Gentoo Living Social Accounts - The Social Audit Network

Gentoo Living

Akeler House

1 Emperor Way

Doxford International

Sunderland

SR3 3XR

0191 525 5000

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

website: www.gentooliving.com

April 2013

Social Accounts October 2011 to September 2012

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.gentooliving.com/

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SOCIAL AUDIT STATEMENT

The Social Audit Panel has examined the draft Social Accounts submitted to us and discussed them

in detail with Caroline Gitsham, Peter Harrison, Julie Gowland, Trish Dodds, Sean Wilson and

Michelle Meldrum from Gentoo Living at the Social Audit Panel meeting held on 16th April 2013. I

have examined the revised Social Accounts which were prepared following the Social Audit Panel

meeting and which have taken into account various points identified in the notes* of the Social Audit

Panel Meeting. We also examined a sample of the data and the sources of information on which

the Social Accounts have been based.

We believe that the process outlined above has given us sufficient information on which to base our

opinion. We are satisfied that, given the scope of the social accounting explained in the revised

draft and given the limitations of time available to us, the Social Accounts are free from material mis-

statement and present a fair and balanced view of the performance and impact of Gentoo Living as

measured against its stated values and objectives and the views of the stakeholders who were

consulted.

In the notes of the Social Audit Panel meeting we identified a number of important issues to be

taken into consideration during the next social audit cycle. In particular we would refer to the

following:

i) Gentoo living should consider taking a more strategic approach on the delivery of services and thus understand local priorities better

ii) Suggest a review of methods used to consult with people identifying the most appropriate method to suit the stakeholders

iii) Include more appropriate targets iv) Consider sharpening up the Aims and Objectives as there currently are a lot of words under

each objective and there are overlaps v) Consider increasing the outcomes fully achieved to 70% vi) Consider carrying out a full stakeholder analysis looking at relationships and not just a list of

stakeholders

The members of the Social Audit Panel were:

Alan Kay (SAN Approved Social Auditor, Panel Chair)

Matt Leach, Chief Executive, HACT

Jo Boaden, Chief Executive, Northern Housing Consortium Graham King, Head of Strategic Commissioning, Health, Housing and Adult Services, Sunderland City Council

Signed: Dated: 10/06/13

Chair of the Social Audit Panel

* the notes of the Social Audit Panel meeting form part of the social accounting and auditing process and may, by

arrangement, be inspected along with the full social accounts at the offices of Gentoo Living, Akeler House, 1 Emperor Way, Doxford International, Sunderland SR3 3XR. Members of the Social Audit Panel have acted in an individual capacity

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Contents

ITEM DESCRIPTION PAGE

Definitions 6

Acknowledgements 6

Glossary of Acronyms 7

List of Appendices 8

Executive Summary 9

1 Introduction 12

2 History and Background 13

2.1 Economic Climate 13

2.2 Deprivation 14

2.3 Ageing Population 14

2.4 Economic Activity and Unemployment 16

2.5 Health 17

2.6 Gentoo Living’s Response 18

3 Who is Gentoo 20

3.1 Gentoo Group Business Streams 20

3.2 Gentoo Subsidiaries 21

3.3 Gentoo Group's Vision, Mission and Values 22

3.4 Gentoo Living 23

3.5 Gentoo Living's Fit with Gentoo Group 24

3.6 Gentoo Living's Aims, Objective and Outcomes 25

3.7 Governance 27

3.8 Key Aspects Checklist 27

4 The Scope of the Social Accounts 30

4.1 What is included in the scope? 30

4.2 Omissions 31

4.3 Recommendations and Actions from the last Social Accounts 32

5 Stakeholder Consultation 34

6 Consultation Methodology 35

7 Outcomes and Outputs for the Scope of the Social Accounts 37

8 Report on Performance 44

8.1 OLDER PERSONS SERVICE 44

8.1.1 Older Persons Support Service 45

8.1.1.1 The Service 45

8.1.1.2 Customer Consultation 45

8.1.1.3 Planned Outcomes 46

8.1.1.4 Unplanned Outcomes 47

8.1.1.5 Customer Service Standards 48

8.1.1.6 Additional Sources of information 49

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Social Accounts 2009/10

Older Persons Service Review

Social Return on Investment 8.1.1.7 Summary 50

8.1.1.8 Recommendations 51

8.1.2 Older Persons Activities and Events 52





8.1.2.5 What the Customers Have Said 56

8.1.2.6 Additional Information 57

8.1.2.7 Summary 57


8.2 YOUNG PERSONS INDEPENDENT LIVING SKILLS 59

8.2.1 Supporting Tenants Empowering People (STEPs) 59






8.2.1.6 Additional Sources of Information 64


8.2.1.7

Young Persons Service Review

Social Return on Investment Case Study Summary 66


8.2.2 Young Persons Independent Living Skills 68






8.2.2.6 What Customers Have Said 72


8.2.2.8 Summary 73


8.3 PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES 75

8.3.1 Community Engagement and Empowerment 75

8.3.1.1 Background 75

8.3.1.2 The Approach 76

8.3.1.3 Service Review 76

8.3.1.4 Key Findings 78

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8.3.1.5 Summary 79

8.3.1.6 The Future 79

8.3.2 Enterprising Futures 80







8.3.2.6 Summary 85


8.3.3 Aspire 86








8.3.3.7 Summary 90


8.3.4 Generic Support 92





8.3.4.5 Summary 95

8.3.4.6 Case Study 96


8.4 Volunteering 98

8.4.1 Reading in Schools 98

8.4.1.1 The Volunteers 99

8.4.1.2 The Teachers 101

8.4.1.3 The Children 102

8.4.1.4 Summary Reading in Schools 103

8.4.2 Befriending 104


8.4.2.2 Consultation 104

8.4.2.3 The Volunteers 105

8.4.2.4 Customers - Individuals 107

8.4.2.5 Customers - Groups 109

8.4.2.6 Summary Befriending 110

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8.4.2.7 Case Study 111


8.4.2.9 Summary Reading in Schools and Befriending 113


8.4.3 Volunteering – Team Challenge 114

8.4.3.1 Consultation 114

8.4.3.2 Analysis 115

8.4.3.3 Summary 116


8.4.4 Volunteering – Action Days 118





8.4.4.5 Summary 122


8.5 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT 123

8.5.1 Partners Supported Accommodation 123

8.5.2 Customer Consultation 124

8.5.3 Planned Outcomes 124

8.5.4 Unplanned Outcomes 125

8.5.5 Customer Service Standards 126

8.5.6 Summary 126

8.5.7 Recommendations 126

9 EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS 128

9.1 Consultation 128

9.2 Summary 138

9.3 Recommendations 138

10 INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS 139

10.1 The Group’s Executive Directors 139

10.1.1 Consultation 139

10.1.2 Summary 144


10.2 Gentoo Living Staff 146

10.2.1 Consultation 146

10.2.2 Conclusion 146


11 Director’s Response 148

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Social Accounts October 2011 to September 2012

Definitions

Gentoo Group, and hence Gentoo Living, use the following definitions as part of its

business planning and performance measurement process. In order to avoid confusion,

the following definitions are used throughout the process of preparing a social accounting

plan.

AIMS the change or benefit we want to achieve

OBJECTIVES things we do to achieve our aims

OUTCOMES the changes or benefits that actually happen

Acknowledgements

Thanks to all staff involved in data gathering, analysis, writing and editing – Julie Gowland,

Sean Wilson, Trish Dodds, Alan Laine and Zoumiya Kouache, and all respondents who

took the time to contribute to the consultation exercise.

Thanks also to all those who agreed to be interviewed, or who responded to questionnaires

and other requests for information as part of the social accounting process.

Special thanks to Alan Kay (Social Audit Network), Matt Leach (HACT), Jo Boaden

(Northern Housing Consortium) and Graham King (Sunderland City Council) for taking part

in the Social Audit Panel.

Caroline Gitsham Director Gentoo Living 16th April 2013

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Glossary of acronyms

BITC Business in the Community

EFQM European Foundation for Quality

FINCAN Financial Inclusion Capability North East

FN Focused Neighbourhoods

HACT Housing Associations Charitable Trust

HHAS Health Housing & Adult Services

HMRC Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

IiP Investors in People

ILS Independent Living Skills

IMD Indices of Deprivation

LSOA Lower Super Output Area

NAM Neighbourhood Assessment Matrix

NCFE Northern Counties for Further Education

NECA North East Councils on Addictions

NEET Not in Education, Employment or Training

NOCN National Open College Network

PCT Primary Care Trust

SAN Social Audit Network

SES Social Enterprise Strategies

SMART Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely

SROI Social Return on Investment

STEPs Supporting Tenants Empowering People

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List of Appendices

Appendix

Description

1. Specific Domains of the IMD 2010

2. Gentoo Group Governance Arrangements

3. Key Aspects Checklist

4. Gentoo Living Service Directory

5. 09/10 Social Accounts Recommendations

6. Stakeholder Analysis

7. Social Accounts SMART Action Plan

8. Outcome Matrix Methodology

9. Consultation Details

9a. Older Persons Service

9b. Older Persons Service – Service Review

9c. Older Persons Activities & Events

9d. Young Persons Service – STEPs

9e. Young Persons Service – Service Review Actions

9f. Young Persons Service – SROI Study

9g. Young Persons ILS –

9h. The Neighbourhood Assessment Matrix Description

9i. Focused Neighbourhoods Annual Report

9j. Focused Neighbourhoods Service Review

9k. People & Communities – Enterprising Futures

9l. People & Communities – Aspire

9m. People & Communities – Generic Support

9n. People & Communities – Reading in Schools

9o. People & Communities – Befriending

9p. People & Communities – Team Challenge

9q. People & Communities – Action Days

9r. Partners Supported Accommodation

10. External Stakeholders – Feedback and Analysis

11. Internal Stakeholders – Executive team - Feedback and Analysis

12. Internal Stakeholders – Gentoo Living Staff – Group Staff Survey Results

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Executive Summary

As a business Gentoo Group aims to have a tangible, positive effect on the way people and

communities live, develop and improve. Our ambition is to improve the lives of the

people, communities and the environment in which we operate by investing in people, the

planet and property, what we call ‘the Art of Living’. As a ‘profit for purpose’ organisation, we

use any profits from our commercial activity to reinvest back in towards achieving this.

About Sunderland

The overall multiple deprivation assessment for 2010 places 34 of Sunderland’s 188 lower

super output areas (LSOA’s) among England’s top ten percent most deprived LSOA’s. This

equates to 17% of the city’s residents.

Some key challenges faced by Sunderland residents include;

Sunderland has more unemployment, fewer full time employees, and slightly more

part time employees than the regional and national figure.

The general health of the population of Sunderland is also worse than the regional

and national average, as is life expectancy.

These statistics, together with the adverse effects anticipated in relation to welfare reform

present Gentoo with a very challenging and uncertain future. Never before has it been so

appropriate to empower and enable people to take control of their own future.

Listening to customers, staff and partners about what is required to meet the challenges that

lie ahead generates a wealth of information and a foundation with which to build upon.

Consulting with stakeholders should not only be about finding out if we have achieved what

we hoped to, it should be about investigating, understanding, interpreting and responding to

what people tell us.

Gentoo Living

Gentoo Living helps the Group to deliver its vision and mission by delivering a range of

people focused programmes to instigate a positive and fundamental change in people’s

lives. We deliver a range of services and programmes to over 10,000 people; these include

support services, independent living skills programmes, business start-up advice,

volunteering and community engagement and empowerment.

Measuring Impact

It is recognised that as a ‘profit for purpose’ company it is important to measure the impact

that these programmes and services have on people. In 2009 we adopted an outcome

measurement approach to help support this, with the objective; to prove and improve. This

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approach helps us to understand the experiences our customers are having through

engaging in the services that we deliver.

Using the information collated through our outcomes measurement approach and through

further consultation with a range of stakeholders, we were able to produce these Social

Accounts and evidence the difference that our services are making. Findings from these

social accounts has substantiated findings from other impact measurement and business

development methodologies used previously, such as Social Return on Investment,

Business Excellence Model and Service Reviews and helps to support business

improvement and development.

Who did we consult with?

A variety of stakeholders have taken part in the consultation and the findings represent

views of customers and internal and external stakeholders. In total, 694 people were invited

to offer their views about Gentoo Living and on 12 of the programmes and services

delivered during October 2011 and September 2012.

What did they tell us?

Gentoo Living can prove that all customers who took part in the consultation agreed to

some degree that because of a programme or service they had “improved confidence”, their

“lives were enriched” and they had an “improved sense of belonging”. Other outcomes

commonly experienced by customers include; being “empowered to make informed

decisions about their lives”, having “more information about their choices, and having

“increased inspiration and motivation”.

Through the consultation exercise Gentoo Living has also begun to understand what else

changes for customers involved in our programmes, these include, improvements in:

Financial capability

Social contact

Happiness

Behaviours/attitudes and

Relationships.

The results of which have improved our knowledge and understanding of our customers and

communities and in some cases facilitated business development and growth.

The programmes which have proved to deliver on all of Gentoo Living planned outcomes

are the Independent Living Skills Events for the Young Persons service and Activities and

Events for the Older Persons service. The Older Persons Activities and Events role was

introduced in response to the consultation carried out for the 2009/2010 Social Accounts

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and just recently the Independent Living Skills activities have emerged into structured

programmes which will result in the young person achieving a nationally recognised

qualification.

What have we learned?

A number or recommendations have arisen following the analysis of report, some of which

are programme specific and others which should be considered across all programmes, in

essence these include:

Some new programmes have been developed and some existing services changed,

these need to be monitored to ensure they are delivering on the planned outcomes.

Introduce a more focused approach to what is measured for each programme or

service, i.e. measure what is most commonly experienced by customers, these

maybe both Gentoo Living’s planned outcomes and the outcomes which customers

tell us they have experienced. This will provide Gentoo Living with more meaningful

and good quality data.

Introduce specific outcome measures for services related to Health, Employment and

Training and Financial Independence.

Increase engagement with partners to facilitate joint working initiatives with collective

outcomes. Ensure this is measure and reported in a way which will strengthen the

influence we have over local and national policy.

Increase the level of communication about services and the impact generated from it

and that it appeals to a variety and range of audiences.

Expand consultation to include those customers whom we don’t work with and

explore in more detail how they differ form those who do.

Expand consultation to include those partners who we don’t work with and explore in

more detail why they don’t.

Increase the discipline applied for consulting with those customers who have left the

service, to enable Gentoo Living to understand the longer term impacts of its

programmes and services.

The future

Over recent months, Gentoo Living has adopted a themed approach to service delivery

which is driven by the 2013/14 Business plan. With this shift in focus a change to the way

outcomes are measured will emerge.

The evaluation activities carried out since 2009 has provided Gentoo Living with an

extensive insight into what happens to or changes for our customers following their

involvement in our programmes and services. This insight will underpin what gets

measured, monitored and reported in the future.

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1. Introduction

This is the second set of social accounts produced by Gentoo Living, the first were

published in 2010.

Gentoo understand that it is important to measure the impact of its physical and social,

economic and environmental investment in the neighbourhoods and communities in which it

works. This is particularly important given that the Group’s vision and mission

encompasses its desire to achieve social, environmental and economic benefits.

Gentoo Living has adopted an outcomes approach in measuring impact for a number of

reasons. Today there is more focus on whether non-profit making organisations are

making a real difference with the work that they are doing. Outcomes evaluation focuses on

the actual impact of programmes to establish whether they are really making a difference for

customers. Other evaluation measures look at, for example, how much money has been

spent, the number of people served and client satisfaction – the outputs, but these

measures do not really assess impacts on customers. Crucially for Gentoo, social

accounting can also help us to assess our performance against social, environmental and

economic objectives and ensure that we are indeed having a positive impact upon people’s

lives and are working in accordance with our vision, mission and values. These social

accounts are an important part of Gentoo Living’s service improvement approach and the

recommendations from them inform our service improvement programme.

We also recognise Social Accounting and Audit fits with other methodologies used by

Gentoo to prove and improve. For example, the European Foundation for Quality

Management’s (EFQM) Business Excellence Model, which is applied across the Group bi-

annually, to measure strengths and areas for improvement across all of our activities. Also

the Investors in People Standards (IiP), the business tool we use to advance our

performance through our employees by effectively managing and developing people,

recognising staff contributions and valuing these, and, encouraging people to take

ownership and responsibility in decision making. This can be seen in the Group’s value “we

cultivate a learning curiosity” and can be evidenced in the annual staff survey results.

Gentoo Living also uses the Social Return on Investment; the outcomes based methodology

that helps us understand and quantify the social, environmental and economic impact we

are having.

The social accounting period is October 2011 to September 2012. This timescale takes

account of the fact that outcomes data was routinely collected across most services from

October 2011 and ‘fit for purpose’ databases were created to capture outcomes data.

The accounts were co-ordinated and written by Julie Gowland, Impact & Performance

Manager.

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2. History and Background

Gentoo Group’s foundations were laid in Sunderland, in the North East of England, in 2001,

when the City’s tenants voted overwhelmingly to transfer 36,000 homes to Gentoo (then

Sunderland Housing Group). Sunderland is the largest city on the North East coast, with

almost 300,000 resident population. The city contains some of the most deprived areas in

the country.

2.1 Economic Climate

Gentoo Living, like many other organisations, is operating within a challenging economic

climate. The impact of recession, spending cuts, unemployment and cuts in the real value of

take home pay is having a severe impact upon customers, commissioners and clients.

This has resulted in a situation where more and more people are in need of the services of

the nature delivered by Gentoo Living. For example, more people becoming unemployed or

unable to find work, and this has a detrimental impact upon their financial situation, which

impacts upon their health and wellbeing.

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Ironically, as the demand for work, learning, financial wellbeing and health services

increase, the demand is from a client group who are largely unable to pay for such services,

and public funding is being cut which is impacting upon commissioning of services.

2.2 Deprivation

In addition, locally, the overall multiple deprivation assessment places 34 Sunderland areas

(18% of the city’s total housing almost 17% of residents) among England’s 10% most

disadvantaged. This has implications for our customers in relation to learning, work, finance

and health and many of Gentoo Living’s services are designed to support people in these

areas. Appendix 1 illustrates some specific domains of the IMD 2010.

