners where we can build upon the onsite advice facilities CAB already offer including childrens centres

and Northampton University.

- Private organisations who work with us on a pro bono basis or sponsor certain CAB initiatives, who wish to

encourage their own employees to get online, as part of an employee volunteering or wider corporate responsibilityundertaking.

- Membership organisations such as the WI who we keep informed about changes to CAB services, and whose

members can act as recruiters for new initiatives.

Our CCB plan approach is to build from this base to develop strong partnerships with like-minded organisations

in Northamptonshire to provide a sustainable county-wide support structure which meets the identied needs of

the digitally excluded. We are attempting to spread our net as widely as possible, using the existing partners as a

conduit to achieve this.

Similarly our rst client approach is to those within our own

and partner organisations who could be classed as socially

excluded in that they do not possess all the necessary life skills

to survive well in todays society. At CAB we already offer

money management education throughout Northamptonshire as

a self help offering to this group, and look to build on this at our

UK online centre and through building and supporting a digital

champions network countywide.

Introduction

A diversity of approaches:

Operating within what is essentially a hub and spokes

framework embracing a broad demographic spread of people,

situations and opportunities leads to a variety of approaches

being employed. Some of these are planned, but others evolve

often from ideas that havent quite worked in another form.

What is shown below captures some of these approaches, and

importantly a avour of the potential spread and reach as we engage

with each spoke.


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Four different methods of engagement with Northamptonshire libraries:

Like many other public services, Northamptonshire Libraries are facing up to budget reductions, which haveimpacted directly on staff numbers and the way their services are offered. Until this year the library service ran aprogramme of computer courses offering support at many levels, but these have been progressively withdrawn.

As a replacement, they are now actively recruiting e- volunteers, who offer basic support in libraries countywide on

Fridays, when computers are free to use. We are working closely with the libraries Work and Business ProgrammeCoordinatorto support the initiative and have partnered a number of approaches as illustrated below to achievethis aim:-

We set up an arrangement whereby a UK online centre volunteer attends the central library at the same time every Friday

to assist customers with any IT issues. Although this was extensively advertised within the library, the take up was patchy.

We think this was because the support was very much reactive and in truth the people using the computers are there for a

purpose and generally capable users.

In December we tried a new approach, by teaming up with the library job club, which runs every Friday, with a trained

Next Step careers adviser from Options 2. The job club is signposted externally and attracts strong interest. The role of

our volunteer is to dovetail with Options 2 , mirroring the approaches we take in the UK online centre and supporting job

seekers, by offering general guidance and assistance to those who have little or no computer skills. This approach has been

very effective and offers valuable support to the busy Options 2 adviser.

From January we widened our approach with monthly pre arranged visits to smaller community libraries within the town. Pre

booked half hour sessions are arranged for our volunteer who attends from 10:00 till 12:00 on the appointed Friday. All ofthese sessions to date have been fully subscribed.

Spreading the digital inclusion message through membership organisations has been very effective as they will generally

publicise the project in their newsletter and signpost members to the training courses. Northamptonshire WI is a greatexample of how far an organisation is prepared to support when a particular synergy is established.

In late 2010 I contacted the WI about the introduction of our UK online centre and they kindly published an article in their

county newsletter publicising the centre. This resulted in a number of members attending the my guide course.

One of the WI learners was so impressed by the course, she arranged for us to have a stand at their agship event; The

Northamptonshire WI annual council meeting held in October 2011 . I was subsequently invited by the County Chair to

address the assembly.

The event coincided with Give an Hour and I used this as my focus. In June, the national WI became a Race on Line

Partner and pledged 10,000 digital champions nationally for Give an Hour. WI are also the sponsors of an e-petition to save

libraries.

Use of UK online volunteers

Engaging through the WI


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By talking about these two things at the AGM, I was able to issue a rallying call asking the 300+ delegates present to lobby

WI branch members countywide to become digital champions at their local libraries.

Before attending the meeting I had been given the name of one library contact who would eld enquiries on behalf of the

whole county. In capacity building terms this was particularly pleasing as the message was reaching out to all parts ofNorthamptonshire.

During the interval, eight delegates asked for details of the library contact, although Im only aware of one in the north of the

county who followed up immediately. At the very least, the message of digital volunteering at libraries will have been passed

on in feedback to all W.I branches in Northamptonshire. A positive spin off for the UK online centre is that ve new learners

enrolled for a course following the event , with word of mouth referrals still continuing.