2.3 Ageing population

Generally the population is ageing, partly due to greater longevity, partly due falling birth

rates. While the consequence is many more years of active and healthy life, it also means

more years of being dependent on some level of care. The generally falling birth rate also

contributes over time to a changing age profile, where the elderly contribute an ever greater

proportion of society.

Of the 275,506 residents in Sunderland in 2011, almost a quarter (23.6%) is over the age of

60 years. 16% of those are over 65 years, a figure just below the regional figure and higher

than the national figure. This is an increase of 1.5% since 2001, and a trend that is

expected to continue.

22.7

9.4

6.4

22.0

18.8

6.1

14.6

19.9

10.0

6.2

19.2 21.2

7.6

16.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

Age 0 - 17

Age 18 - 24

Age 25 - 29

Age 30 - 44

Age 45 - 59

Age 60 - 65

Age 65+

%

Age Profile Sunderland

Sunderland 2001 Sunderland 2011

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Source: National Statistics - Age by Single Year (QS103EW) 2011

This presents society with a group of older people who can and do have a range of support

needs required to enable their independence.

Gentoo Living’s Older Person’s Service, aims to give older people greater opportunities for

independent living and life choices by promoting high quality support that meet the needs of

the local community and which complement other services. The team provide housing

related support to older people who have difficulty in maintaining a home of their own by

providing the support that is needed to help achieve independence. Services can range

from support provided in specifically designed accommodation such as sheltered housing

schemes for older people, to support provided within a person’s own home in the

community that they have lived in all of their lives.

The pro-active support that the older person’s team deliver can help prevent hospital

admissions, reduce the need for institutional care and improves the quality of life of older

people.

In addition an Activities and Events service is provided for residents. This may include

events in a particular scheme or a large event that is held Citywide. Older People

throughout the City are encouraged to participate and volunteer their time which enables an

opportunity to socialise and reduce social isolation. The Activities and Events Co-ordinator

works in partnership with a range of partners to enable a range of activities that are

designed to ensure that tenant’s physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual

needs are attended to.

14.6

16.0 15.6

16.2

15.0 15.3

13.5

14.0

14.5

15.0

15.5

16.0

16.5

Sunderland 2001

Sunderland 2011

North East Region 2001

North East Region 2011

England 2001

England 2011

Population aged 65 years+

Age 65+

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2.4 Economic Activity and Unemployment

Sunderland has more unemployment, fewer full time employees, and slightly more part time

employees than the regional and national figure.

Source: National Statistics - Economic Activity (KS601EW) March 2011

5.8% of the working age population is unemployed. Of those 1.1% has never worked and

2.3% are long term unemployed. Again all figures are higher than the regional and national

figures.

Source: National Statistics - Economic Activity (KS601EW) March 2011

14.2

36.9

14.2

36.8

13.7

38.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

Employee Part-Time Employee Full-Time

%

Economic Activity

Sunderland Metropolitan District

North East Region

England Country

5.8 5.4

4.4

1.1 1 0.7

2.3 2.1 1.7

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

Metropolitan District Region Country

Sunderland North East England

Unemployment

Unemployed Unemployed Never Worked Long-Term Unemployed

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Enterprising Futures is the only programme examined within these Social Accounts. It is a

business development project that offers free business advice and practical help to Gentoo

customers wishing to explore self employment opportunities. The service includes

assistance with market research gathering, income and cash flow preparation, constructing

a business plan and applying for business start up funding. We also work with a variety of

partner organisations to help break down other barriers to self employment such as training

and benefits transitions, providing general support and guidance to our customers

throughout the process.

2.5 Health

The general health of the population of Sunderland is also worse than the regional and

national average, as is life expectancy.

Source: National Statistics Health and Provision of Unpaid Care, 2011 (KS301EW)

Source: National Statistics - Life Expectancy at Birth, Jan07-Dec09 updated March 2011

The social determinants of health have been described as a ‘cause of causes’. They are

the social, economic and environmental conditions that influence the health of individuals

16 15.2

13.1

6.6 5.8

4.2

2 1.7 1.2

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18


Health

Fair Health Bad Health Very Bad Health

75.9 76.8

78.3

80.7 80.9

82.3

72

74

76

78

80

82

84


Life expectancy

Life Expectancy at Birth; Males Life Expectancy at Birth; Females

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and populations. They determine the extent to which a person has the right to physical,

social and personal resources to achieve their goals, meet needs and deal with changes to

their circumstances. The more favoured people are, socially and economically, the better

their health.1

We recognise that many people in Sunderland are living in deprivation and have poorer life

chances, as earlier statistics confirm.

2.6 Gentoo Living’s Response

In response, all of the programmes and services delivered by Gentoo Living aim to help

contribute to improvements in health of our customers. Improving mechanisms for getting

people engaged and involved in things that matter to them, whatever their age; investing in

education and the transition into work, and providing work and learning opportunities;

helping to address fuel poverty; safeguarding vulnerable customers and providing support

for victims and perpetrators of anti social behaviour.

As an ‘art of living’ subsidiary, Gentoo Living helps the Group to achieve its vision and

mission by delivering a range of programmes to instigate positive change and make a

fundamental difference to people’s lives and making society a better place. We exist to

inspire and empower enriched ways of living.

Our original structure to enable us to achieve this aim was based around the following

teams:

Older Persons Team

Young Persons Team

People & Communities Team

Business Development Team

Community Safety and Streetwise Team (joined in 2012)

Financial Inclusion (joined in 2012)

In 2012/13 we have carried out a review of our services and method of delivery, and in

moving toward a new delivery model we have re-focused our service delivery against the

following areas:

Safety, Support & Crisis

Be Programme

Work, Learning and Personal Development

Financial Wellbeing

Health and Wellbeing

Volunteering 1 Fair Society, Healthy Lives. The Marmot Review 2010

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Community Empowerment

We have a wide customer reach of over 10,000 customers and over 250,000 customer

contacts each year.

Gentoo Living’s focus is about more than creating financial gain, but creating social and

economic value and contributing towards delivering the Group’s social purpose agenda.

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3. Who is Gentoo? Gentoo is an Art of Living business, focusing on people, the planet and property. Since

2001 we have invested over £475 million in these areas.

In driving the Group towards the vision, the primary objective for the Group is to deliver the

mission by generating wealth and improvement to customer’s lives and communities.

We think it is important to challenge the norms and try new ways of doing things and by

sometimes just being daring and giving things ago. By applying innovation and creativity,

we have a tangible, positive effect on the way people and communities, live, develop and

improve.

3.1 Gentoo Group Business Streams:

The Group deliver products and services in these business streams:

The business streams are people driven and align with the vision and mission to create a

people centred business. The strategy recognises that some activities and business offers

will operate across multiple business streams but all will be focused on providing people

solutions. The current business streams are summarised as follows:

People – Service offers within the themes of Safety, Support & Crisis, Work, Learning

and Personal Development, Financial Wellbeing, Health and Wellbeing,

Volunteering and Community Empowerment

People

Planet Property

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Planet – Renewables; Solar Photo Voltaics; Glass products; Green Deal; Consultancy;

Renewable heat development; Corporate Research and development;

Implementing and developing the Group’s Planet Smart agenda.

Property– Creating and maintaining sustainable homes and neighbourhoods which

enhance and improve people’s lives through provision of excellent Landlord

Services; development of new homes and neighbourhoods; provision of

excellent construction and management skills.

3.2 Gentoo Subsidiaries

Gentoo Group is the collective of the parent company and the subsidiary companies and

currently employs 1635 staff.

Since the last set of social accounts, the structure of the Group has changed. Gentoo

Ventures, the company that dealt with commercial management and valuation, surveying,

leasehold and facilities management, and development projects, no longer exists. The

services are now part of Gentoo Sunderland’s Asset Management offer. New subsidiary

companies have also been acquired.

The following shows the current Group subsidiaries:

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Gentoo Construction - the design and build business of the Group providing a comprehensive range of services to a wide variety of partners and customers.

Gentoo Homes – the innovative house building division and development arm of the Group

Gentoo Green - a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee whose role is to promote sustainability across the whole Group.

Gentoo Sunderland - a registered housing provider responsible for delivering core housing management services and maintenance to approximately 70,000 customers in 30,000 homes.

Gentoo Living – making a real and sustainable difference to our communities on issues around Safety, Support & Crisis, Work, Learning and Personal Development, Financial Wellbeing, Health and Wellbeing, Volunteering and Community Empowerment

Romag - a leading glass processor based in County Durham in the North East of England. Specialising in solar PV, architectural, security and transport glass it became a subsidiary of Gentoo in 2011.

Astley Facades - The business undertakes rendering and cladding as a retrofit or new build to low, medium and high-rise domestic dwellings and commercial buildings and joined the Group in October 2012.

Gentoo Genie - a new homes purchase plan product launched in October 2011, developed to allow first time buyers and long term renters to get onto the property ladder.

As the previous commentary shows, Gentoo Group is a very diverse and evolving

organisation. Producing social accounts for the whole of Gentoo Group at the present time

is not feasible, as outcome monitoring has not yet been embedded across the Group. This

is an aim for the future, but consequently, these accounts focus on programmes and

services provided by Gentoo Living.

3.3 Gentoo Group’s Vision, Mission and Values

The Vision, Mission and Values capture the essence of Gentoo. The Group is about people

and how we can improve their lives. The Vision and Mission capture the Group’s desire to

instigate positive life change, to re-define rules and practices and push the boundaries of

what an Art of Living business can be. The Values capture the energy and desire to make a

difference. This energy and desire is embedded within the organisation and drives what we

do.

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The Group’s values are intended for internal stakeholders, however it is expected that

existence of these internally will have a transferrable effect to the external environment. All

of the Group’s activities therefore are shaped by the Vision, Mission and Values which act

as a golden thread through our strategic and operational plans.

3.4 Gentoo Living

With a vision that encompasses more than property alone, Gentoo aim to have a tangible,

positive effect on the way people and communities live, develop and improve. Gentoo Living

exists to generate and deliver enduring opportunities and solutions for people and the

communities in which they live.

Gentoo Living’s structure for the scope of the accounts is shown in the following chart.

Neighbourhood Safety and Financial Inclusion joined Gentoo Living in April 2012.

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3.5 Gentoo Living’s fit with Gentoo Group

As a component part of the Group, Gentoo Living operates within the Group Business

Strategy.

As an “art of living” subsidiary, Gentoo Living helps the Group to achieve its vision and

mission by delivering a range of programmes to instigate positive change and make a

fundamental difference to peoples’ lives and making society a better place. We exist to

inspire and empower enriched ways of living.

Gentoo Living helps the Group to achieve its vision and mission by delivering a range of

programmes to instigate positive change and make a fundamental difference to people’s

lives and making society a better place.

This is much more fundamental than Gentoo Living simply delivering Gentoo’s ‘corporate

social responsibility’ agenda. Gentoo Group operates within a social entrepreneur business

model which recognises that the Group will operate from an ethos of delivering wider global

and societal benefit in addressing the problems that society presents and will do so with a

business mindset. The ‘art of living’ is at the heart of what we do, and is not a ‘corporate

social responsibility add-on’.

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In addition to the actual development and delivery of art of living programmes directly to

customers Gentoo Living also has an influencing role, both within Gentoo Group, and

externally.

Internally, Gentoo Living, as the strategic lead for health, work, learning and safety

programmes works closely with other subsidiaries, and works across Gentoo co-ordinating

Group resource for staff volunteering, co-ordinating the Group approach to apprenticeships

and work placed programmes, to health and wellbeing, and the Group offer to schools, as

well as leading the Group’s Safeguarding agenda..

Externally, the Group has an extensive network of partners and we aim to use our

organisational strength to influence national policies and locally we aim to use our position

as a major employer, supply chain commissioner, and community based organisation to

develop services that improve the art of living.

3.6 Gentoo Living’s Aims, Objectives and Expected Outcomes

Gentoo Living adopted an outcomes approach in 2009. It was at this time we realised the

importance of demonstrating the impact our activities was having on individuals,

communities and the organisation as a whole.

An outcome framework was developed and is applied to every programme and service

delivered. This outcomes approach helps Gentoo Living deliver more effectively for its

customers. In particular, it helps make services more customer focused and needs led, by

identifying what works well in services and what could be improved. Another important

benefit of this approach is that it can lead to improved and shared clarity of what the

organisation is trying to achieve, leading to it having a greater sense of purpose and

teamwork.

Gentoo Living’s overall aim is:

We then have three specific strategic aims, each with objectives and expected outcomes.

The aims and objectives cut across everything that Gentoo Living does.

The following charts detail each aim, the related objectives and outcomes. More detail of

the programmes and services that meet the aims, objectives and expected outcomes can

be seen in the summary on pages 36 – 42 of this report.

To inspire and empower enriched ways of living

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AIM 1 : TO ENABLE PEOPLE TO FULFIL THEIR ASPIRATIONS

Objective 1: to support people to recognise their aspirations

•People are enabled to recognise their aspirations

•People are empowered to fulfil their aspirations

Objective 2: to support people to increase their motivation,

confidence, skills and knowledge

•People have increased motivation

•People have increased inspiration

•People have increased confidence

•People have increased skills and knowledge

Objective 3: to support people to make informed decisions

about their lives

•People are empowered to make informed decisions about their

lives

•People have more information about their choices

Objective 4: to provide support so that people can live

independent lives

•People are empowered and enabled to live independently

•People's lives are improved

AIM 2: TO ENABLE SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES

Objective 1: to provide opportunities for people to

participate in making decisions about their

communities

•People including partners, have increased awareness of opportunities to get involved

•People have increased opportunities to get involved

•People are empowered to get involved

Objective 2: to support people to fulfil their vision

and aspiration for their community

•People are enabled to develop a vision for their

community

•People are enabled to fulfil their vision or aspiration for

their communities

•People are enabled to influence decisions

Objective 3: to provide support to enhance

relationships within and between communities

•Enhanced relationships within and between

communities

•People have increased sense of belonging

•People have increased sense of pride

•People have more mutual respect for each other

•People have more trust in each other

AIM 3: TO ADD VALUE TO GENTOO GROUP

Objective 1: to ensure the services we provide respond

better to the needs of individuals and communities

•Improved understanding of the needs of customers and

communities

•Services provided respond better to customer and

communities needs

•Existing services improved and new solutions and

services developed

Objective 2: to ensure that social and economic benefits

are generated from the Group's investment and

programmes

•Better understanding of the social and economic benefits

of the Group's investment

•Gentoo Living is enabled to measure the impact of its

programmes and demonstrate the social and

economic impact

Objective 3: to promote the Group's prospects for business growth and

improvement

•The Group's business prospects are improved

•Funding opportunities increased

Objective 4: to influence local, regional and national policies

•Gentoo Living is enabled to influence local, regional and

national policies

Objective 5: to ensure that Gentoo Living is fit for purpose

to deliver its aims and objectives

•Gentoo Living is fit for purpose to deliver its aims

and objectives

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3.7 Governance

Although an organisation with social objectives, we must be run as efficiently, effectively

and in accordance with the requirements of the law, regulators and best practice. This is

the purpose of our boards and committees.

Gentoo Group is governed by a number of boards and committees. Appendix 2 shows the

Gentoo Group governance arrangements. The work of the boards and committees is of

great importance to Gentoo Group. Gentoo Living has its own sub-committee which

comprises of:

Yvonne Gray (Chair)

Phil Curtis

Joe Cartner

Trish Stoker

Anne Hall

Marian Dobbins

We are grateful to the sub-committee for their continued support and buy in to the Social

Accounting process.

The Committee appreciates the benefits of producing the Social Accounts, seeing these as:

Providing a real opportunity to review services

Providing an opportunity for the Group to demonstrate the impact of its work

Enable the Group to demonstrate the outcomes it has achieved

3.8 Key Aspects Checklist

Within the social auditing process, the organisation is required to complete ‘A Key Aspects

Checklist’. This checklist facilitates quick confirmation about its compliance to what is

determined as ‘information and detail which stakeholders would expect to hear about’. It

covers subjects such as; Human Resources, Governance and Accountability, Financial and

Environmental sustainability and Economic Impact. The checklist has been compiled in

relation to Gentoo (a consolidation of Gentoo group and its subsidiaries). Gentoo Living is

not an organisation in its own right therefore individual data relating to Gentoo Living was

not readily available. However, where information was available this has been used and

clearly stated. The full and completed checklist can be seen in Appendix 3, however below

details a summary of the findings and main issues arising from the process.

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Human Resources - Gentoo provide core human resources services to all subsidiary

companies, for 1635 staff, 1375 full time and 268 part-time. All systems are structured and

delivered with the Group’s People Strategy focus and encompass a number of key

organisational targets across learning and development, recruitment and retention and

overall satisfaction.

Good Governance – as previously mentioned Gentoo are governed by a number of boards

and committees. In total 82 committee meetings were held during the audit period of which

5 were held for Gentoo Living. A number of quality assessments are carried out for both

regulatory requirements and service improvements.

The role of the Gentoo Living Committee is to uphold the Group’s vision, mission and values

through providing solutions which empower, enable, enrich and support people and

communities. Their key duties are to set, monitor and review the values, aims and

objectives of Gentoo Living, working within the parameters set by the Group Board. They

consult with the Finance Committee to set the financial objectives and agree the business

plan and budget of Gentoo Living and if appropriate, approve any significant changes, in

line with this they periodically review financial and performance reports.

They too provide support to vulnerable members of the community and are involved in the

development of programmes that will build and empower communities to provide long term

sustainable social and economic benefits. One additional important function of the Board is

to work in partnership with Gentoo Sunderland Limited and the Group as appropriate along

with partners and other agencies.

Finances and Use of profits - Gentoo is a not for profit organisation and re-invest the

reserves and profits however for this audit period a Group deficit was reported. As Gentoo

Living is not separate company in its own right we are not required to produce public

accounts. We are, however, commissioned by Gentoo Group to deliver art of living

programmes, and so have an organisational budget to do so. The scope of these social

accounts covered two financial years (2011/12 and 2012/13) and during this time Gentoo

Living generated income from a range of sources, including Gentoo Group, City of

Sunderland Local Authority, Department of Work & Pensions, Local Colleges, Job Centre

Plus, the BIG Lottery.

Environmental Sustainability – Gentoo Living has the advantage of using the expertise

and knowledge of Gentoo Green. Gentoo Green is the Group’s environmental business

stream and they promote the notion that there a clear social and environmental impetus to

live sustainably, but also they believe that it is simply the right thing to do. Just recently the

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Group launched its Planet Smart initiative which aims to put sustainability at the heart of the

business, and to reduce environmental impacts.

This campaign began in October 2012 and although this initiative falls beyond the scoping

period it is important to describe Gentoo’s direction of travel with respect to the environment.

The initiative was launched on 11th October when teams from every part of Gentoo came

together to pitch their ‘Pledges’ to a panel of judges. These Pledges were commitments

developed by the individual ‘Pledge Teams’ outlining what can be done in their part of the

business to contribute towards Planet Smarts targets.

The Planet Smart team in Gentoo Green are now working closely with the ‘Pledge Teams’

from across the organisation to support delivery of the Pledges which they developed, and to

facilitate collaboration where Pledges overlap. Staff are also asked their opinion on how they

would like to take part in some of the Pledges, and soon a new Environmental Champions

scheme will be launched called the Smart Network.

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4 Scope of the Social Accounts 4.1 What is included in the scope?

The beneficiaries/participants of the following programmes and services are being focused

on in this set of social accounts:

Full details of all services can be seen in Appendix 4, Gentoo Living’s Service Directory.

SECTION PROGRAMME DETAILS

Supported Housing -

Sheltered Accommodation;

Core and Cluster; Floating

Support

Supporting Older Persons to live independently

Activities and Events

Provision of a range of activities that are designed to ensure that older

persons' physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs

are attended to

Supported HousingSpecialist supported housing to enable young people to live

independently and learn

Activities and Events Providing a number of independent living skills courses

Community Engagement and

Empowerment (Focused

Neighbourhoods)

Working with residents to empower both individuals and communities

to identify and address their needs, priorities and aspirations.

Enterprising Futures A business start up programme

Volunteering - Reading in

SchoolsVolunteers to go into schools and support children with their reading

Volunteering - Befriending Reducing isolation and loneliness of customers

Volunteering - Team

Challenge

Mini makeover days where staff come together to make a difference in

a big way in a local neighbourhood

Volunteering - Action Days

Staff to buy an extra gift at Christmas or Easter. These are then

redistributed to a number of organisations who provide support and

services to the most disadvantaged children and families

Community Plus - Aspire Community grant scheme

Generic SupportProviding support to people at risk of losing their tenancy who have

drug, alcohol and/or mental health issues

Business

Development

Partners Supported

Accommodation

Working in partnership with eight support providers to provide 200

units of supported housing for a range of vulnerable people including

people with learning disabilities, people with mental health problems,

offenders and people with drug and alcohol problems.

Older Persons

Young Persons

People and

Communities

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The outcomes for Aim 1 (The Individual) and Aim 2 (Communities) are examined for all of

these programmes and services, along with unexpected outcomes. Aim 3 (The

Organisation) is covered to an extent by the internal and external stakeholder interviews.

Aim 3 is mostly about the effectiveness of Gentoo Living as an organisation and its added

value to the Group. We therefore chose to consult key stakeholders to establish whether

our desired outcomes are being achieved, in addition to questions about our vision, mission

and values.

4.2 Omissions

As shown in the current structure chart, Gentoo Living is extremely diverse, and expanded

in April 2012 to include two new sections; Neighbourhood Safety and Safeguarding, and

Financial Inclusion. The programmes and services offered within these areas are not

reported in these social accounts, as the tools to evaluate impact are under development, to

reflect the new thematic approach Gentoo Living is adopting, as discussed earlier.

Further, a number of programmes and services have recently been launched, or added to

Gentoo Living’s services, and are yet to be fully evaluated, so they are not included in this

set of accounts. In addition, some programmes have ended since the last set of social

accounts, for example Future Jobs Fund, Supported Apprentices, and Community Kids.

In addition, the Needs Assessment Service (a signposting service for vulnerable customers

in relation to their physical health, enabling them to access housing and/or services to meet

their needs) has been omitted. Experience of consulting these customers in the last social

accounts showed that often they do not identify the particular service they receive as being

from Gentoo Living. This is because a number of customers have an interaction with the

Needs Assessment Team and then they are signposted to another agency for assistance.

The attribution of the benefits experienced is therefore with the agency delivering the

solution.

Environmental Impact is not discussed in relation to Gentoo Living as we have the

advantage of using the expertise and knowledge of Gentoo Green who consider and look to

limit the Group’s impact on the environment. An Environmental Strategy, Policy and Action

Plan have been derived which all areas of the Group adhere to.

Economic Impact – The direct impact of Gentoo Living’s activities on the wider community

through spending in the local area and savings to the public purse are not directly reported

in these social accounts. This report will undoubtedly demonstrate the economic impact

Gentoo Living is having to its people and communities; however there is still some work

required to enable calculations and savings to be shown.

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We have produced and had assured two SROI reports, one of which falls within the scope

of these social accounts.

An SROI report compiled for the Older Persons Service in March 2012 revealed £7.25 value

for every £1 invested.

A further SROI report for the Supported Apprentice Programme in March 2011 revealed a

£1.06 - £2.06 value for every £1 invested.

4.3 Recommendations and action taken from last Social Accounts

The last social accounts included a number of recommendations in relation to reviewing

whether or not certain outcomes were applicable to each service. By embedding outcomes

monitoring in the main service areas and through further consultations and analysis, we are

able to identify which outcomes are most commonly experienced by our customers. We

accept that not all outcomes will apply to each service as long as Gentoo Living’s full

service offer achieves the full range of outcomes.

It is also recognised that a number of Gentoo Living’s outcomes could be described as “soft”

outcomes; however we consider these as important intermediate steps along the way to

customers achieving “harder” outcomes, such as gaining employment or accessing training.

We are currently taking a Logic Model approach in reviewing Gentoo Living’s services to

establish rationale, and, intermediate and longer term outcomes, as well as key output

measures.

Other than the recommendations around reviewing planned outcomes which were

applicable to all services, the following details key actions taken by service.

A full set of recommendations from the last social accounts, 2009/10 can be seen in

Appendix 5,

The Older Persons Service recommended the creation of an Activities and Events Co-

ordinator to consult with residents and develop a programme of activities for all older

customers. This service has been introduced and 83 events and 1794 individuals have

been involved during the scope of these accounts. The outcomes are reported in Section

8.1.2 of this report. Additionally, since the last set of social accounts, the Older Persons

service has undergone a full review. We still have our Sheltered Schemes but the other

services have changed. The new service is a grant funded community in reach service, to

meet the housing related support needs of older people living throughout the City. The

main aims of the service are to reduce the numbers of people entering institutional care,

and promote healthy and active living to avoid readmissions to hospital.

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The Young Persons Service had feedback from one young person who disagreed with a

number of planned outcomes. However this individual had a number of issues engaging

with the service and has since left. The Community Kids programme is under full review.

The Future Jobs Fund work programme has ceased since the last social accounts.

The Volunteering Services are currently under full review.

A further development since applying the Social Accounts methodology in 2009/10 are

changes to the way we ask questions in order to understand what is important to

customers. Previously, customers we asked how strongly they agreed or disagreed with

statements around outcomes and service standards.

We now ask customers questions to discover what is important to them and use the

following responses:

Yes this applies to me

This somewhat applies to me

I would’ve liked this to happen but it didn’t

This isn’t important to me.

These questions helped us to evaluate more thoroughly the service and help us to direct

changes and improvements to programmes and services.

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5 Stakeholder Consultation

Gentoo Living’s senior management team provided details of who they perceived as key

external stakeholders for their service areas to consult with for the accounts; a total of 51

external stakeholders were identified. Details can be found in Appendix 6. The Director

then shortlisted these to 17 with the aim of giving an even spread across service areas and

a mix of strategic and operational stakeholders. These stakeholders are illustrated in the

stakeholder map below. Our aim was to capture those we are working with and gain their

views of our work.

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6 Consultation Methodology

A mixture of consultation methods were used to provide the best possible feedback. This

included face-to-face interviews, postal and email surveys, interviews, and telephone

surveys.

With customers or beneficiaries of the service questions were asked regarding Gentoo

Living’s expected outcomes, to assess whether they were being achieved, and what else

had changed (where applicable). An assessment of service standards was also included.

With key external stakeholders, and internal stakeholders, questions were asked around our

Vision, Mission, Values, Aims and Objectives – peoples’ familiarity with these, and views on

achievement of them. Questions were also asked about partnership working and thoughts

on any improvements that can be made to improve delivery of programmes and services.

The following table gives a summary of the consultation exercise, and a SMART action plan

for the social accounting process can be found in Appendix 7. The table gives the total

population by service area during the scope of the Social Accounts and details response

rates, with a comparison from the last set of Social Accounts.

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Re

po

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RA

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(exi

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ach

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of

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op

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20

09

/10

So

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(co

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)

8.1.1Older Persons Service:

Those in the service for 6 months

EXISTING DATA: 6 month review

questionnaire and postal for

remaining requirements

1596 60 35 7 42 70% 31%

Low Attendees 268 64 0 17 17 27%

High Attendees 15 15 0 12 12 80%

8.2.1Young Persons Service: those who

have exited the service

EXISTING DATA: Exit questionnaire

postal103 103 49 4 53 51% 27%

Low Attendees 179 48 0 7 7 15%

High Attendees 20 20 0 7 7 47%

8.3.2 Enterprising Futures Postal 23 23 0 13 13 57% 82%

8.3.3 Aspire Grants Postal 144 144 0 79 79 55% 36%

8.3.4 Generic Support Face to face interview 25 10 0 3 3 30%Not

applicable

8.4.1Volunteering - Reading in Schools:

Volunteers

EXISTING DATA - Routine

Evaluation17 17 14 0 14 82% 48%


Teachers


Evaluation5 5 5

05 100%

Not

applicable


Children


Evaluation55 55 6

06 11%

Not

applicable

8.4.2Volunteers - Give Hour:

BefriendeesFace to Face interviews 16 11 0 11 11 100%

Not

applicable

8.4.2Volunteers - Give Hour:

Befrienders [staff]Survey Monkey 11 11 0 9 9 82% 48%

8.4.3 Volunteers - Staff Team ChallengeEXISTING DATA - Routine

Evaluation49 47 39 0 39 83% 65%

8.4.4 Volunteers - Action Days Post / email internal staff 13 9 0 6 6 67%Not

applicable

8.5 Partners Supported AccomodationFace to face interview: 6 month

review174 18 11 5 16 89%

Not

applicable

9 Key external stakeholders Face to Face interviews 51 17 0 9 9 64% 53%

10.1Internal Stakeholders - Executive

ManagersSurvey Monkey 17 17 0 15 15 88% 87%

10.2 Internal Stakeholders - Staff Secondary data - Staff Survey 129 129 0 69 69 53% 55%

TOTALS 2910 823 159 273 432 52% 43%

Relevant to scope of Social Accounts

Not

applicable

Young Persons Activities and

Events

Older Persons EventsNot

applicable8.1.2

8.2.2

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7. Outcomes and Outputs - Scope of the Social Accounts

An accurate and systematic method of collecting outcome data in relation to this set of

social accounts was created in October 2011. Consequently the scope of the accounts

covers the twelve months commencing 1 October 2011 to 30 September 2012.

The following tables show each of Gentoo Living’s aims, the related objectives and

expected outcomes.

A matrix was produced for each programme or service and the expected outcomes. From

consultation feedback, a colour was applied to each cell, to demonstrate the extent to which

the programme or service meets the outcomes. In order to determine the extent to which

each outcome had been achieved, the following formula was applied.

The total percentage response for “Yes this applies to me” plus the total percentage

response “This somewhat applies to me”, minus the percentage response “I would have

liked this to happen but it didn’t”.

Thresholds were then applied to the percentages to determine whether an outcome had

been achieved or not, and colour coded as follows.

Outcome Fully Achieved 60%+

Outcome Partially Achieved 40% - 60%

Outcome Achieved to Lesser Extent 0-40%

Outcomes Commonly Experienced

Question not asked

The following tables show the planned outcomes that have occurred with stakeholders

during the scope of these Social Accounts. Aims and objectives are also shown on the

tables to help to understand how our programmes and services fit.

Where outcomes are categorised as being achieved to a “lesser extent”, it should be noted

that this may be because the outcomes are not relevant to the particular programme or

service, and not that they are not being achieved.

The blank boxes indicate that the questions relating to outcomes have not been asked in

the consultation as they are not deemed appropriate or relevant.

The final table shows those outcomes reported in addition to Gentoo Living’s planned

outcomes. These may be considered for inclusion in the future.

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Please note the symbol * demonstrate the extent to which the Internal and External

Stakeholders believe Gentoo Living is achieving our aims, objectives and outcomes.

OBJECTIVE 1: to

support people

to recognise

their aspirations

PROGRAMME OR SERVICE

Tota

l po

pu

lati

on

Tota

l nu

mb

er/

po

pu

lati

on

in t

he

pro

gram

me

or

serv

ice

Targ

et

con

sult

atio

n s

amp

le s

ize

fo

r

sco

pe

of

SA (

95

% c

on

fid

en

ce le

vel,

5%

mar

gin

of

err

or)

Act

ual

Sam

ple

Siz

e

Nu

mb

er

of

co

mp

lete

d

Emp

ow

ere

d a

nd

en

able

d t

o f

ulf

ill a

n

amb

itio

n

Incr

eas

ed

Mo

tiva

tio

n

Incr

eas

ed

Insp

irat

ion

Incr

eas

ed

Co

nfi

de

nce

Incr

eas

ed

Ski

lls

and

Kn

ow

led

ge

Emp

ow

ere

d t

o m

ake

info

rme

d

de

csio

ns

abo

ut

the

ir li

ves

Mo

re in

form

atio

n a

bo

ut

the

ir

cho

ice

s

Incr

eas

ed

Ind

ep

en

de

nce

Imp

rove

d Q

ual

ity

of

Life

Older Persons Service [those who received service for 6

months]1222 60 53 60 42

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Regular Attenders 15 15 15 12

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Occasional Attenders 64 55 64 17

Young Persons Support Service (STEP's) - (those who had

exited the service)103 103 82 82 53

Young Persons ILS - Regular Attenders 20 20 20 7

Young Persons ILS - Low Attenders 48 43 48 7

People and Communities - Enterprising Futures 23 23 23 23 13

People and Communities - Aspire Grants 144 144 106 144 16

People and Communities - Generic Support 25 10 10 6 6

People and Communities - Volunteering: Reading in

Schools [Staff]17 17 17 14 14


Schools [Teachers]5 5 5 5 5


Schools [Children}55 55 49 55 6

People and Communities - Befriending Customers 16 11 11 11 8

People and Communities - Befriending Volunteers 11 11 11 11 9

People and Communities - Volunteering Team Challenge 49 47 42 47 40

People and Communities - Volunteering : Action Days

(organisations receiving service)13 9 9 9 5

Business Development - Partners Supported

Accommodation200 18 16 16 16

Internal Stakeholders - Groups Senior Managers* 17 17 0 15 15

Key External Stakeholders* 51 17 0 9 9

OBJECTIVES

AIM 1 - TO ENABLE PEOPLE TO FULFIL THEIR ASPIRATIONS

268

179

OBJECTIVE 4: to

provide support so

that people can live

independent lives

OBJECTIVE 3: to support

people to make

informed decisions

about thier lives

OUTCOMES

OBJECTIVE 2: to support people to

increase their motivation,

confidence, skills and knowledge

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Objective 1: to provide

opportunities for

people to participate

in making decisions

about their

communities

Serv

ice

/Pro

gram

me

Tota

l po

pu

lati

on

Tota

l nu

mb

er/

po

pu

lati

on

in t

he

pro

gram

me

or

serv

ice

Ta

rge

t co

nsu

ltat

ion

sam

ple

siz

e f

or

sco

pe

of

SA (

95

% c

on

fid

en

ce le

vel,

5%

mar

gin

of

err

or)

Act

ual

Sam

ple

Siz

e

Nu

mb

er

of

co

mp

lete

d

Incr

eas

ed

aw

are

ne

ss o

f o

pp

rtu

nit

ies

and

em

po

we

red

to

get

invo

lve

d

Enab

led

to

de

velo

p a

nd

fu

lfil

a vi

sio

n f

or

thie

r co

mm

un

ity

Enab

led

to

infl

ue

nce

de

csio

ns

Enh

ance

d r

ela

tio

nsh

ips

be

twe

en

com

mu

nit

es

Incr

eas

ed

se

nse

of

be

lon

gin

g

Incr

eas

ed

se

lf r

esp

ect

an

d r

esp

ect

fo

r

oth

ers

Incr

eas

ed

tru

st in

oth

ers

Older Persons Service [consultation with those who

received service for 6 months]1222 60 53 60 42

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Regular

Attenders15 15 15 12

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Occasional


Young Persons Support Service (STEP's) -(those who

had exited the service)103 103 82 82 53














People and Communities - Volunteering Team

Challenge49 47 42 47 40







268

179

AIM 2

TO ENABLE SUCCESSFUL COMMUNITIES

OBJECTIVES

OUTCOMES

Objective 2: to

support pople to

fulfil their vision

and aspiration for

their

communities

Objective 3: to provide support to

enhance relationships within and

between communities

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OBJECTIVE 4:

to influence

local, regional

and national

policies

OBJECTIVE 5:

to ensure that

Gentoo Living

is fit for

purpose to

deliver its aims

Serv

ice

/Pro

gram

me

Tota

l po

pu

lati

on

Tota

l nu

mb

er/

po

pu

lati

on

in t

he

pro

gram

me

Targ

et

con

sult

atio

n s

amp

le s

ize

fo

r sc

op

e o

f

SA (

95

% c

on

fid

en

ce le

vel,

5%

mar

gin

of

Act

ual

Sam

ple

Siz

e

Nu

mb

er

of

co

mp

lete

d

Imp

rove

d u

nd

ers

tan

din

g o

f th

e n

ee

ds

of

cust

om

ers

an

d

com

mu

nit

ies

Se

rvic

es

pro

vid

ed

re

spo

nd

be

tte

r to

cust

om

er

and

com

mu

nit

ies

ne

ed

s

Exis

tin

g se

rvic

es

imp

rove

d a

nd

ne

w

solu

tio

ns

and

se

rvic

e

de

velo

pe

d

Be

tte

r u

nd

ers

tan

din

g o

f th

e s

oci

al a

nd

eco

no

mic

be

ne

fits

to

th

e

Gro

up

s in

vest

me

nt

Ge

nto

o L

ivin

g ar

e e

nab

led

to

me

asu

re t

he

imp

act

of

its

pro

gram

mes

an

d d

em

on

stra

te t

he

so

cial

an

d e

con

om

ic

The

Gro

up

's b

usi

ne

ss p

rosp

ect

s ar

e

imp

rove

d

Fu

nd

ing

Op

po

rtu

nit

ies

incr

eas

ed

Ge

nto

o L

ivin

g is

en

able

d t

o in

flu

en

ce lo

cal,

regi

on

al a

nd

nat

ion

al p

olic

ies

Ge

nto

o L

ivin

g is

fit

fo

r p

urp

ose

to

de

live

r

its

aim

s an

d o

bje

ctiv

es

Older Persons Service [those who received service for 6

months]1222 60 53 60 42

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Regular Attenders 15 15 15 12



Young Persons Support Service (STEP's) -(those who

had exited the service)103 103 82 82 53















Challenge49 47 42 47 40







268

179

AIM 3:

ADDING VALUE TO GENTOO GROUP

OBJECTIVES

OBJECTIVE 1: To provide

opporunities for people to

participate in making

decisions about their

communities

OBJECTIVE 2: to

ensure that the

social and

economic

benefits are

OBJECTIVE 3: to

promote the Group's

prospects for business

growth and

improvement

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A description of the matrix methodology can be seen in Appendix 8.