On the day people were queuing to see the volunteers and each

computer was fully occupied for the whole 2.5 hours with over 30

people accommodated. Thelocal evening papercovered the event

andRadio Northamptoninterviewed learners and volunteers live on

the programme. This was featured as part of theirGive an Hour weekcoverage. At least 2 new learners started at ourUK online centre as

direct result of this event.

Barclaycard, whose HQ is situated in Northampton, sponsor a nancial capability programme for lone parents called

Horizons. This is operated by CAB and Gingerbread nationally. The national CAB contact for the programme referred

me to Barclaycards corporate social responsibility team, who expressed an interest in supporting the digital champion

scheme and asked me to outline the project and my requirements to them.

The digital champion concept ts well with Barclaycards new volunteering focus of enhancing peoples life skills, rather

than undertaking one off events such as repainting community centres. Against this background they accepted us into the

programme and submitted details of the project nationally which has resulted in an excellent response in Northampton and

their centres in the North West of England and London.

Locally, one volunteer has consistently supported sessions at ourUK online centre, and with reasonable notice I have been

able to call upon other individuals and groups to support outreach events .

The rst of these outreach events took place at the second largest library in Northampton, where my contact Sara arranged

for 10 computers to be set aside for a drop in session on October 19th.

The date was set specically to coincide with a team building day at Barclaycard of which the morning would be given over

to volunteering. Ten members of a team volunteered for this initiative and I briefed their team leader in advance of the event.

I also approached BBC Radio Northampton and was given a 1 minute slot on the preceding Friday early morning show to

sell the event. Inspiration FM, a local community radio station also featured the event during a Give an Hour campaigninterview. Through various CAB connections I was able to brief local community groups including thefriendsof the library

group.

Channeling corporate social responsibility / Barclaycard


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The process was repeated for the whole of Give an Hour week at both Weston Favell and central Library. There

were two hour long sessions at 11am till 12pm and 2 till 3pm with over 40 Barclaycard volunteers involved

throughout the week.

Unfortunately these sessions werent as well attended which was disappointing, but helped to conrm that even

when well publicised, drop ins in this environment are not the answer. Being part of a more targeted approach

such as the Library Job Club or pre booked sessions is the way forward.

Tesco have a huge distribution presence at The DIRFT complex near J18 of the M1. I originally approached them to

investigate training needs within the vast agency workforce employed there.

During my visit I learnt that this particular building housed the national Tesco distribution support team who I was invited

to talk to. As this team are computer literate my approach changed to looking for digital volunteers. The proximity of local

libraries in Daventry , Long Buckby and Rugby offered me a focus , and with the pre booked model now established I was

able to position a scenario which they have agreed to. With the help of my contact Sara I have put the Tesco team in touch

with the manager of Daventry library with the aim of them running two hour weekly sessions in the Library during March. I

have offered practical support, guidance and direction throughout the sessions , but am leaving the logistics to them. If the

arrangement works I will encourage its expansion to Rugby, and use the experience to engage organisations in other parts

of Northants.

Channeling corporate social responsibility / Tesco


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Sara Kennedy, Work and Business Programme Coordinator for Northamptonshire Libraries

comments.

The partnership between the library service andCAB has gone from strength to strength over the last few months. Richard

and his volunteers have provided much needed IT support which the library service can no longer offer due to staff cuts. The

volunteers are always helpful and reliable and really add value to the library service.

I initially began working with Richard at the beginning of September 2011 when he arranged for a Digital Champion to come

into the Northampton central library on a Friday afternoon to offer oating IT support to our computer users.Every Friday, in all our libraries, we waive our normal computer hire fees, with the main aim of supporting people looking

for work. We also want to encourage those who are not IT literate to try out computers and the internet for free. The digital

champion arrangement was benecial to both CAB and the library service because our customers could make more of our

free computers whilstCAB could refer the people they helped back to theirUK online centre for more detailed training.

We further improved this offer by having the digital champion in the library at the same time as the job club. Many of the

customers attending the job club also needed IT support and this is proving to be a highly effective partnership. We have

recently extended this partnership to offer pre-bookable sessions at our smaller branch libraries across the town, focusing on

internet taster sessions. These have proved very popular, especially amongst our older customers who want to learn how to

get online. I very much look forward to developing our partnership further.