Serv

ice

/Pro

gram

me

Tota

l po

pu

lati

on

Po

pu

lati

on

re

leva

nt

to s

cop

e o

f So

cial

Acc

ou

nts

[wh

ere

ap

plic

able

]

Targ

et

po

pu

lati

on

Act

ual

Sam

ple

Siz

e

Nu

mb

er

of

surv

eys

co

mp

lete

d

Imp

rove

d S

afe

ty

Imp

rove

d a

bili

ty t

o m

anag

e u

nas

sist

ed

Imp

rove

d f

inan

cial

po

siti

on

Imp

rove

d s

oci

al c

on

tact

Imp

rove

d e

mp

loym

en

t o

pp

ort

un

itie

s

Imp

rove

d H

app

ine

ss/e

njo

yme

nt

Imp

rove

d A

ttit

ud

e

Pe

op

le t

ry n

ew

th

ings

Sen

se o

f ac

hie

vem

en

t

Imp

rove

d r

ela

tio

nsh

ips

Re

du

ced

su

bst

ance

mis

use

Re

du

ced

ASB

Imp

rove

d e

du

cati

on

or

trai

nin

g

Older Persons Service [consultation with those

who received service for 6 months]1222 60 53 60 42

Older Persons - Activities & Events - Regular




Young Persons Support Service (STEP's) -(those

who had exited the service)103 103 82 82 53






People and Communities - Volunteering: Reading

in Schools [Staff]17 17 14 14


in Schools [Teachers]5 5 5 5


in Schools [Children}55 49 55 6




Challenge49 49 42 49 40

People and Communities - Volunteering : Action

Days (organisations receiving service)13 8 8 8 5



Unplanned Outcomes Emerging

179

268

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Additionally, a Performance Monitoring Framework exists to collect a range of output data.

The following chart provides key performance data in relation to the programmes and services

covered in these accounts.

OLDER PERSONS SERVICE

Older Persons Support

Number of customers supported 1,596

Number of calls made 83,165

Number of visits made 18,500

Number of staff employed 42

Activities and Events

Number of activities and events 55

Number of customers attending 1,279


YOUNG PERSONS SERVICE

Young Persons Support

Number of customers supported 156

Number of visits made 3,771


Independent Living Skills/National Open College Network

Number programmes 16

Number of events 93

Number attending 565


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PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES

Enterprising Futures

Number of businesses created 32

Number of jobs created 35


Volunteering - Give Hour (Befriending and Reading in Schools)*

Number of volunteers active 96

Hours volunteered 641

Number of beneficiaries 347


Volunteering - Team Challenges*

Number of challenges 4

Number of volunteers 49

Volunteering - Action Days*

Number of events 2

Number of beneficiary organisations 9

Aspire grants

Number of applications 182

Number of successful applications 144

Value of grants awarded £44,745


Community Engagement & Empowerment (Focused Neighbourhoods)

Number of events held 146

Number of local people attending 7,100


Generic Support Service

Number of referrals received 56

Number of referrals accepted 12

Number signposted 16


BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

Partners Supported Accommodation Number of staff 1

Managing Agents

Number of units 97

Small Group Homes Number of units 32

Outreach Properties Number of units 45

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8. REPORT ON PERFORMANCE

8.1 OLDER PERSONS

8.1.1 Older Persons Support Service

Customers enjoying a lunch club

As we live in an increasingly ageing society due to dramatic demographic changes,

advancement in medical technology and life expectancies we are witnessing an increasing

number of older people in their 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. This presents society with a group of

older people who can and do have a range of support needs required to enable their

independence.

The Older Persons Service is part funded by Sunderland City Council, formerly through

Supporting People funding - the policy and funding framework for housing related support

services. Supporting People was introduced in 2003 and since then, has experienced a

shift from former Resident Wardens in sheltered accommodation to Floating Support, and

more recently to a Wellbeing service with the aim to take a preventative approach to enable

older people to live for as long as possible in their own home avoiding the need for long

term residential care.

This, more recent Wellbeing Service was introduced in October 2012 and therefore falls out

of the scoping.

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8.1.1.1 The Service

The scope of this cycle of accounts represents customers from who received support from

the previous Older Persons Service. Housing related support was offered to older people

who had difficulty in maintaining a home of their own, by providing the support that is

needed to help achieve independence and empowerment. The aim the service was to give

older people greater opportunities for independent living and life choices by promoting high

quality support that met the needs of the local community and which complement other

services. Services ranged from support provided in specifically designed accommodation

such as sheltered housing schemes for older people, to support provided within a person’s

own home in the community.

The team supported 1596 older people throughout the City at any one time, and delivered

support services to meet a range of identified needs and aspirations. The pro-active

support that the older person’s team delivered helped prevent hospital admissions, reduce

the need for institutional care and improve the quality of life of older people.

8.1.1.2 Customer Consultation

Over the previous 18 months, we have been embedding an evaluation culture. For this

service, baseline data, mid term data (6 months into the service) and exit data has been

gathered. To ensure consistency in the results of the analysis, only customers who had

been in the service for 6-9 months during the scoping period were included in the scope.

Experience from conducting the evaluations and feedback gathered from the staff within the

service revealed that it is at this point when customers begin to feel the benefit and impact

of the service. It was felt that customers in the service beyond one year may have been

unable to accurately express the outcomes experienced given the amount of time between

joining the service and 1 year.

During the scoping period 74 people qualified for a mid term evaluation, within this time; 10

people left either at or before the 6 months trigger point and 4 people died before an

evaluation could be completed. Therefore the number of expected evaluations totalled 60.

The following results represent the views of 42 out of the 60 customers who qualified (70%)

25 routine mid term evaluations

10 exit routine evaluations (those who exited after only 6-9 months in the service)

7 project specific evaluations, carried out particularly for the social accounts

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8.1.1.3 Planned Outcomes

From the consultation Gentoo Living has been able to identify which of the planned

outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our customers from the Older Persons

service. In summary, the outcomes where more than 60% of customers answered “Yes this

applies to me” are:

We believe these outcomes can contribute to more independent living, and ultimately

reduce other spending. The following gives an example of how much residential care can

cost.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil an ambition

People have increased motivation

People have increased inspiration

People have improved confidence

People have increased skills and knowledge

People are empowered to make informed decisions about their lives

People have more information about their choices

People are empowered and enabled to live independently

Peoples' lives are enriched

People have increased awareness of opportunities and are empowered to get

involved

People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or aspiration for their

community

People are enabled to influence decisions

Enhanced relationships between communities

People have an increased sense of belonging

People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for each other

People have more trust in others

OLDER PERSONS SERVICE

Yes this applies to me This somewhat applies to me I wanted this to happen but it didn't This isn't important to me Not answered

People are empowered and enabled to live independently – 74%

People have more information about there choices – 74%

People have improved confidence - 67%

Peoples lives are enriched – 64%

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There was a very small amount of customers who answered “I would have liked this to

happen but it didn’t” to some of the outcomes. Listed below are the outcomes where this

answer was given by more than 10% of the people taking part:


Customers also told us that some of the outcomes “weren’t important to them”;

People have increased skills and knowledge – 47%

People are enabled to influence decisions – 29%

People have increased awareness of opportunities and are empowered to get involved – 29%

People have increased inspiration – 26%

Enhanced relationships between communities – 26% One fifth of customers did not give an answer regarding some of the outcomes. It may be

that these are not relevant to customers either, despite there being an answer relating to

how important the outcomes are for customers. These outcomes are:

People are empowered to make informed decisions about their life – 19%


People have increased skills and knowledge - 17%

8.1.1.4 Unplanned Outcomes

Customers are also asked to note any other changes they feel they have experienced as a

result of the service. These are described within Gentoo Living as Unplanned Outcomes.

21 people made a comment regarding this question and a further 21 people did not answer

it.

Some comments made by those who answered this question duplicated the Planned

Outcomes, i.e. “I feel more confident”, and these comments have not been considered as

unplanned outcomes.

The weekly minimum cost per permanent private residential care space £497per

week. Per year this totals £25,844 (PSSRU 2011)

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There were two comments which may indicate some negative change;

“As I previously lived in a 2 bed bungalow, the only changes is the smaller living areas I

have had to adapt to”

“I miss being able to walk out of my back door, but on the other hand I had a very large

garden which was beginning to be too much for me”

All statements made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9a.

8.1.1.5 Customer Service Standards

Customers were also asked about the levels of customer service provided; the chart below

demonstrates customer’s feedback.

Less isolation – 7

Improved safety – 5

Less reliant on family - 2

Improved income – 1

More peace of mind – 1

More peaceful – 1

Improved health – 1

The authors of Loneliness: Human Nature and the need for Social Connection found that

chronic loneliness has a significant effect upon a variety of physiological processes and may

increase the risk of depression, sleep problems and a faster progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

(WorldHealth.net)

Costs of isolation – NHS Community Mental Health Team for Older People = £38 per team

member per hour

NPC Pensioner Facts and Figures November

2010 state “Adult children provide their

parents with 36 hours of unpaid care each

month”.

Cost per hour for local authority care= £34

www.pssru.ac.uk

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90% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the information provided, the

professionalism and attitude of the staff. 88% of respondents were either satisfied or very

satisfied with the overall service provided by the staff, and the time it took to deal with

enquiries.

8.1.1.6 Additional Sources of Information

2009/2010 Social Accounts When comparing 2011/2012 social accounting results with 2009/2010 results, strong

similarities emerged.

Consultation for this service for 2009/2010 accounts revealed that the outcomes which

customers most strongly agreed they had experienced were;


People are empowered to make more informed decisions about their lives


0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

The experience overall The time it took to deal with enquiries

The infomation and advice provided

The professionalism of the person dealing

with enquiries

The attitude of the person dealing with

your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very Disatisfied No Answer

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Older Persons Service Review Prior to the scoping period a service review was carried out on the Older Persons service,

some of these findings were used to inform the new Wellbeing Service. The recommended

action points from this can be found in Appendix 9b

Key findings from this in relation to the Older People substantiate what we have learnt from

both this social accounting cycle and the last, such as;

People have increased awareness of opportunities and are empowered opportunities to get involved


People are empowered to make decisions about their lives

People feel safer

Social Return on Investment (SROI) Older Persons Support Service Following on from the findings of the Older Persons Service Review an SROI study was

completed. The study was assured by the SROI UK network and revealed that for every £1

spent on delivering the service it produced a social value return of £7.25.

The consultation which took place for this study revealed the following outcomes;

People have improved social contact and more company, reducing social isolation

People have improved quality of life because they can now manage in their home better

People feel safer or are reassured because of the presence of the support co-ordinator

People have improved and easy access to general advice and guidance

These outcomes have significant similarities to those identified during the Social Accounts

consultation.

Furthermore, the most common outcome emerging from the study, one year on from the

introduction of the Activities and Events co-ordinator is “people have improved social

contact and more company, reducing social isolation”.

8.1.1.7 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in the Older Persons service are;

Improved independence

Improved confidence

More information about choices available

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Improved safety

Less social isolation

The feedback suggests strong similarities in relation to the common outcomes experienced

by customers consulted for both 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 Social Accounts. However

2011/2012 Social Accounts has demonstrated that there is also impact being created by the

service which Gentoo Living may not have expected or planned, such as improved safety

and less social isolation. These will be considered and used to inform future strategic

direction, with the potential for these outcomes to be included in the outcomes framework

and tested on the wider Older Persons service population.

The consultation conducted for the 2009/2010 Social Accounts inspired the recruitment of

an Activities and Events Co-ordinator. The shift in customer perception in relation to social

activities from last social accounting cycle when feedback suggested there was a lack of

activities, to this cycle, where less social isolation appears an outcome experienced for

some customers, demonstrates a number of outcomes achieved for Gentoo Living’s Aim 3;

Improved understanding of the needs of customers ad communities

Services respond better to the needs of customers and communities

Existing services improved and new solutions developed

Gentoo Living is fit for purpose to deliver its aims and objectives

Better understanding of the social and economic benefit of the Group’s Investment

The 2011/2012 Social Accounting scope includes an evaluation of the Activities and Events

service, the results of which can be seen in section 8.1.2.

8.1.1.8 Recommendations

1. Ensure that outcome monitoring is embedded within the new service to determine

whether or not it is continuing to achieve the desired outcomes. (Aim 1)

2. Monitor measure and understand the outcomes and the longer term impact that the

service is achieving with a view to communicating this to appropriate stakeholders. (Aim

3)

3. Introduce key performance indicators for the service linked to health. (Aim 3)

4. Engage with a wider range of external stakeholders and beneficiaries using information

collected as evidence to develop and/or continue services that achieve joint outcomes.

(Aim 3)

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8.1.2 Older Persons Activities and Events

The Older Person’s Service within Gentoo Living has a value added service - Activities and

Events. This service originated from a need identified from a consultation exercise that was

carried as part of our last Social Accounts.

Some of our customers enjoying a cooking class organised by the

Activities and Events Co-ordinator

The last social accounting consultation proved very positive, although, when asked ‘would

you change anything about the service’ a need to provide appropriate, inclusive and

accessible activities and events emerged.


During the scoping period 268 people where registered as attending the Older Persons

Activities and Events. The consultation methodology involved a questionnaire where

customers rated how much each of Gentoo Living’s outcomes applied to them (how they felt

at the moment of responding) on a Likert scale ranging from 1-10. Customers were

categorised into two groups, Regular Attendees and Occasional Attendees. This was so

that the responses from the two categories could be compared against each other. The

Regular Attendees questionnaire had an additional set of questions which asked for each of

Gentoo Livings outcomes, if they achieved these outcomes as a result of participation in the

Activities & Events.

Of the 268 Attendees, 159 were identified as attending only one event, some of which had

just started attending and continuing to attend so were excluded from the analysis.

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There were also some Attendees who we were advised not to contact due to health reasons

and were therefore excluded which left a sample size of 117.

64 of these subsequently make up the Occasional Attendees category. In this category,

responses were received from 17 customers (27%).

For the Regular Attendees category, 15 customers were identified as attending four

activities and events or more. In this category, responses were received from 12 customers

(80%).


Overall, Regular Attendees scored higher than Occasional Attendees on all but two of

Gentoo Living’s Outcomes (ability to influence decision & trust in others). Regular Attendees

were an average of 1.2 points up the scale on all outcomes compared to Occasional

Attendees. The top three outcomes the two groups differed most on were increased

inspiration, improved confidence and increased opportunities to get involved (information

about my choices closely followed).

The top three outcomes Regular Attendees scored highest on were; self respect and

respect for others; the ability to have their say and, enhanced relationships within and

between communities. For Occasional Attendees the outcomes they scored highest on

were; self respect and respect for others; independence and, trust in others.

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For the additional questions on the Regular Attendees questionnaire;

91.7 % of people agreed that the Activities and Events enabled them to achieve enhanced relationships and increased their opportunities to get involved.

83.3% of people who agreed that the Activities and Events increased their; motivation, confidence, inspiration, skills and knowledge and their ability to make informed decisions.

75% of people agreed that it increased their sense of belonging, self respect and their respect for others, and enabled them to recognise and fulfil and ambition.

66.7% of people agree it increased their independence, ability to have their say, their trust in others, ability to influence decisions and that their lives were enriched.

58.3% of people agreed it enabled them to have more information about their choices.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil an

ambition





People are empowered to make informed decisions about their

lives




People have increased awareness

of opportunities and are empowered to get involved

People are enabled to develop

and fulfil their vision or aspiration for their community



People have an increased sense of

belonging

People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for

each other


OLDER PERSONS ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Yes this applies to me This somewhat applies to me I wanted this to happen but it didn't This isn't important to me

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Regular Attendees were also asked the additional question of what has changed for them

as a result of participating in the Activities & Events, 6 out of 12 customers responded,

comments centred on enjoying activities and meeting new people, their comments are

detailed below:



demonstrates customers’ feedback. For regular attendees:

82% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service overall and the attitude of the staff.

76% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the time taken to deal with enquiries and the professionalism of staff.

65% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with information and advice provided.

I like living where I am, the

entertainment someone kicks

my butt, I get going, the

encouragement

I found everything positive

and loved activities and

events planning

I enjoy learning different

things, joining in the activities,

meeting people and look

forward to everyone

I now go fishing

every Sunday with

my Grandson

Meeting new people in

various stages in life

Fishing, meeting

others

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For Occasional Attendees

83% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service overall, the

attitude of staff, and the information and advice provided.

67% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the time taken to deal

with enquiries and the professionalism of staff.

One customer answered ‘very dissatisfied’ with all of the service standards questions,

however it could be interpreted from their other responses on the questionnaire which

were positive that they mistook this for the ‘very satisfied’ option.

One customer indicated that they were either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with 4 of

the 5 service standards (they gave no answer for the ‘information and advice’ standard),

they did give a comment which may give an indication as to why they were dissatisfied,

“as I am unable to get out much and there is not much going on for pensioners. I am 93

so it is difficult to get out”. – This may be due to their mobility issues and the activities

and events may be too far to travel to.

8.1.2.5 What Customers Have Said

Customers were also asked if they would recommend any changes for future events. Five

recommendations were given and include suggesting ways of customers getting more

information on when activities and events are taking place; more local events for customers

with mobility issues; transport to get to events, and preferring an old style of event

compared to the new format. All comments are detailed below, and full statements can be

seen in Appendix 9c.

Re-instate co-ordinators

that’s the only way we get

information regarding

what’s going on

We need some further

events in all for elderly

people who can’t get

out very much

Transport to get

there I much prefer the carol

service to the school

concert, if it is the concert

Christmas 2013 I will not be

attending

When and how Gentoo

lets people know all the

events that are going on in

the year of that time

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Throughout the scoping period customers have been consulted at a number of activities and

events, and analysis of their feedback has been conducted. From analysis reports,

common themes emerged such as generally enjoying the events; socialising/meeting new

people/making new friends; getting a day out and trying something new.

8.1.2.7 Summary

Generally, Regular Attendees outcome ratings were higher. There were a couple of

occurrences where Occasional Attendees ratings were higher two of Gentoo Living’s

outcomes.

Regular Attendees were an average of 1.2 points up the scale on all outcomes compared to

Occasional Attendees average ratings. The top three outcomes Regular Attendees scored

highest on were; self respect and respect for others; the ability to have their say; and

enhanced relationships within and between communities. For Occasional Attendees the top

three outcomes they scored highest on were; self respect and respect for others;

independence and trust in others. The outcomes Regular Attendees and Occasional

Attendees differed most on were increased inspiration; improved confidence and increased

opportunities to get involved. For the additional question Regular Attendees were asked

relating to what has changed for them as a result of participating in the Activities and

Events, themes centred on enjoying activities and meeting new people.

The vast majority of people were either satisfied or very satisfied with all the customer

service standards. One customer answered ‘very dissatisfied’ for all the customer service

standards, however it could be interpreted that this customer misinterpreted the ‘very

dissatisfied’ option for the ‘very satisfied’ option as all their other responses on the

questionnaire were very positive. One customer indicated they were either dissatisfied or

very dissatisfied on four of the customer service standard and did give an additional

comment which may indicate that their mobility issues are the reason for their

dissatisfaction.

Customers offered some additional comments for ways to improve the service such a

suggesting ways of customers getting more information on when activities and events are

taking place; more local events for customers with mobility issues; transport to get to

events; and, preferring an old style of event compared to the new format.

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1. Increase the level of communication and advertisement in schemes to ensure that

customers are aware of events. (Aim 1)

2. Co-ordinate more regular and local events to keep people regularly engaged in

communities, prevent social isolation and enable customers with limited mobility to

access the events. (Aim 2)

3. Facilitate activities that increase people’s capacity to run their own activities. (Aim 1 & 2)

4. Review transport requirements for the customer group with a view to feeding into a

wider review of transport needs for Gentoo customers and staff to determine cost

effectiveness of current or potential future arrangements. (Aim 3)

5. Review data collection arrangements to ensure good quality, meaningful information is

collected. (Aim 3)

6. Undertake research to understand the wider effects on customers that engage in

activities and events to those that don’t. (Aim 3)

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8.2 Young Persons

8.2.1 Supporting Tenants Empowering People (STEPs)

Some of our young persons in STEPs, celebrating achievement of their

Food, nutrition and hygiene course

Young adults between 16 and 25 are at greater risk of homelessness, particularly those

leaving care or who have experienced difficult relationships with their parents or guardians,

and are more vulnerable than adults when they are homeless.

There are a number of factors that make young adults vulnerable to homelessness and/or

directly cause them to become homeless which include: ~

Unemployment and socio economic marginalisation

Experience of/leaving local authority care

Family disruption in childhood and ongoing strained relationships and relationship

breakdown with parents and step-parents resulting in being asked to leave the

parental home

Experience of living with a step parent, particularly for young men

Experience of parental neglect, abuse or violence

Reliance on insecure accommodation settings, such as staying with friends, relatives

and in some cases strangers.

According to Troubled Families Cost Database accommodating a homeless person

costs £18,151 per year

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In our opinion, inspiration, choice, aspiration and achievement are the most important things

for ensuring young adults grow to realise their full and true potential. We strive to empower

and enrich the lives of young adults and endeavour to support them to have healthy and

meaningful relationships with each other and with others that live in our communities. By

improving their lives we strive to create communities where young adults are valued,

nurtured, respected and feel a sense of societal belonging and connection.

8.2.1.1 The Service

The aim of STEPs - Young Persons Service is to give young adults greater opportunities for

independent living and in turn improve their life and living choices. We endeavour to provide

high quality, inspiring and educational support services that empower, develop and

transform young adults into adult and working life.

The STEPs team provide a wide and diverse range of vocational, educational and housing

related support services that equip every young adult who we support with the skills,

experiences, capabilities and confidence to maintain a home, become inter/independent,

self reliant and more importantly a responsible and contributing member of society.

This section reports on the outcomes achieved by customers in the STEPs service. The

service provides support through a dedicated staff steam working within three services

Holmewood Supported Housing Scheme ~ intensive support for 16 to 21 year olds,

homeless or about to become homeless and requiring support to manage their own

home. There are twelve residents at any one time in Holmewood.

Core Accommodation ~ medium support accommodation consisting of 29 fully

furnished flats with regular support for single people 16 to 21 years.

Outreach Support ~ 16 – 25 year olds who are living in their own tenancy and require

support to manage their own home.


Over the previous 18 months, Gentoo Living has been embedding an evaluation culture.

For this service, baseline data, mid term data (6-9 months into the service) and exit data

has been gathered. To ensure consistency in the results of the analysis, only the exit data

has been used to draw the conclusions. Experience from conducting the evaluations and

feedback gathered from the staff within the service reveal that the young people progress

and develop in different stages and are only exited in a planned way when an agreement

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from both the young person and their support worker can be reached in relation to their

ability to manage independently.

During the scoping period a new system for collating data was developed and this came

into action from April 2012. Calculating the population size of this group was done so using

information contained in two databases;

In total, 193 young people exited the service during the scope of the social accounts. Of

these 142 were planned exists which involve the young person drawing up an action plan

with the Support Worker to enable a sustainable transition to independence. 51 were

unplanned exits, where the young persons choose to leave the service without any further

support.

The 142 young people exited the service in a planned way and were included in the

consultation exercise. The following results represent the views of 53 out of the possible

142 customers who qualified (36%)

49 routine exit evaluations



The following chart shows the extent to which planned outcomes where achieved:

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outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our customers from the Young Persons

STEPs service, in summary, the outcomes where more than 60% of customers answered

“Yes this applies to me”

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0


ambitionPeople have increased

motivation



People have increased skills and

knowledge

People are empowered to make informed decisions about their

lives




People have increased awareness of opportunities and are

empowered to get involved

People are enabled to develop

and fulfil their vision or aspiration for their community


Enhanced relationships between

communities


People have an increased sense

of pride and more mutual respect for each other


YOUNG PERSONS SUPPORT SERVICE

Yes this applies to me This somewhat applies to me I wanted this to happen but it didn't

This isn't important to me Not answered

People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil an ambition – 85%

People have more information about their choices – 83%

People are empowered to make informed decisions about their life – 83%

People have improved confidence - 79%




People have an increased sense of pride and mutual respect for each other – 68%


People are empowered to develop and fulfil their vision or aspiration for their community – 66%

Enhanced relationships between communities – 60%

People have increased awareness of opportunities and are enabled to get involved – 60%

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happen but it didn’t” to some of the outcomes. These occurrences did not exceed 10% of

the population.


Customers are also asked to note any other changes they feel they have experienced as a

result of the service. These are described within Gentoo Living as Unplanned Outcomes.

40 people made a comment regarding this question and 13 people did not answer it. Some

comments made by those who answered this question duplicated the Planned Outcomes,

i.e. “I feel more independent”, and these comments have not been considered as unplanned

outcomes.

All statements made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9d.



demonstrates customers’ feedback.

Improved income – 17

Improved education – 4

Improved happiness – 4

More friends – 4

Found employment – 3

Improved cooking skills – 3

Improved relationships – 3

More positive – 1

Reduced anti-social behaviour - 1

...Young people recognise the link between

poverty, poor diets and health....some young

people said feeling of deep depression could

in turn lead to a young person to take drugs

or excessive drinking in order to try and

“blot things out”. Dependence on drugs

could in turn lead to crime. .... Source:

Save the Children, Listen Up! Children and

Young People talk: About Poverty.

According to the Troubled Families Cost Database:

Police costs associated with dealing with Anti Social Behaviour incidents range from £629 and £7805 per incident

Job Centre Plus claim fiscal benefit of getting someone from Job Seekers Allowance into employment to be £8219 per year

DWP costs associated with young people who are NEET can be as much as £562 per person on benefits per year for 16 – 17 year olds, and £4492 for 18 – 24 year olds

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100% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the all of the customer

service standards.

8.2.1.6 Additional sources of information

2009/2010 Social Accounts When comparing 2011/2012 social accounting results with 2009/2012 results, strong

similarities emerged.

Consultation for this service for 2009/2010 accounts revealed that the outcomes which

customers most agree/strongly agreed they had experienced were;



People are empowered to make more informed decisions about their lives



0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

The experience overall

The time it took to deal with enquiries



with enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very Disatisfied

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Young Persons Service Review During the scoping period a service review was carried out on the Young Persons service.

Some of these findings are being used to inform future strategy. The recommended action

points from this can be found in Appendix 9e

Key findings from this in relation to the young people substantiate what we have learnt from

this social accounting cycle, such as;

Young People join the service for help with;

o Money o Employment o Family Issues

The key outcomes experienced by the Young People include;

Planned Outcomes o More opportunities to get involved o Increased self respect o Greater independence o Improved trust o Improved skills o More information to make choices o Increased confidence o Increased ambitions

Unplanned Outcomes o Better educational opportunities o Better financial capability o Improved happiness

SROI Case Study A preliminary SROI study has also been carried out for this service area. The study tells the

story of just one person’s journey through the service and discusses the impact generated

for a number of stakeholders involved in the young person. The young person is referred to

as Miss X who is the primary beneficiary within this study.

After just nine months in the service Miss X was asked “how have you developed as a

person with the help of your support plan?” She stated:

“I am more confident”

“I am more assertive”

“I can say no to people”

“I have grew up a lot”

“I am more sure about myself”

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“I am now able to stand up for myself”

“Now talking to my family and made me feel like I am not the black sheep”

However the journey and story of change indicates that the outcomes for Miss X are much

more significant and present considerable potential impact for a number of stakeholders in

both the short term and long term, such as: Gentoo, the local community, the local authority

and NHS. Both positive and negative impact has been identified and quantified within the

study. The preliminary study shows the value created for every £1 invested ranges from

£4.22 to £32.11. The full study can be seen in Appendix 9f.

8.2.1.7 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in the Young Persons service

are;

Empowered and enabled to fulfil ambitions

More information available about choices available

Improved independence

Improved confidence

Improved income

The feedback suggests strong similarities in relation to the common outcomes experienced

by customers consulted for both 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 Social Accounts. However

2011/2012 Social Accounts has demonstrated that there is also impact being created by the

service which Gentoo Living may not have expected or planned, such as improved Income,

improved education, and employment and training opportunities. These will be considered

and used to inform future strategic direction, with the potential for these outcomes to be

included in the outcomes framework and tested on the wider Young Persons service

population.

Together with findings from the consultation conducted for the 2009/2010 and 2011/2012

Social Accounts and the Young Persons Service Review Gentoo Living can demonstrate

fulfilment of two of the planned outcomes listed under Gentoo Living’s

Aim 3:

Improved understanding of the needs of customers and communities

Better understanding of the social and economic benefit of the Group’s Investment

Furthermore, a number of new initiatives are currently being piloted within the new thematic

approach designed for April 2013, these include; a variety of employment and work

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experience programmes and an emotional resilience programme. Both of these activities

demonstrate fulfilment of other planned outcomes listed under Gentoo Living’s Aim 3;

Services respond better to the needs of customers and communities

Existing services improved and new solutions developed

Gentoo Living is fit for purpose to deliver its aims and objectives

The 2011/2012 Social Accounting scope includes an evaluation of the Independent Living

Skills programme, this programme, although not exclusive to the Young Persons service

compliment the support given to the young people by their support worker. The results of

which can be seen in section 8.2.2.


1. Ensure that we continue to engage with customers once they have left the service to

measure the longer term impacts. (Aim 1 & 3)

2. Introduce key performance indicators for the service linked to employment and training.

(Aim 3)

3. Engage with a wider range of stakeholders to promote the achievements of the service.

(Aim 3)

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8.2.2 Young Persons Service – Independent Living Skills

8.2.2.1 The Service

The aim of the Independent Living Skills (ILS) programme is to conduct themed events

throughout the year which offer opportunities for young people to learn and practice the

skills that they require to live independently successfully, and to increase their levels of

confidence and self esteem. The ILS sessions also signpost young people to other

partnerships and agencies within the city which they can rely on for additional, but specific

support. The typical areas covered in the ILS programme include:

Finance and Benefits

Relationships and Community Involvement

Home Management

Homes Services, Cleaning and Repairs



During the scoping period 179 were people listed as attending the Young Persons

Independent Living Skills (ILS). The consultation methodology involved a questionnaire

where customer rated how much each of Gentoo Living’s outcomes applied to them (how

they felt at the moment of responding) on a Likert scale ranging from 1-10.

Some of our young people from the Independent Living Skills

programme engaging in the Duke of Edinburgh Award

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Customers were categorised into two groups, Regular Attendees and Occasional

Attendees. This was to see if those with high engagement with ILS differed in their

experience of outcomes to those with low engagement levels.

The Regular Attendees questionnaire had an additional set of questions which asked if they

achieved Gentoo Living’s expected outcomes as a result of participation in ILS. The

purpose of this was so see if we can attribute outcome attainment to ILS participation.

Customers were also asked what has changed for them as a result of participating.

Of the 179 people listed as attending ILS events, contact details could not be sourced for 68

customers, reducing the population size to 111. This is due to young people disengaging

with the service on completion, and not providing further contact details.

Within this population 48 people were identified as attending one to three ILS events, and

these subsequently make up the Occasional Attendees category. In this category,

responses were received from 7 customers (14.5%).

For the Regular Attendees category, 20 customers were identified as attending 15 ILS

events or more. In this category responses were received from 7 customers (46.7%).


Overall, Regular Attendees generally scored higher than Occasional Attendees on all but

four of Gentoo Living’s Outcomes (opportunities to get involved; sense of belonging;

information about choices, and independence). Regular Attendees were an average of 0.5

points up the scale on all outcomes compared to Occasional Attendees. The top three

outcomes the two groups differed most on were improved confidence, trust in others, and

people’s lives are enriched.

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respect for others, trust in others and ability to make informed decisions. For Occasional

Attendees the outcomes they scored highest on were; independence, self respect & respect

for others and more information about my choices.

For the additional questions on the Regular Attendees questionnaire

87.5% of people agreed that ILS enabled them to achieve increased confidence, motivation, inspiration, skills and knowledge.

75% of people agreed that it enabled them to; fulfil an ambition, make informed decisions and enhanced relationships.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

People are enabled to recognise and

empowered to fulfil an ambition





knowledge

People are empowered to make informed

decisions about their lives

People have more information about their

choices




involved


community



communities


belonging

People have an increased sense of pride

and more mutual respect for each other


YOUNG PERSONS ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS


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62.5% of people agreed it enabled them to have their say on issues and their ability to influence decisions.


Regular Attendees were also asked the additional question of what has changed for them

as a result of taking part in ILS. Four out of seven customers responded. Their comments

are strongly employment based (N.B. the majority of the respondents have had involvement

in various Gentoo Living employment programmes) all comments are detailed below:


Customers were also asked about the levels of customer service provided, the charts below

demonstrates customers feedback from the Regular Attendees and Occasional Attendees

groups. For regular attendees:

I have gained more motivation and

as a result gained a position on a

Gentoo work programme and have

strived to apply for an

apprenticeship with Barclays

I have been more confident

in my job role

Found a job and enjoying

life

I believe ILS gave me the

motivation and confidence I

needed to gain employment

and helped me to believe in

myself

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82% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service overall and

the attitude of the staff.

76% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the time taken to deal

with enquiries and the professionalism of staff.

65% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with information and advice

provided.

One customer answered ‘very dissatisfied’ with all of the service standards

questions, however it could be interpreted from their other responses on the

questionnaire which were positive that they mistook this for the ‘very satisfied’ option.

For occasional attendees:

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%




The professionalism of the person dealing with

enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied No answer

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85.7% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the service overall,

the information and advice they received and the attitude of staff.

71.4% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the time taken to

deal with enquiries and the professionalism of staff.

8.2.2.6 What Customers Have Said

Customers were also asked if they would recommend any changes for future events, only

one recommendation was made and this related to having day trips:


As part of the programme of evaluations we do within Gentoo Living, a quarterly evaluation

of ILS was conducted. The top five outcomes people agreed they had experienced were:

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%





with enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Dissatisfied Very Dissatisfied No answer

If possible, day trips if residents

want to attend of different

activities when residents have

nothing to do

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opportunity to get involved;

self respect and respect for others;

increased independence;

ability to influence decisions and

increased skills and knowledge.

Throughout the scoping period customers have been consulted at a number of activities and

events as part of the ILS programme and analysis of their feedback conducted. From

analysis reports, common themes emerged such as:

generally enjoying the events,

socialising/meeting new people/making new friends and

trying something new.

All statements can be seen in Appendix 9g.

8.2.2.8 Summary

This is the first consultation exercise carried out for this service, and a new style of

questioning was used as part of the methodology, so outcomes and experiences can only

be considered in isolation. Although, it is evident that there are some links between the

current findings and additional sources of information included within this section.