We are a partner in a life skills project run by South Northants

Homes . Move-In4ward is a 4 week training programme deliveredby local partners to support disadvantaged tenants in temporary

accommodation and hostels to maintain their tenancy and equip

them with life skills to help them take control of their lives and

prevent further risk of homelessness. Modules include managing

tenancies, healthy living, money matters, DIY and getting digital

for everyday life. The aim is for participants to develop soft skills

such as motivation, condence, self-awareness, positive thinking,

discipline and goal setting and practical skills including budgeting,

computers for every day life, DIY, rst aid and how to manage

tenancies.

Using digital to cement other learning with South Northants Homes


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Becky Pavey Community Development Manager South Northants Homes

Comments:

We have been working closely with CAB to deliver ourMove-in4wardlife skills course. They kindly put us in touch with

one of their IT volunteers who agreed to come and provide IT support for the programme, this was essential because we

loaned each participant a laptop with internet access for the duration of the course and we needed some technical support

to get the laptops ready for each course. We also incorporated the use of computers in to each of the 8 modules and he

was on hand to help people with limited computer knowledge and to solve any technical problems, we really dont know howwe would have managed without Alans valuable support. CAB also delivered the Money Matters module and provided

the participants with important awareness training on money and debt management with a strong focus on the importance

of budgeting. This was delivered in a very professional and laid back manner and was adapted to suit each group. They

were given a list of useful websites where they could get extra information, look for cheaper alternatives and do their

budget planner online so it tted in nicely with the digital inclusion objective of the project. We are really pleased with the

supportCAB has given us and we are looking forward to working with them further to provide additional IT training and CV

development with the life skills participants, and also to help us make the Move-in4wardcourse sustainable.

A direct spin off from this event is that I have been able to network with another partner

South Northants Volunteering Centre , who have just gained lottery funding to set

up a rural outreach project called Village Networks using an exhibition vehicle and

16 seater minibus to deliver access to key advice support for the outlying and often

remote villages within this part of the county. Their core offering will be debt advice,benet advice and job seeking which are all areas in which CAB is well placed help

through direct guidance and digital support .

This has opened up other potential uses for the Internet to complement and reinforce

other learning in other areas ofCAB work , and through our infrastructure any resultant

good practice is easily shared nationwide on our cablink website.

A topical illlustration is the Energy Best Deal campaign where standard presentational

material has been used to convey the overall message, and space set aside at the UK

online centre for people to drop in and be guided through the featured websites. The

availability of laptops and having the use of dongles such as those donated to us by

the mobile phone company 3 makes the whole package fully transportable.


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The Northampton Volunteering Centre have been supportive of the UK online centre from the outset and are a

signicant source of volunteers to us.

Through them and their partners we potentially have access to the whole range of voluntary and community

groups in the county , and can support community projects they are involved in.A current example is where they have asked if we could assist in any way with digital aspects of an

intergenerational project sponsored by the Big Lottery Fund which will run for the next 3 years.

The aim of the School of Life project is to bring younger (under 25) and older people (50+) together to promote

better understanding between the generations through the mutual sharing of skills. One of the activities they

are currently developing is IT workshops with younger people teaching older people IT skills including use the

internet.

They are looking for individuals aged 50 and over to participate and benet from the activities being planned

during the project. Part of their planned outcome is to target activities for elderly people that may be isolated. To

help support this, they will be able to cover the cost of transport in getting older people to and from activities.

This allows us to help in two ways. Firstly throughdigital championsin partner organisations interacting directly

with the project , as with Northampton University e-volunteers who recently ran a drop in event during Give anHour week and are building on this experience to run 4 drop ins for the project at Age UKin Northampton.

The second possibility is to broker School of Life projects events at our centre using young volunteers from

within partner organisations, and e marketing events to our extensive database.

As a precursor we have run a similar style of event in December withBarclaycardvolunteers operating from the

Centre engaging withHome Group(Housing Association) clients.

Whilst the CABis a universally trusted brand and has undoubtedly helped us deliver the digital inclusion message,

it is the work of the UK online centrewhich has truly underpinned it.

In terms of community capacity building, the centre has been an examplar for organisations such asInspiration FM

in setting up their own operation, and an outreach fallback for organisations likeHome Groupwho dont have their

own facilities.