Generally, Regular Attendees scored higher than Occasional Attendees on all but four of

Gentoo Living’s Outcomes (opportunities to get involved; sense of belonging; information

about choices and, independence). Regular Attendees were and average of 0.5 points up

the scale on all outcomes compared to Occasional Attendees.


respect for others; trust in others; and ability to make informed decisions.

For Occasional Attendees the outcomes they scored highest on were; independence; self

respect and respect for others; and more information about my choices.

The top 3 outcomes the two groups differed most on were improved confidence; trust in

others and peoples lives are enriched.

The additional question Regular Attendees were asked was what has changed for them as

a result of taking part in ILS. Responses were strongly employment based this is probably

due to the fact that the majority of the respondents have had involvement in various Gentoo

Living employment programmes.

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The vast majority of people were either satisfied or very satisfied with all the customer

service standards. One customer answered ‘very dissatisfied’ for all the customer service

standards, however it could be interpreted that this customer misinterpreted the ‘very

dissatisfied’ option for the ‘very satisfied’ option as all their other responses on the

questionnaire were very positive.

One customer offered an additional comment for a way to improve the service, this related

to having day trips for residents who had nothing to do


1. Ensure that outcome monitoring is embedded within the new service offer (NOCN/NCFE

etc) to determine whether or not it is achieving the desired outcomes. (Aim 1)

2. Introduce key performance indicators for the service linked to employment and training.

(Aim 3)

3. Review data collection arrangements to ensure higher a level of return, this was also a

recommendation from Gentoo’s Business Assurance Team following an audit.

4. Engage with a wider range of stakeholders to promote the achievements of the service.

(Aim 3)

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8.3 People and Communities

8.3.1 Community Engagement and Empowerment

Gentoo Living’s Community Engagement and Empowerment programme (also known as

the Focused Neighbourhoods [FN] approach) is currently run in three deprived

neighbourhoods within Sunderland. The focused approach is intended to enable

successful and sustainable neighbourhoods and communities, and to help meet the shared

objectives of Gentoo Living and Gentoo Sunderland. It involves Gentoo working with local

residents and stakeholders to develop capacity and to enable them to fulfil their vision for

their neighbourhood.

The programme was developed from a realisation that despite years of physical and social

regeneration activity targeting specific neighbourhoods within the City of Sunderland, some

of these neighbourhoods continue to be amongst the most deprived in the country.

8.3.1.1 Background

An objective approach to selecting the focused neighbourhoods was taken to help inform

decisions and ensure that our methodology is transparent. We completed neighbourhood

profiles for all of Gentoo’s neighbourhoods in 2008 using data from the Neighbourhood

Assessment Matrix (NAM), a tool to measure sustainability, (see Appendix 9h for details)

and Gentoo Sunderland subsequently completed neighbourhood plans to set out service

standards in all neighbourhoods.

Gentoo Living’s Committee agreed to take a targeted approach to neighbourhoods and

criteria were agreed to select the neighbourhoods in question. The criteria included:

Those neighbourhoods which were in the top 25 of the Neighbourhood

Assessment Matrix rankings

Those neighbourhoods which are in the top 25 neighbourhoods which have

declined most over recent years (according to the Neighbourhood Assessment

Matrix scoring).

Those neighbourhoods which had been classified by Gentoo Sunderland as

requiring more intensive housing management.

Those neighbourhoods which rank highly in the Government’s Index of Multiple

Deprivation.

It was agreed to adopt a focussed approach in Marley Pots and Southwick, Pennywell and

Peat Carr & Moorsley.

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8.3.1.2 The Approach

Gentoo impacts on the lives of tens of thousands of residents in the City and is therefore

strategically placed to investigate and deliver options for making long lasting positive

changes to the people we engage and work with. However, this initiative is not about doing

things to and for residents, it is about working WITH residents to empower both individuals

and communities to identify and address their needs, priorities and aspirations.

Gentoo Living’s role within the focused neighbourhood is as follows:

Inspiring and Empowering Communities – helping build capacity and to develop a

vision – a long term investment.

Identifying stakeholders and bringing them to the table – identifying projects and

opportunities – joint-working mechanisms.

Influencing partners to mainstream locally developed projects/initiatives and improve

existing provision.

Influencing resource allocation in the city, supporting communities to get involved

and have a say wider than their community.

Combining a holistic community-centred approach with themed action around

identified needs.

Co-ordinating and evaluating – learning lessons from previous programmes, being

flexible to change, keeping focused.

The objectives of the focused neighbourhood initiative are:

To develop a successful and transferable model.

To promote new and improved partnerships.

To promote innovative ways of working to improve service delivery

To build capacity to empower people and communities to develop and fulfil

their vision for their community.

A wide variety of activities and events have been held within the Focused Neighbourhoods,

and Appendix 9i shows an annual report that was completed during the scope of the Social

Accounts, and that gives a full description of what has happened in each neighbourhood.

8.3.1.3 Service Review

In order to establish the impact of the approach, a service review was carried out over the

period August to November 2012. The review questioned:

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What influence the approach has had?

What has worked?

What can we learn from?

Have we achieved our aims?

What next?

The review examined the focused neighbourhoods and included a comparison of another

deprived neighbourhood, Sulgrave.

The following shows the consultation was methodology:

Stakeholder Consultation Method Consultation Method

Customers

Community Consultation Guided Discussion

Art of Living survey

Focus Group Consultation Semi structured

questions

Event/Course

Questionnaires

Various structured

questionnaires

External Partners Survey Monkey Structured questions

Internal Partners Survey Monkey Structured questions

Gentoo Living Staff Email survey Structured questions

Desk top research was also conducted. This included:

Statistical analysis of all the three focused neighbourhoods along with Sulgrave, and,

The examination of a community research project at the new local school in Pennywell – Academy 360, which focused on the impact of housing, education and social investment.

The results of the statistical analysis did not demonstrate any discernible changes in

deprivation due to the short timescale of the interventions.

The research in Pennywell showed Gentoo’s perceived role as positive, and not as a

landlord, but as a people business. Stories about Gentoo were as likely to talk about

attendance at community events, awards and competitions and a provider of training and

employment as they were housing management issues.

Appendix 9j shows the Service Review report.

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8.3.1.4 Key findings

The review revealed a distinct difference between the FN’s and the selected comparative

neighbourhood (Sulgrave) in terms of the activities available in their area, and the FN

customers offered more positive statements in relation to this.

Common outcomes experienced by customers who sustain contact with Gentoo Living and

attend a number of courses include:

Meeting new people

More confidence (Aim 1)

More positive (Aim 1)

Improved family relationships (Aim 2)

The customer Art of Living (AOL) exercise revealed Work, Money and Fun and recreation

to be the key issues affecting their life.

When consultation took place with external partners, Gentoo was recognised as a good

strategic partner and expressed outcomes such as:

Improved funding opportunities for partners (Aim 3)

Increased capacity for partners

Improved/enhanced partnerships relationships (Aim 2)

Internal partner’s positive outcomes link to:

Improved relationships between housing staff and community (Aim 2)

Improved community engagement/involvement (Aim 2)

There were however comments which suggest there are still joined up working

opportunities to be explored and that skill sets, knowledge and experience, if brought

together in a more structured manner, may provide broader sustainable change.

When examining what has worked well, partners both internal and external say:

Relationships have strengthened with external partners

Internal relationships have increased

External partners say events and activities (lunch clubs, family learning and fun

days) work really well

Internal partners say street games and events work really well

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8.3.1.5 Summary

The Community Engagement (Focused Neighbourhood) programme has had some impact,

however if is difficult to evidence this with statistical analysis due to the short timescale of

the interventions.

Consultation demonstrated the achievement of some of Gentoo Living’s Aims and

Outcomes.

8.3.1.6 The Future

Findings suggest Focused Neighbourhoods are successful at engaging people and getting

them to join our programmes. Proposals are therefore for a more individual rather than

neighbourhood approach.

Further suggestions include considering a themed approach in line with customers’ Art of

Living expectations from the consultation event; considering collective outcomes across

Gentoo Sunderland and Gentoo Living; and, improving communications across Gentoo

Group to evidence the impact of the initiative.

The future of the Focused Neighbourhood approach is currently being reviewed.

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8.3.2 Enterprising Futures

Enterprising Futures is a business development project that offers free business advice and

practical help business start up support to local people. This project delivered jointly by

Gentoo Living and Social Enterprise Strategies (SES) is designed to tackle worklessness

and boost enterprise in the city.


Over the previous 18 months, Gentoo Living has been embedding an evaluation culture.

However, we took the decisions not to carry regular consultation with Enterprising Futures

customers because, SES, the partner organisation, consults with all of their customers and

we do not want to beleaguer customers by asking for duplicate feedback. The feedback

presented for these social accounts is a result of a one off focused consultation exercise.

During the scoping period 23 new business start ups were created. All 23 were invited to

give their feedback.

Responses were received from 13 customers (57%).


From the consultation, Gentoo Living has been able to identify which of the planned

outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our Enterprising Futures customers, in

summary;

An Enterprising Futures customer who has successfully started her

own business.

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The outcomes where more than 60% of customers answered “Yes this applies to me”;

It is important to note that customers from this service were only asked the Gentoo Livings

planned outcome questions related to Aim 1.



the population.

Customers were also asked if any of the outcomes were not important to them. Although

there was some response to this question on no occasion was it common with more than

20% of the population.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0


ambition





People are empowered to make

informed decisions about their lives




ENTERPRISING FUTURES



People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil and ambition- 69%

People have improved confidence – 69%

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Customers were also asked to note any changes they have made in their life as a result of

the Enterprising Futures programme.

10 people responded to this question. Some comments replicated the Gentoo Living

outcomes and suggested improved independence was experienced although the majority of

them related specifically improved financial independence.

There was also an indication that family members will benefit from the programme;

All statements made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9k.

Customers were also asked if they had encountered any negative changes that Gentoo

Living might be able to prepare other customers for, in their preparations for becoming self

employed. Four people said they had not experienced any negative changes, however

individual issues arose for others;

Overcoming HMRC/Welfare procedure

Longer hours

Renting property

Unpredictable trading patterns/costs

Remaining motivated

Come off benefits

Not signing on at Job Centre

Not relying on job seekers allowance and benefits

Increased earnings, being own boss - work hours and take time off. Better job satisfaction – wish I'd done this 20 years ago

Financial independence is a big thing for me

More time to spend with children. Partner is now

able to have a career. Better prospects

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demonstrates customers’ feedback

100% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the all of the customer

service standards.


2009/2010 Social Accounts Consultation for the 2009/2010 social accounts revealed that Enterprising Futures

customers either agreed or strongly agreed with the following outcomes;

People feel they have been given the chance and support needed to meet their

goals/ambitions

People know more about the choices they can make

People have new skills and knowledge

When comparing those results to 2011/2012 social accounts results, the only outcome

where direct commonalities can be drawn is people are enabled to recognise and

empowered to fulfil an ambition. However, when comparing the results from both social

accounts there are no noticeable incidents where outcomes are significantly experienced

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%





with enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very dissatisfied No Answer

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more than others. No customers from 2011/2012 social accounts said they would have

liked this to happen but it didn’t and very few indicated that an outcome wasn’t important to

them, therefore suggesting most outcomes were experienced to some degree.

What is important to note; I am able to live independently was the only outcome which

brought a higher no response or not sure return for 2009/2010, when in contrast, a lot of the

qualitative responses during 2011/2012 consultation revealed that this outcome, although

heavily linked to financial independence was being experienced.

8.3.2.6 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in receipt of the Enterprising

Futures service;


People have increased confidence

People have improved financial independence

There are few commonalities between 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 Social Accounts in

relation to the outcomes being experienced by Enterprising Futures customers. However

maintained contact with the some of beneficiaries would facilitate a greater understanding

of the long term impact and explore further what changes for the family members.

This consultation activity has enabled Gentoo Living to; better understand the social and

economic benefits of the Group’s Investments (Aim 3).


1. Ensure that we continue to engage with customers once they have left the service to

measure the longer term impacts. (Aim 1 and Aim 3)

2. Introduce key performance indicators for the service linked to employment, benefits and

financial independence. (Aim 3)

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8.3.3 Aspire

8.3.3.1 The Service

Aspire is a community grants scheme launched in 2002 and offers grants from £25 to £500

to support the activities of local voluntary and community groups and individuals. In 2006 we

extended the scheme to welcome applications from individuals across the region, and this

has proven to be a big success. These grant awards have been to a huge variety of

causes, from bus trips to gardening equipment, community events to football strips.

During the social accounting period 144 Aspire grants were awarded, equating to £44,745

to both individual and community projects


Over the previous 18 months, Gentoo Living have been embedding an evaluation culture,

however, due to a change in staffing, obtaining evaluations for this programme has proved

challenging. The feedback presented for these social accounts is a result of a focused

consultation exercise.

During the scoping period 144 organisations received support through the Aspire grant,

however, contact details had changed for four customers; therefore 140 were invited to

provide feedback. Responses were received from 79 customers (55%).



outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our Aspire beneficiaries, in summary;

A community organisation receiving their Aspire grant

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the population.

Customers also told us that some of the outcomes “weren’t important to them”;


0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

People are enabled to recognise

and empowered to fulfil an ambition





knowledge



People have more information

about their choices



People have increased awareness

of opportunities and are empowered to get involved

People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or aspiration

for their community



communities


People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect

for each other


ASPIRE GRANTS



People have increased motivation – 66%

People have increased awareness of opportunities and are enabled to get involved – 63%


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People are empowered to make informed decisions about their lives – 47%



People are empowered to develop and fulfil their vision or aspiration for their community

– 30%

People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for each other –

27%

There were a number of customers who did not give an answer regarding some of the

outcomes. The outcomes which were not answered by more 15% of respondents are listed

below;




Customers were also asked an additional three questions:

What has changed for your organisation?

If the changes are positive do you have plans for future progression?

Has the grant enabled your service users to achieve significant results/has

your group been opened up to new networks or partners?

There has been an increase in the volunteers

being empowered to get involved and help in

the community, with increased motivation,

confidence and trust. The money has enabled

volunteers to learn new skills and knowledge

as well as developing good relationships with

other volunteers.

Greater 'socialisation' for

a number of people who

had limited 'scope' for

that type of interaction

We have seen terrific change in the

children with respect to the

time/attitude related to physical

activity, the confidence and self

esteem change in many children is

fantastic, all through a programme

of sport/physical activity in the

community

We have now become a registered

charity - the continued support of Gentoo

Living has allowed us to confidently plan

to expand our activities.... We have one

young person wishing to compete in the

Paralympics Skiing development group

and another hoping to become a ski

instructor - Gentoo Living has helped

these aspirations

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Almost all organisations answered two out of the three questions with only one organisation

not answering all three. From these statements, the following unplanned outcomes

emerged.

All statements made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9m.

Check numbering

All feedback can be seen in Appendix 9l.



demonstrates customer’s feedback.

98% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the overall service;

97% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the professionalism of the staff;

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%





with enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very dissatisfied

Organisations have been able to engage with more members, increasing membership – 20

Organisations have been able to introduce more activities – 19

Organisations beneficiaries have increased enjoyment – 11

Organisations have more equipment – 11

Organisations improve access for people who wouldn’t normally have or been able to participate in a number of activities – 10

Increased community involvement - 10

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96% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the time it took to deal with enquiries, and the attitude of the staff and

94% were either satisfied or very satisfied with the information provided.


2009/2010 Social Accounts Consultation for the 2009/2010 social accounts revealed that Aspire customers either

agreed or strongly agreed with the following outcomes;

People are helped to identify some personal goals

People feel they have been given the chance and support needed to meet their goals

People have more get up and go and enthusiasm

When comparing those results to 2011/12 social accounts results, the commonalities are

not immediately apparent. However, two outcomes; people have increased motivation and

people have increased inspiration were asked in one question for 2009/10 accounts, this

translated into; people have more get up and go and enthusiasm, therefore, because both

of these outcomes were highlighted as being experienced by more than 60% of participants

in 2011/12 social accounts, common comparisons can be drawn.

The second most common outcome for 2011/12 accounts; people have increased

awareness of opportunities and are empowered to get involved was not tested in 2009/10

accounts. 2009/10 social accounts revealed customers most strongly agreed with; people

are helped to identify some personal goals and, people feel they have been given the

chance and support needed to meet their goals, 58% of participants said they had

experienced this outcomes (4th most common outcome) for 2011/12 accounts.

8.3.3.7 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in receipt of the Aspire grant;



involved


Organisations experience increased engagement with new members

Organisations increase the activities they have on offer

The feedback suggests there are some similarities in relation to the common outcomes

experienced by customers consulted for both 2009/2010 and 2011/2012 Social Accounts.

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Carrying out this consultation has enabled Gentoo Living to gain; Better understanding of

the social and economic benefit of the Group’s Investment (Aim 3 Outcome).

Gentoo Living has begun to understand that the Aspire grant is helping local groups and

organisations to experience increased engagement, this, in turn facilitates the introduction

of more or additional activities, both of these outcomes would suggest increased income,

giving the group/organisation greater chance of sustainability. It has also highlighted that

considerations should be made regarding the impact to the customers/members of these

groups/organisations and what changes for them?


1. Consider revising the criteria for accessing the grants, possibly linked to how many

people will benefit. (Aim 2 and 3)

2. Review data collection methods to ensure that follow up evaluations are carried out with

beneficiaries, in order to capture the impact on the community. (Aim 3)

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8.3.4 Generic Support

Anecdotal feedback from Neighbourhood Housing Managers had indicated that there was a

gap in provision of support for tenants with drug, alcohol and low level mental health

problems. However, statistical information via the Support Assessment Officers did not back

up this perception. It was therefore agreed that Gentoo Living would pilot a new generic

support worker post, initially for a six month trial period, to gather quantitative and

qualitative information on this issue. This pilot project commenced September 2010.

Gentoo Living already had established support services for vulnerable young people and an

older persons service but it was suggested that a number of people with drug, alcohol and

mental health issues were “falling through the net”, and were not receiving specialised

treatment or they just did not know where or how to access support.

8.3.4.1 The Service

The aim of the Generic Support Worker post was to specifically engage vulnerable people

suffering from drug, alcohol or low level mental health problems who required support to

sustain their tenancy and to motivate them to change their pattern of behaviour. It was

anticipated a demand led case load would be developed, including establishing a referral

process and monitoring arrangements.