Of even greater signicance is the pivotal role it plays in developing our expertise within certain specialist

groupings such as the unemployed. The centre has a direct referal mechanism set up with Job Centre Plus and

the two work programme deliverers A4Eand Ingeus. Through our link with theLibrary Job Clubclients are also

signposted to us from Next Stepsagency Options 2.

The work of the centre has also been acknowledged by Northamptonshire Enterprise and we are now a member

of the worklessness forum. The work we do is complementary to each of the work programme providers and

because of this we have a good relationship with each . However within this remit we continually strive to improve

the offering we give in order to plug gaps in the job seeker provision. A prime example of this is new learners

coming to us with a paper CV and job vacancies only showing e mail addresses. Through Go-on we quickly

help them acquire an e mail address , and through the generosity ofBarclaycard we are also able to give them a

memory stick to carry their CV around with............after it has been retrieved from the agency still holding it on

their system!

Job seekers represent nearly 40% of the centres work, with retired people at 31% the next largest group.

Two groups emerging are learners where English is not their rst language and people with learning difculties.We have successfully navigated people though he online basics course from both groupings , and are condent

that with the right approaches and alliances will increase our impact in both areas signicantly .

Spokes within spokes

The Heart of the hub


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Local community impact evidence

This is an extract from the UK Online centre case study

featuring MichaelMichael Barton, from St James in Northampton, saw a poster on the

noticeboard in his housing association advertising computer courses at hislocal UK online centre.

Michaels son had been pestering him for months to take some courses to

help him use computers, but he didnt know where to get started. Seeing an

advert for Northampton Citizens Advice Bureau UK online centre was just

the push he needed.

I was really scared when I rst went into the centre, Michael says. I thought I

could press a button and the whole screen would just go blank. I dont think that

now though! The centres great, and theres always someone on hand if I get

stuck. Theyve made it really easy to get started, and thats exactly what I needed.

Michael Barton UK online 500,000th learner


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Kimberley Knighton from Michaels housing association Home Group has been an active supporter of the digital inclusion

project from when we made a presentation to Northampton Borough Councils housing group meeting inviting the

attendant housing associations to support the CCB initiative. As can be seen from the article below, which appeared in last

Novembers Home Group national magazine,the partnership has enjoyed good success. This is particularly pleasing as mostof the learners referred to are from two wards ,Castle and St James ,which are within the top 10% of deprived wards, as

measured using the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). Most recently we ran an outreach event for them using Barclaycard

volunteers.

We have supported Timebank in Northampton from its inception and have found it a thoroughly rewarding experience .

Kate Bellamy from Northamptonshire Teaching PCT gives her thoughts on our involvement below:We were pleased to welcome Northampton Citizens Advice Bureauon to our time banking scheme, Take Time to Make

Time, in June last year. Take Time to Make Time is an exciting way for people to come together to help others - and help

themselves at the same time! It works like a bank account, but using time instead of money. Participants deposit their

time in the bank by giving practical help and support to others, then theyre able to withdraw their time when they need

something done themselves. The scheme was launched byChanging Minds, part ofNorthamptonshire Health Care NHS

Foundation Trustback in February last year. The CAB is one of ten organisations signed up to the scheme. CAB banked

time by hosting one of our members social events at their building last

summer, the evening was a huge success. In return Richard Wall presented to the group on how members can help him and

the work he does at the CAB. Following this, Richard has delivered a number of IT lessons to a group of people from a dayservice for adults with learning disabilities. Some of our members have helped by volunteering at the CAB. We look forward

to continuing to work with the CAB.

Local community impact evidence

Membership of Timebank


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David Grifth is a day centre ofcer based at Camp

Hill Community Centre where his role is that of a

learning facilitator for people with

learning difculties . He is also a member ofTimebank

and following the meeting hosted by us David and

members of the Camp Hill community are regular

attendees at the Online Centre including Richard,

Michelle and Peterfeatured below.

An important lesson to pass on is that the effort required in creating

and maintaining the infrastructure for true digital inclusion is amarathon task that requires constant reinvention and reinforcement.

For instance our experience with Northamptonshire Libraries has

shown that a single successful headline event is not necessarily the

blueprint for success , and through perseverance and willingness to try

different approaches we have two that are working well at present but

these will need to be kept fresh in order to be sustainable.