The Generic Support Worker would also work in conjunction with other service providers to

develop a co-ordinated approach to ensure partnership working. It was anticipated that the

outcome of the support would be to motivate people to become abstinent or reduce the

amount they use/consume, to offer harm reduction advice and to sign post to and engage

specialised services.


During the scoping period, 25 customers were referred to the service. Of these, 10 were

considered suitable for consultation and were contacted to arrange for a face to face

interview to be carried out. The 15 who were deemed unsuitable for interview for the

following reasons:

Moved out of the area – 2

Deemed unsuitable for support – 3

Not ready to engage fully with the service – 4

Had been a brief intervention only – 3

Deceased – 1

Support ended outside of scoping period – 1

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Customer in rehab at the time of interviews – 1

Eventually 9 interviews were conducted with customers over a 3 week period. Customers

were interviewed by 2 members of staff from the impact and evaluation team. Dictaphones

were used to capture a conversation which used guided discussion questions such as:

How long they had been involved in the service

Why did you start engaging with the service?

What did you hope to get out of engaging with the Generic Support service?

What have you enjoyed most about the service?

Has anything changed for you since you have been part of the service?

Gentoo Living planned outcomes were considered during the conversation and customers

were asked directly and indirectly about their experience of these, e.g. if a customer talked

about feeling more confident, they were asked to confirm this on the questionnaire. At the

end of the interview direct questions in relation to the remaining planned outcomes were

asked.



outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our customers from the Generic

Support service, as illustrated in the chart below.

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The most common outcomes experienced are people have increased confidence (88%),

and increased sense of belonging (75%). There were certain customers who did not give

an answer regarding some of the outcomes. The outcomes which were not answered by

more than 10% of the respondents are listed below;

People are enabled to recognise their ambitions and are empowered to fulfil their ambitions – 11%


During the interviews with customers, they were asked to give examples of any other

changes that had occurred as a result of the service and these have been recorded as

unplanned outcomes. The unplanned outcomes were extracted from the recorded

interviews with the customers. The most common unplanned outcomes were identified

as:

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

People are enabled to recognise

and empowered to fulfil an ambition










People have increased awareness of opportunities and are empowered

to get involved

People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or aspiration for

their community

People are enabled to influence

decisions



People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for

each other


GENERIC SUPPORT

YES NO NOT ANSWERED

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However there were some negative perceptions about the service as some customers felt

that they had been cut off from the service prematurely and without being given a full

explanation about why this was happening:

All feedback can be seen in Appendix 9m.

8.3.4.5 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in the Generic Support service

are:


People have improved motivation

People are empowered to make informed choices about their lives


People’s lives are enriched

People have more mutual respect for each other and trust in each other



People have an increased sense of pride

People reduce their anti social behaviour

People are less isolated

People decrease their drug/alcohol misuse

As the Generic Support role was not in place in time for the previous Social Accounts in

2011/12, we are unable to do any comparative analysis. However, it is clear that the role

has been extremely useful for everyone who has engaged with the service.

She now seems to have disappeared off the

scene, fell off a cliff somewhere

To me, I was getting on with her really well, and then it's

like I've just been cut off, she stopped coming to see me

and I didn’t get to see her any more, I felt lost in a way

Fewer complaints about ASB – 3

Less isolated – 3

Decreased drug/alcohol misuse – 3

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Carrying out this consultation has enabled Gentoo Living to gain; Better understanding of

the social and economic benefit of the Group’s Investment (Aim 3 Outcome)

There have been a number of benefits that have flowed from the service including a

decrease in anti-social behaviour from customers, being less isolated and less drug/alcohol

abuse. The information received from customers show that the service is helping Gentoo

Living to meet a large number of the outcomes linked to Aim1; to enable people to fulfil their

ambitions.

8.3.4.6 Case Study

Philip was interviewed about his work with Gentoo Living’s Generic Support Worker. Philip

was drinking heavily (about 6 litres of strong cider a day) and was causing trouble both for his

parents and on his estate generally. When we spoke to him, he had just been released from

prison about 7 weeks previously and he was determined to turn his life around.

When he was drinking, he was being arrested by the police approximately 3 times a week

and he would have to be picked up from the police station by his parents as he was in no fit

state to get home by himself. He admitted that he didn’t care about anyone and that his only

thought was about where his next drink was coming from. He was told to leave the family

home as his parents could no longer cope, a decision Philip know acknowledges was the

correct one. He was prepared to go into local shops and steal alcohol if necessary.

However, with the help of the Generic Support Worker, Philip has turned his life around. He

said he had seen relatives die due to alcohol abuse and, in his words, ‘it’s just not worth it in

the long run’. He said that if he felt like having a drink he could phone his support worker

and she would meet up with him to talk through any issues he had. He has been recently

involved in voluntary work with the scouts and has been taking a cookery course. Philip

realised that he was basically a shy young man who needed a drink to be confident but since

doing voluntary work and mixing with new people, he doesn’t need to drink.

Philip is determined to continue working with Gentoo and continue to improve his life. He

would like a career working with young people who have abused drink/drugs as he feels he

has much to offer. He wants to get a flat of his own and eventually settle down. Philip told

us that ‘he had been in all of the hostels in the town and the people in there had encouraged

him to start drinking again and to steal’. He does not want that life now and he is reconciled

with his parents. He eventually wants to have a family.

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1. Explore how we could introduce more involvement from volunteering programmes as

part of a structured exit, to help support customers longer term at a lower level. (Aim 3)

2. Review data collection arrangements to ensure good quality, meaningful information is

collected on a regular basis. (Aim 3)

3. Engage with a wider range of external stakeholders and beneficiaries using information

collected as evidence to develop and/or continue services that achieve joint outcomes.

(Aim 3)

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8.4 Volunteering

Gentoo recognises the huge difference volunteering can make in peoples’ lives within the

community and as such, we have our own volunteering scheme. Our objective is to engage

people in volunteering their time and skills to add value to the Group’s agenda, using

people not pounds to deliver services. Employees are allowed to take time out from their

day to day duties to help out in local communities. Our approach to volunteering also

contributes to Gentoo’s Corporate Social Responsibility.

Staff sign up to the scheme to give an hour a week/fortnight/month in volunteering time to a

worthy cause. Projects include:

Reading in Schools

Befriending

8.4.1 Reading in Schools

The Service

One-to-one reading time with an adult is invaluable to children and can really help them with

their development. This project allows volunteers to go into schools and support children

with their reading.

Consultation

The Reading in Schools activities occur on a periodic basis and in January 2012 an

evaluation exercise was completed following a number of Reading in Schools sessions

which ran from September 2011 to December 2011.

Consultation took place with;

The Volunteers: Feedback was received from 14 out of the 17 volunteers

who took part in the session (82%)

The Teachers: 5 Schools benefitted from the sessions and 5 Teachers took

part in the evaluation (100%)

The Children: 6 evaluations were received from the 55 pupils who took

part.

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8.4.1.1 The Volunteers

Planned Outcomes


outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our volunteers in the Reading in

Schools session;

The outcomes where more than 60% of volunteers answered “Yes this applies to me”;

The outcomes where more than 10% of volunteers answered “I would have liked this to

happen but it didn’t” are listed below:

Volunteers also told us that some of the outcomes “weren’t important to them”, those

outcomes where more than 50% of the volunteers said this are listed below;

Unplanned Outcomes

Eight comments were made by volunteers in relation to the question about any others

changes they feel they have made in their life since their involvement in Reading in Schools,

for some the comments indicate the sessions have influenced decisions they have made in

their personal life ;

People have increased motivation – 65%

People are enabled to influence decision – 21%

People are empowered and enabled to live independently– 78%


People are enabled to make informed decisions about their lives – 50%

People have increased sense of belonging – 50%

Peoples have increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for others – 50%

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For others it has benefitted them at work...

And for some, they have shown an intention to continue to volunteer

Would like to do more volunteering

I always promote and encourage others to do it

Make the effort to find time to help people

There were a number of comments made to various other questions which highlighted how

the sessions or programme could be improved, in summary these suggestions include;

having more commitment and co-ordination from the school, i.e. some schools not

ready for the sessions

implementing a structured process which allows the child’s progress to be tracked

and monitored, this would enable the volunteers to see the longer term impact

embedding the volunteering culture across Gentoo to encourage greater buy in from

all managers and employees within the organisation

All statements made in relation to the Reading in Schools volunteer evaluation can be

found in Appendix 9n

I haven’t made any changes, it has been beneficial to me at

work having something new to concentrate on and change

to my day to day work

Reading is very important for children, I have three. I have always helped with homework but it has made me

do more reading with them and be more patient

I would like to do some voluntary work

when I finally retire and was hoping to

keep the reading with the children as

an option

I have volunteered

to join the

Samaritans

It has moved me to try and do more

placement work for my degree. Also if I can

fit in to do more volunteering through the

company this is something I would like to

do

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8.4.1.2 The Teachers

Outcomes

Teachers were not asked questions in relation to Gentoo Living outcomes; instead they

were asked if they had noticed any changes in the children or their classroom as a result of

the Reading in Schools programme

This feedback suggests some links to Gentoo Living Planned Outcomes for the children;

People (children) have improved confidence

People (children) have increased sense of pride

And some unplanned outcomes;

All children look forward to reading volunteers

visiting - lovely to see how positive

relationships have built up over time with the

classes, individual children and also staff. The

enthusiasm for reading as well as the obvious

development of reading skills has been

fantastic. Thank You

Children have gained

confidence - participate

to read in front of peers

more often

During the autumn term of 2011, 9 pupils from St Anne’s RC

Primary School read to a Gentoo Reading Volunteer once a

week. The main changes observed by class teachers were the

significant increase in the confidence from these children. All

Children looked forward to their reading partner coming and

wanted to share their next book with them. Children have an

increased love for books; they are telling us that they went to

the library at the weekend

Children’s spelling and reading fluency has improved

with this extra support and encouragement.

Children often don’t experience reading with an

adult at home and enjoying a book with a parent so

the RSR scheme is of great value to our school

Some of the children feel more confident

to read and try harder to read more

difficult words

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People (children) have improved spelling

People (children) have improved reading skills

There was also a mention of improved relationships between individuals and staff;

Enhanced relationships within and between communities

8.4.1.3 The Children

From the evaluation Gentoo Living was able to identify that;

Four out of the six said it was great, the remaining two said it was OK.

All six indicated that they had enjoyed spending time away from the class the most.

And when asked to sum up the reading sessions in one sentence, the following statements

were made;

Sir Michael Wilshaw, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said: “In too many areas the quality of educational

provision isn’t improving fast enough, and the gap in educational outcomes between the richest and

poorest isn’t closing. A third of all pupils leave primary school without being secure in reading, writing and

mathematics, rising to more than 40 per cent of the most deprived pupils. Source: Ofsted.gov.uk

....More generally, poor numeracy and literacy skills are associated with a greater risk of unemployment, while having basic numeracy and literacy skills, vocational and/or

academic qualifications and participating in any form of life-long learning increases the probability of labour market activity and employment. Source: Joseph Rowntree

Foundation, Skills, employment, income inequality and poverty: theory, evidence and an estimation framework.

“I loved to read. Very good”

“I learned to read better”

“I can read a lot better now so I can in the class”

“I learned how to

concentrate a lot more”

“The volunteer tells me the things I get stuck on”

“I learned lots from Gentoo”

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This feedback suggests some links to Gentoo Living Planned Outcomes for the children;

People (children) have improved skills and knowledge

8.4.1.4 Summary - Reading in Schools

The outcomes more commonly experienced by those involved in the Reading in Schools

initiative;

Volunteers

Improved motivation

Empowered to make informed decisions about their lives

Improved working environment Children

Improved confidence

Increased sense of pride

Improved skills and knowledge (specifically reading and spelling) Teachers

Enhanced relationships within and between communities

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8.4.2 Befriending

8.4.2.1 The Service

There are many people in the City of Sunderland who are isolated and lonely. This very

simple project helps to reduce this issue by Gentoo volunteers spending time with a person

in this situation. The service can be as simple as going round for a chat, providing

company for an hour a week, every fortnight or monthly and can make a huge difference in

someone’s life.

8.4.2.2 Consultation

The befriending service is an ongoing initiative however regular evaluation does not

currently take place therefore the feedback presented for these social accounts is a result of

a focused consultation exercise.

The Volunteers In total there were 11 volunteers invited to give their feedback and from this 9 responses

were received (82%).

Customers In total, there were 16 people receiving the befriending service and 2 groups during the

scoping period. Consultation took place with 10 people and 1 group (61%). All befrienders

were contacted prior to consultation planning to assess the appropriateness of the exercise

for each individual, and from this, 6 individual customers were deemed not appropriate to

consult with and 1 group;

A Gentoo staff member volunteering to befriend a

Gentoo customer

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2 moved into care

1 was in ill health (dementia)

1 did not fully engaged with the service

1 decided not to continue as despite enjoying the service as it increased her anxiety

beforehand

1 befriender was on long term absence due to a bereavement we were unable to

assess the appropriateness of her customer

The remaining group had recently disbanded due to the death of three of the

Attendees

8.4.2.3 The Volunteers

Planned Outcomes From the consultation Gentoo Living has been able to identify which of the planned

outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our volunteers in the Befriending

service;



0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil an …





People are empowered to make informed decisions about their …




People have increased awareness of opportunities and are …

People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or …




People have an increased sense of pride and more mutual respect …


BEFRIENDING - STAFF



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The outcomes where more than 10% of volunteers answered “I would have liked this to

happen but it didn’t” are listed below:

People are empowered and enabled to live independently– 22%


People are enabled to make informed decisions about their lives – 11%



People have increased sense of belonging – 11%

Peoples have increased sense of pride and more mutual respect for others – 11%


People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or ambition for their community –

11%

N.B. 11% equates to 1 person

Volunteers also told us that some of the outcomes “weren’t important to them”; however this

answer did not occur with more than 50% of the volunteers who responded for any of the

outcomes.

Unplanned Outcomes 8 comments were made by volunteers in relation to the question about any others changes

they feel they have made in their life since their involvement in the Befriending service, for

some the comments indicate an increased appreciation for their own life and family;

For others it was an increased awareness of the issues faced by vulnerable people

including our customers;

It has made me humble and appreciate the things I sometimes take for

granted, such as family and friends. Mary has 4 children and

sometimes sees one of them once a month, she has only 1 friend and

very little social life

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When asked about suggestions for improving the service there was only a small response.

The two comments made in relation to this indicate;

That staff should be paired up with customers more local to their place of work

That the organisation should promote the service and encourage more employees to

participate

All statements made in relation to the Befriending service volunteer evaluation can be

found in Appendix 9o.

8.4.2.4 The Customers – Individuals

Outcomes Customers were interviewed by a member of staff from the impact and evaluation team.

Dictaphones were used to capture a conversation which used guided discussion questions

such as:

How long they had been involved in the service

Why did you join the befriending service?

What did you hope to get out of joining the befriending service?

What have you enjoyed most about the befriending service

Has anything changed for you since you have been part of the service?

Gentoo Living planned outcomes were considered during the conversation and customers

were asked directly and indirectly about their experience of these, e.g. if a customer talked

about feeling more confident, they were asked to confirm this on the questionnaire. At the

end of the interview direct questions in relation to the remaining planned outcomes were

asked.

I haven't really made any changes but it has just made me more aware

especially during the bad weather in the past few weeks how

vulnerable the elderly are. If it wasn’t for Sally's family she would

have no food as she was unable to get out on her scooter and this

makes me realise that some elderly people don't have anyone and we

should encourage more volunteers and maybe people who are

thinking about befriending should shadow people who already do it

to see the difference it makes

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Planned Outcomes


outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by our customers in the Befriending

service;


o People have improved confidence – 78%

o People have more a sense of belonging – 78%

From the evaluation exercise we also found that;

o The average length of time customer were receiving the service is one and half years, with the longest being 4 years and the least being 3 months.

o The main reasons for joining the service were loneliness, social isolation and not

being in touch with family

o Most people wanted to get out and about, meet new people and get involved in new

activities.

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0










People have increased awareness of

opportunities and are empowered to get involved

People are enabled to develop and fulfil

their vision or aspiration for their community




belonging



BEFRIENDING - CUSTOMERS

Yes this happened No this did not happen No answer

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Unplanned Outcomes The thing customers enjoyed most about the befriending service was simply the fact that

they had some company and someone to have a chat with. Customers also commented

that since joining the service that they felt more confident, more active, more motivated and

in some cases this had had positive health benefits.

8.4.2.5 The Customers – Groups

Croftside House, one of Gentoo Living’s Sheltered schemes receives a visit every week

from a Gentoo volunteer. He does the fish and chip run every Friday where approximately 9

older people meet. The residents report how they really look forward to his visit;

The organiser of the Befriending scheme reports the difference this makes to everyone

involved;

Jackie is my friend, she makes me

feel good. She took me to the ice

cream parlour and I had never been

before, she has took me twice, they

were all dressed up and I really

enjoyed the day there

Friendship is a wonderful

thing. I look forward to

seeing her

We have a good laugh and put

the world to rights

As soon as I met her she was

my friend. We talk about our

lives when we were younger

smashing lad (the

volunteer), he even

came one day when he

was on his day off

Friday is the

highlight of the

week

we really enjoy

coming down

I look forward to

it every week

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Residents at Croftside House at their weekly gathering for fish and chips

8.4.2.6 Summary – Befriending Service

The outcomes more commonly experienced by those involved in the Befriending service;

Volunteers


Peoples lives are enriched

Increased awareness of the issues faced by vulnerable people including our

customers

Increased appreciation for their own life and family

Customers


People have more a sense of belonging

“the ‘give hour’ scheme is a really valuable programme for all

concerned, many of the volunteers say that having an hour out of

their normal day routine makes a big difference to their job and

we know what difference a weekly visit makes to some of our

customers, especially those who are lonely and on their own”.

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8.4.2.7 Case Study

One of Gentoo’s support workers for the Easington Lane area recommended a lady he

supports called Mary because he felt that due to her low level mental health problems

she was having difficulty socialising which made her feel very isolated. He thought the

befriending scheme was a perfect way to help her re-engage with people so contacted

our People & Communities at Gentoo Living.