For job seekers we are providing an essential service not catered for

within the Work Programme and are proud of the valuable practical

support we give them. However we quickly learned that not every job

seeker referred to us is motivated to learn and as a consequence we

are prepared that some will not stay the course, and more importantly

we strive to nd individual hooks that will motivate them through the

course and beyond.

Hi Richard, Just a quick email to let you know how much

we appreciate the online service, and how much benet

it has given to Richard, Michelle and Mark. All three have

now demonstrated the skills they have learnt on the

course at the CAB, and arenow able to access websites independently, appropriately

and safely. We sincerely hope we can support other

people to access your course.

Warm Regards

(and a happy new year!)

David Grifths

Lessons learned

Hunsbury News

Aug 2011

Camp Hill Community Centre, Hunsbury, Northampton NN4 9RR Tel: 07774657117

IT Skills at Online basics...

Customers fromHunsbury have beentaking advantage of thefree IT drop-in sessionsheld at the Citizens Ad-vice Bureau inNorthampton town

absolutely anyone.Please contact 01604235080 for further info,or email:[email protected] Citizens AdviceBureau is located at:Town Centre House, 7-8Mercers Row,Northampton NN1 2QL

Centre. The Onlinebasics course offers help

with learning how touse the internet safely,and is open to

Next Blood Donation Day...

(Above) Richard Holton

(Left) Michelle Cross

(Below) Peter Nicholson

The next Blood Donationday at Camp HillCommunity Centre will takeplace on Tuesday 30thAugust. Customers fromHunsbury will be visitingBecketts Park for the day,

and hopefully enjoying apicnic in the sunshine!All travel arrangements willremain the same, andCustomers will be meetingup at the Community Centreas normal in the morning.

PTO

Ive learnt how to find

websites and how to stay

safe using the internet. Its

excellent!

Michelle Cross


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We always have it in mind that using a computer or accessing the Internet is

not the motivator for anyone getting on line. There is always an underlying

need for which being computer literate and the ability to go on line is part of

the solution. Job seekers and employability is an example we are familiar

with, and by approaching the training from the real need we are able to offer

a tailored and more effective experience.

We now employ a similar approach throughoutCABservices including

money management outreach sessions which are enhanced by taking

laptops with us and showing people how to access comparison websites ,

or look up benet entitlements on line. Anyone unsure about computers and

the internet and wanting to know more is signposted to where the nearest

training is available.

Assisted digital deliveryis another way of giving help in the rst instance

which can then lead to further training .

The social issues affecting a signicant percentage of the people we want to

help, who are termed hard to reach, are deep seated. Against this background

capacity builders should be prepared that success will often be hard won andthere will be disappointments along the way. We have seen this with housing

associations where well publicised outreach events were poorly attended ,

and interest only gradually built up through word of mouth and re applying the

message.

Its a similar situation with partners where promises are made from which

expectations run high. The difculty is in turning those expectations into reality.

With the partners featured in this document success is there because there is

a clear benet for them to their involvement. It is crucial therefore to establish

this need from the outset with all potential partners.

Tips

Pitfalls


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What has it done for CAB?

Alan Barber who until recently was one of our volunteers at the UK online centre and also assisted

on the South Northants project wrote :

Volunteering at the UK online centre was a very enjoyable and rewarding experience and my only regret in nding work

is that I am currently unable to carry on this voluntary activity. I applied for the role as I felt my IT and teacher training

background would ideally place me to help people in this way and from the outset I felt that I was doing something useful

and worthwhile. The UK online centre at the Northampton CAB is a friendly and supportive environment for learners

at any level. And we get many thanks for our patience and assistance which is good for all of us. The hidden win for me

was the tremendous boost to my self esteem whilst applying for jobs and attending interviews. It became something that I

could talk passionately about when asked what have you been doing since your last job?. And I am fairly certain that this

had a huge impact on my nal interview. I know the centre is performing a useful and worthwhile function and I hope it can

continue to operate. Although no longer able to come along, I will continue as a digital champion.

Louise Lockwood who is a student at Northampton University says:

Volunteering for the CAB on the UK online projecthas been a very rewarding

experience for me.

I have met people from all walks of life, and I love to be able to help people and

give something back to the community. As well as supporting people through

the online basics course, I have been helping at local libraries where we run

pre booked outreach sessions for people to learn how to use the internet. This

has mainly been helping the older generation, but I have also worked with

younger people at the central library job club where my support has been to

help job seekers with searching and applying for jobs online.

I am currently studying atNorthampton Universityand the condence this

experience has given me helped secure a part time job sponsored by theUniversity, working with local primary school children . Through my University

network I am now busy recruiting other volunteers willing to help in the

community with local projects such as one in April teaching computer basics to

an Asian womens group.

Digital Champions

Sharron From Barclaycard at Weston Favell Library

Martin Lord Chief Executive of Northampton CAB comments that:

Our status as both a UK online centre and a Community Capacity Builderhas enhanced our ability as an organisation in a

number of ways.

Firstly, it has allowed us to project ourselves to new audiences and enabled us to establish a reputation as a trainer and facilitator.

This will become increasingly important in the future, given likely models ofsocial enterprise that we are actively exploring.

Clearly our existing brand is powerful but combined with UK online centres we believe an additional dimension to stakeholder

perception has been achieved.

Secondlyit has established as a key local partner in terms of a number of local authoritys own customer service strategies. This

makes us more of an indispensible partner and differentiates us from organisations offering similar or overlapping core services.

Thirdly, it has enabled us to create partnerships with corporates that we believe will be of tremendous overall value to our

organisation in the future. The role ofDigital Champion is ready made for a number of employee volunteering initiatives and so

we have established conversations with organisations that we were unlikely to have were it not for this opportunity. Now we are

talking, as is often the way, other opportunities and possibilities arise as we begin to gain a greater mutual understanding of our

own standpoints.

Click to listen


15/18

In 2011 we have begun to sow seeds of sustainability , but it will not have fully taken root by April 2012. We believe

the key to success for us is in building an holistic approach integrating the Digital Offering with other CAB services

and making them easily accessible to all communities .

Below are examples of how we intend to work towards these ends.

Sustainability post March 2012

Assisted digital delivery is the term now being used by Government to describe a range of developments, strategies, and

actions aimed at ensuring that no one is left behind in the pursuit of a fully digital society (digital by default) .CAB nationally

is one of the organisations working with Government on this project, examining the provision of physical access and support

to use digital channels e.g. through internet terminals for those without internet connections and face to face support to input

data for those without internet skills.

Bristol CAB for instance operates a gateway centre which has six public access computers in its reception. The system

front-end links them to the national Citizens Advice Bureau advice guide website, but also connects through to a range

of self-help information on benets, debt, housing, and employment held within a closed system. Bristol combine this service

with computer access and shared space with other providers. One of the computer terminals is dedicated to local authority

information on council tax benet, housing, parking nes, etc, and has been developed in conjunction with the local authority,

who have also provided a free telephone for council services which sits next to the computer terminal, for clients to make

calls to the relevant local authority department. Local staff are available to assist with using government websites and

accessing public information , also helping with simple forms and transactions .

We know that the delivery ofCABs core advice offerings such as debt, benets and rights and responsibilities are all

enhanced through access to the Internet. Our aim is to use our experience As a UK online centre to develop a fully integrated

inhouse approach to our clients.

During 2012 we will also be exploring how to move this forward with our partner Northampton Borough Council. The council

have recently opened a one stop shop for all their services which includes an open area equipped with 12 terminalsavailable for the public to access council services . Borough support staff are present at key times offering assisted guidance

for events such as bidding for social housing under their choice based letting scheme.

Northampton CAB currently operate a weekly advice service in the same area, and we will be testing how this might be

extended with The council in line with the Bristol gateway initiative , and also be used to signpost people for further training at

our UK online centre .

Assisted digital delivery

We believe there is signicant potential in developing our engagement with corporate partners. We could reasonably expect

to see organisations such as Barclaycard, Nationwide and Shoosmiths run events and activities more or less independently

of us in operational terms - in 2012/13 and beyond.

We would support them on a consultative basis, offering the use of our training facilities, and helping them publicise

their activities through our well developed links and channels of communication with the media, and extensive range of

community partners and stakeholders.

We will make available laptops purchased by the bureau as capital items and mobile dongles to equip our corporate

partners to deliver such activities.

We also wish to engage with organisations who have a willingness to work with their own clients/customers but who do not

have access to the internet for public use. We will explore the possibility of developing a loan scheme that will place certain

responsibilities on the organisation to indemnify against loss or damage and place certain performance targets upon the

centre in return.We know that organisations like Mayday Trust (whom we already have contacts with) are interested in such an undertaking

and we are condent that the bureau has the expertise within its ranks to create the necessary documentation and

agreements.

Engagement Broker


16/18

We would also like to focus on the needs of some of our traditional clients which will be a lower intensity activity than the

others but equally important within the guiding principle of inclusivity. We now work on a pan county basis with individuals

affected by cancer (this work is funded by Macmillan cancer support) and ex forces personnel (funded by the Royal

British Legion) and these services typically are delivered to people with illnesses or disabilities.

We think that it would provide tremendous benet to such clients or their carers to offer the opportunity for additional visitsfrom a volunteer tutor, who can spend time with the cancer patient, the disabled veteran and/or their carer who does not

have internet access, providing some introductory sessions on how to use the internet.

It is increasingly evident that a more innovative approach is needed to increase the take up of our services by hard to reach

and often physically remote deprived communities. We already have a weekly outreach service in some childrens centres

and a library which is reasonably successful, but resource intensive. We are actively seeking to work with partners such as

community groups , libraries and Post Ofce Counters to develop and promote a hyperlocal online support structure which

the community will value and use. The recent outsourcing of community centres by Northampton Borough Council to

local community groups to see them become the heart of local life gives us a great opportunity to develop our thoughts into

practice.

121 approach with traditional clients

Virtual Hubs

As described earlier we are a partner in a life skills project run by South Northants Homes .The Move-In4ward project

is a four week programme that will provides training to participants in areas such as DIY, money management, cooking,

health, computers for everyday life and community participation. Other partners in the programme are South Northants

Council, Moulton College, People Tree Training, Kettering Borough Council, NHS sexual health outreach, Surestart

Towcesterand Brackley and South Northants Volunteer Bureau.This contributes to the Governments aspirations for Informal Adult and Community Learning. The overall aim is to help build

the Big Society through learning to support independence, personal development, mental/physical health and well-being,

digital inclusion, democratic engagement, social cohesion and stronger families and communities.

In addition to running the money management sessions which is an existing service offering , we were asked to manage all

the digital inclusion aspects, and this combination has worked well.

We believe that there is tremendous scope to further develop this approach utilising the wide ranging expertise within CAB

and working with a range of partners dependent on an individual projects aims and needs.

Guidance and inclusivity sit at the heart ofCABs philosophy and approach to the most vulnerable and deprived in todays

society, and we will be actively looking to lead similar ventures.

Big Society supporting independent living/lifestyle approach


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ForNorthampton CAB being a UK online centre originally offered the opportunity to signpost our website advice guide,

which gives information about rights and responsibilities and information on how to sort out the type of problems which CABare often asked about.

As a CCB our horizons have broadened considerably, as throughout the year this narrow concept of assisted digital delivery

has grown into an wide reaching reality ,and is now a cornerstone of our future plans.

Our working experience puts us in daily contact with a high proportion of people who would be considered socially excluded

in todays world, and whose needs we have become increasingly aware of.

From this we very quickly appreciated the synergies between digital and ourtraditional service offering which made us to

think in terms of a completely holistic approach to inclusion, which increasingly will become part of our core offering. A typical

example of crossover is where money management guidance to front line workers and clients of organisations such as

Changing Minds and Bromford Support has led to referrals for UK online computer training.

Our expertise has developed through working with projects such as jobseekers and SNHs Move- in4ward, which has

opened up a range of themes and possibilities to be developed throughout the coming year.

For instance with job seekers we are already planning to do more in assisting with CV creation and job search , and through

Job Centre Plus are discussing how we can get involved in supporting people making their rst job seekers allowance claimon Line .

For the long term unemployed and anyone living in deprived circumstances, vulnerability around housing is likely to be a

major concern for them. However we think it is an ideal heading to link together the help available as an holistic package

which will raise self awareness , and offer a better basis for prevention , together with better support for tackling any issues

they may have.

Examples include:

Availability: Supported access to choice based lettingand private rented area sites.Affordability: Benets advice complemented by web sites such as Turn2Us

Personal Responsibility: Including money management sessions on budgeting and supported training on use of advice

guide.

OurCCB quest has essentially been to nd the whats in it for me factor for new learners and through this holistic approach

packaging the integration of digital with existing services we believe we have found what will be of real benet to them.

Summary


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Northampton&DistrictCitizens Advice Bureau

7/8 Mercers Row

Northampton

NN1 2QL

01604 235080

engagement model case study northampton cab

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