Mary receives a visit from a befriender once a week for an hour. They both enjoy chatting

over a cuppa, which gives Mary the opportunity to talk about her life and any problems

she has which has been about managing her money. Mary has been encouraged to look

at ways to budget more effectively, one of them being the cost of smoking. The most

amazing thing to have happened to Mary is that since the visits started she’s quit smoking

which has helped her financially and helped her health problems but she also started

taking care of herself and her home. Her son who she hadn’t seen in while is now visiting

her and helping with household chores.

Another of Mary’s difficulties was socialising so her befriender began to take Mary out on

sunny days to enjoy being among people and also an ice cream or two!

It was also suggested to Mary about joining a social club. At first Mary was really nervous,

but with a little encouragement she now goes once a week to the Hope Methodist church

in Houghton where she has made lots of friends. This situation has made Mary very happy

and given her a new confidence in talking to people.

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demonstrates customers’ feedback

Over 90% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience overall,

the time it took to deal with enquiries, the information provided and the attitude of the staff

dealing with their enquiry. 87% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the

professionalism of the person dealing their enquiry.

8.4.2.9 Summary Reading in Schools and Befriending

The majority of volunteers in the Reading in Schools programme had felt an increased

sense of motivation but many of the planned outcomes had not been considered important

to volunteers. For volunteers in the Befriending service it was improved confidence and

lives enriched that were more commonly experienced. Some unplanned outcomes

emerging from the consultation show volunteers in the Reading in Schools programme

experiencing an improved motivation to take part in other voluntary activities outside work

and benefits of giving them something to concentrate on away from their day to day work.

Volunteers in the Befriending scheme noticed that they had begun to appreciate their own

circumstances in comparison with the problems that faced some of our most vulnerable

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

The experience overall The time it took to deal with enquiries



enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very dissatisfied No Answer

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customers and they began to see how our services are helping to alleviate some of those

problems.

Some of the volunteers highlighted ways in which they thought the service could be

improved. These included being paired up with people who were more local to their places

of work and making the scheme more widely publicised.

Teachers confirmed that there had been positive benefits for the children involved in the

Reading in Schools programme in terms of them having increased levels of confidence,

improved reading and spelling skills and building trust and positive relationships with their

reading volunteer.

The customers highlighted that they had benefitted from the service through having more

confidence and an increased sense of belonging. Many customers do not have contact

with their families so the service helped to combat social isolation and loneliness. There

was an overwhelming desire from some of the customers to get out and about, meet new

people and get involved in new activities and this is something that could be considered as

part of the programme improvement, however, it was recognised to be a huge benefit for

others to just have some company and the opportunity to have a chat.


1. Involve volunteers in designing new volunteering services and opportunities (Aim 3)

2. Promote the outcomes experienced by volunteers with a view to recruiting new

volunteers. (Aim 3)

3. Introduce activities that enable access to social events so that people are less reliant on

befriending. (Aim 1, 2 and 3)

4. Ensure continued liaison with stakeholders to feedback progress to volunteers, for

example, how children are progressing following the Right to Read programme. (Aim 3)

5. Explore how volunteers can be used to link in with other services, for example,

mentoring for generic support customers. (Aim 1 and 3)

6. Introduce measures to capture unplanned outcomes for the volunteers. (Aim 3)

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8.4.3 Volunteering – Team Challenges

Gentoo staff volunteer to decorate the Box Youth Project in Sunderland2

Each year Gentoo organise and take part in Team Challenges. A Team Challenge is a mini

makeover day where staff come together to make a difference in a big way in a local

neighbourhood. Team Challenges are generally ‘physical makeovers’ and can be

renovation or painting projects, gardening or conservation project or anything else that

benefits the community. They are usually organised with voluntary organisations or

charities.

8.4.3.1 Consultation

During the scoping period there were 4 Team Challenges held. These were at:

Ryhope Community Centre

Southbank

St John’s Methodist Church

Harraton Community Centre

There were a total of 47 people registered for Team Challenges during the scoping period.

The challenges were attended by a total of 49 volunteers and evaluations were received

from 39 (83%).

2 The Box Youth Project is a Sunderland based organisation offering activities for young people between the ages of 8-19 including

detached youth work, peer education, youth forum, weekend activities, junior, senior and girls clubs.

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8.4.3.2 Analysis

There were 6 different questions asked as part of the evaluation which were as follows:

What were your reasons for participating in this Team Challenge?

How did you feel about the organisation of the Team Challenge?

How satisfied were you with the service provided?

What did you enjoy most about the Team Challenge?

What did you enjoy least about the Team Challenge?

What changes, if any, might you make both at work and in your home life as a result

of your experience of this challenge?

Question 1 - Reasons for participation

The most popular single reason for participating in the Team Challenges was to support the

beneficiary/organisation with 24 responses (62%). In addition 5 people stated they

participate to get more involved in the community (13%) and 3 people stated they wanted to

build relationships with partners (7%). This demonstrates that the majority of respondents

were motivated by a desire to improve communities for their residents.

Question 2 – Organisation of the Team Challenge

The vast majority of respondents said that they were happy with the organisation of the

Team Challenges. 34 (87%) said the Team Challenge was well organised; 36 (92%) said

that they were aware of what was required from them, and 37 (95%) said that the Team

Challenge went as expected. All of the statements made in relation to the organisation of

the Team Challenges can be found in Appendix 9p

Question 3 – Service Standards

The vast majority of respondents were either very satisfied or satisfied with the service

standards. 32 (82%) were satisfied with the overall service, 28 (72%) were satisfied with

the time it took to deal with any enquiries about the Team Challenge, 31 (79%) were

satisfied with the advice and information they were provided with, 31 (79%) were satisfied

with the professionalism of the staff who organised the challenge and 32 (82%) were

satisfied with the staff attitude.

Question 4 – What people had enjoyed most

The themes that consistently emerged from the consultation about what people had

enjoyed most was the sense of achievement for the volunteers after completing the

Great overall team

effort

It was great fun and a lovely buffet

lunch provided

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challenge, getting involved with people from other areas of the business and making a

difference in the community. All of the statements made in relation to the organisation of

the Team Challenges can be found in Appendix 9p.

Question 5 – What people had enjoyed least

There was very little that people identified that they had not enjoyed. The main things were

the waiting around before the start and between tasks was the main thing people identified

along with aches and pains afterwards. All of the statements made in relation to the

organisation of the Team Challenges can be found in Appendix 9p.

Question 6 – Changes to be made at home or at work as a result of the challenge

People were mainly highlighting their desire to take part in more volunteering as well as

encouraging other staff to take part in Team Challenges. There was also a realisation by

many people that they were capable of much more than they had previously believed which

led to improved motivation and confidence. All of the statements made in relation to the

organisation of the Team Challenges can be found in Appendix 9p.

8.4.3.3 Summary

The majority of people said their inspiration/motivation for volunteering for this challenge

was “to support the beneficiary/organisation”. This information may inform the service about

how to market the various schemes under the ‘Give Hour’ programme.

The feedback regarding the organisation of the event was positive with all participants

saying the event went as they expected, 92% knowing what was expected of them and 87%

The way we worked as a team

and the feeling of satisfaction

at a job well done

Everyone getting stuck in,

talking to others from Gentoo

Try and think of other schemes

that would benefit locally for the

next challenge

Good teamwork ability

to work as an individual,

brainstorming, make

your ideas make positive

impact.

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saying the event was well organised. The remaining comments were neutral. No-one

highlighted any causes for concern.

The customer service feedback was very positive with no-one expressing any

dissatisfaction. The things people enjoyed the most included achieving/seeing the end

result and working together as a team. People didn’t enjoy waiting to get started and

hanging around between tasks.

The event had made people think about doing more volunteering and it reminded them of

the work Gentoo does. They also enjoyed seeing their idea make a positive impact and

many benefitted from a new found confidence and motivation.

In the future this programme is to be co-ordinated by Gentoo Sunderland.


1. Ensure that follow up evaluations are carried out to capture the impact on the

community rather than volunteers. (Aim 2 and 3)

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8.4.4 Volunteering – Action Days


Routine evaluations are not carried out for this service therefore the feedback presented for

these social accounts is a result of a focused consultation exercise.

During the scoping period 479 Christmas Gifts/Easter Eggs were recorded as being

donated to 13 organisations (7 external organisations and 6 internal services). There was

an additional 60 Christmas Gifts/Easter eggs distributed throughout the neighbourhoods.

The following results represent the views of 8 stakeholders, 3 internal and 5 external

(61.5%):

City of Sunderland Local Authority - Children’s Services, Thorney Close

City of Sunderland Local Authority - Children’s Services Penshaw

City of Sunderland Local Authority - Ashkirk Homeless Unit

Sunderland Children’s Hospital Ward

Gentoo Living – STEPs

Gentoo Living – Holmewood

Gentoo Living – Generic Support

Strengthening Families Sunderland

The “Good Egg” Collection 2012

Through our partnership with

Business in the Community (BITC),

Gentoo takes part in two national

days of action – the ‘Secret Santa’

campaign at Christmas time and

the ‘Good Egg’ campaign at

Easter. Gentoo participates by

inviting their staff to buy an extra

gift at Christmas or an extra egg at

Easter; these are then redistributed

to a number of organisations

across the City who provide

support and services to the most

disadvantaged children and

families. The scheme is co-

ordinated by Gentoo Living on

behalf of the Group

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This consultation exercise did not ask about Gentoo Living’s planned outcomes, it was felt

the planned outcome related questions may have appeared too unwieldy and did not

directly relate to their organisation and its beneficiaries. Instead, the questionnaire asked a

number of questions which highlighted the following;

On average respondents had been receiving donations for 3.2 years, the longest

time being 5 years and the shortest time being 1 year.

On average organisations were able to give a package to 51 beneficiaries during the

scoping period. The most amount of beneficiaries from an organisation being 110

and the least being 12.

When asked to choose a statement from the following;

o The donations received by my customers have…

a positive impact on most of them

a positive impact of some of them

little or no impact on most of them

a negative impact on most of them

a negative impact on some of them

All 6 respondents stated that...The donations received by my customers have…a

positive impact on most of them

When asked to describe the impact experienced by their customers following receipt

of the donation, (both positive and negative) the following statements were made

1 family said they were overwhelmed and

it made a big difference to their Christmas

The ward is a children’s ward so the

impact upon customers following

receipt of donation is a very positive

one. The children, their families are very

grateful and appreciative of the

donation and it does help to lift moods

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Organisations were asked if donations were received from other organisations, 2 out

of the 6 respondents said they didn’t receive anything from anywhere else. One said

that their beneficiaries receive essential items but these were seen as more luxury

items and 1said they did receive items from two others organisations.

When asked if the Secret Santa and Good Egg Appeal had positive or negative

impact on their organisation, the following statements were made;

o Yes to a large extent (x3)

o Yes to a large extent because it makes them think someone cares

o Yes to a large extent because our service users rarely receive a gift from

anyone else

o Yes to a large extent because they are very appreciated

We work with vulnerable young people,

some of whom are single; others will have

their own family unit. Majority in receipt

of welfare benefits many without family

support and having little/no disposable

income therefore sometimes these may be

the only presents they receive

For all of the customers apart from one it was the only gift

they received at Christmas. Comments from the customers

included "it was horrible not getting anything from my family

this year, especially when I had to watch my older sister open

her presents off them, if I hadn’t got that one off you it would

have felt much worse" and "me and my flat mate are sharing

ours because she got smellies and I got make up and cos we

didn’t get any presents off our Mams it'll be like we have more

if we share". In general all service users were extremely

surprised and very grateful for the gifts they received. For one

particular service user it helped us to earn her trust and she

began to engage more with the support.

Really grateful, parents

were relived their children

had presents on Christmas

day, staff were relieved

parents moods were

uplifting

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When asked about suggestions for improvement, the following statements were

made;

o Just continuing what we are doing, the more toys the better basically. Presentation could be improved

o There are no suggestions I can make to improve the initiative. We are very,

very grateful for all donations. The donations do make a difference to children

and families in our care

o Using emails to keep the contact and to build a relationship send evaluation by

email after this years good egg appeal

Direct questions in relation to Gentoo Living’s planned outcomes were not included in the

consultation questionnaire; however using the statements made it can be assumed that;

People have an increased sense of belonging has been experienced by most of the

organisation’s beneficiaries. There was also a statement which indicated that People have

more trust in each other may have been experienced by one of the organisations

beneficiary.


No substantial unplanned outcomes have emerged from this consultation. All statements

made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9q.



demonstrates customers’ feedback.

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100% of respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the experience overall, the

time it took to deal with enquiries, and the professionalism and attitude of the staff. 80% of

respondents were either satisfied or very satisfied with the information provided.

8.4.4.5 Summary

This is the first consultation exercise carried out for this activity, therefore the outcome and

experiences can only be considered in isolation. However from this exercise it can be

assumed that beneficiaries of this initiative experience;

Increased sense of belonging

This consultation activity has enabled Gentoo Living to; better understand the social and

economic benefits of the Group’s Investments.

In order to enable measurement of the impact of its programmes and demonstrate the

social and economic benefits, widening the consultation exercise over a period of time will

need to take place. In doing this, stronger conclusions can be made and realistic

measurement of the impact will emerge.


1. Widening evaluations on a consistent basis may reveal more stakeholders experiencing

more impact which can be measured. Therefore implementing a process which

facilitates consultation with beneficiaries following each appeal could be introduced,

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%





enquiries


your enquiry

%

Very Satisfied Satisfied Neither Disatisfied Very dissatisfied

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however, time intensive resource may out way what we would do with the information.

(Aim 3)

2. Carry out a review of the stakeholders that we currently engage with to determine if

these continue to be relevant. (Aim 3)

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8.5 BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

8.5.1 Partners Supported Accommodation

Gentoo Living work in partnership with a range of supported housing providers to enable

them to fulfil their objectives to support vulnerable people and enable them to live

independently.

Gentoo staff, a resident and support worker at Westerwood a Small Group Home

We currently work in partnership with eight support providers to offer units of supported

housing for a range of vulnerable people including people with learning disabilities, people

with mental health problems, offenders and people with drug and alcohol problems. These

support providers are:

NECA (North East Council on Addictions)

Norcare

Mental Health Matters

Bernicia

Wearside Women in Need

Sunderland City Council – Mental Health Service

Sunderland City Council – Learning Disabilities Team

Sunderland City Council – Services for Young People

The different management arrangements include:

o Managing Agents - partner organisations that manage properties on behalf of Gentoo and provide support to the occupant to enable them to live independently.

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o Small Group Homes - housing people with Learning Disabilities; each home has 24 hour staff supporting the residents to live independently.

o Outreach properties - properties with single occupants that receive outreach support and have been ring-fenced for people with learning disabilities.

8.5.2 Customer Consultation

Over the previous 18 months, the impact and evaluation team have been embedding an

evaluation culture and customers from this service are asked to complete an evaluation

questionnaire 6 months into their tenancy. The evaluation questionnaire can be completed

during a joint visit with their relevant Support Worker and Neighbourhood Housing Manager,

or it is completed independently.

During the scoping period 18 customers from this service qualified for an evaluation. In total

16 evaluations were completed;

11 routine evaluations (those in their tenancy for 6 months)


8.5.3 Planned Outcomes

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0











involved


community






PARTNERS SUPPORTED

ACCOMMODATION


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outcomes are most/least commonly experienced by customers in Managing Agents

properties, in summary;


There were some customers who answered “I would have liked this to happen but it didn’t”

to some of the outcomes, listed below are the outcomes where this answer was given by

more than 10% of the people taking part;


People are enabled to develop and fulfil their vision or ambition for their community –

13%


People have increased awareness of opportunities and are empowered to get involved

– 13%

Enhanced relationships between communities – 13%

People have an increased sense of belonging – 13%

Customers were also asked if any of the outcomes were not important to them. Although

there was some response to this question on no occasion was it common with more than

20% of the population.

8.5.4 Unplanned Outcomes

Customers in the managing agent service were also asked to note any changes they have

experienced in their life.

All customers answered this question, from which some common outcomes emerged;

Improved ability to manage life independently

Reduced addictions

Improved stability

Improved/more positive friendships

People are enabled to recognise and empowered to fulfil and ambition- 63%



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What is important to note is that the managing agent’s customers also have a support

worker; there attribution of these outcomes will be high.

All statements made in relation to unplanned outcomes can be found in Appendix 9r.

8.5.5 Customer Service Standards

Due to the indirect contact with this client group they are not asked questions in relation to

customer service standards.

8.5.6 Summary

The outcomes more commonly experienced by customers in Managing Agent properties

are;


People have increased confidence

Peoples lives are enriched

People have improved ability to manage life independently

People reduced their addictions

People have improved stability

People have improved/more positive friendships

The regular evaluation questionnaires for this service also collect information in relation

to customer’s property aspirations. This information will be used to inform future housing

developments and demonstrates fulfilment of outcomes linked to Gentoo Living’s Aim 3;

Improved understanding of the needs of customers ad communities

Turned life around. New

circle of friends. Wanting

to go to college;

hairdressing. Wanting son

to live at home.

Able to prove myself as a tenant.

Enjoying being independent and

making choices. Having a good

network of friends

Don't drink; mix with old

friends/making friends. No

trouble since three years. More

responsible = budgets looking

after home looking for work

Ceased drinking alcohol,

independent living skills

improved, mental health

and wellbeing much

improved

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8.5.7 Recommendations

1. Review current data collection methods and the rationale for collecting it. (Aim 3)

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9. EXTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

9.1 Consultation

A series of face to face interviews were carried out with key external stakeholders. All

feedback and analysis can be seen in Appendix 10. A total of 51 external stakeholders

were identified by Gentoo Living’s Management Team, and from these, the Director of

Gentoo Living chose seventeen key external stakeholders, as she sees them as key

partners in the delivery of a number of Gentoo’s programmes and services.

During the consultation, some partners who agreed to contribute to the exercise could not

attend the meeting, and sent a representative instead. In some cases, the representative

had had little to do with Gentoo Living, and therefore a number of “don’t know” answers

were given in response to the questions.

The aim of the consultation was to gather their views on their awareness of Gentoo’s vision

and mission, and Gentoo Living’s aims and objectives, and, partnerships.

Questions were not asked about Gentoo Living’s expected outcomes, as these are

examined in customers’ consultations.

Seventeen partners were invited to take part in the consultation, and nine participated (53%

response rate). This response rate is lower than the last set of social accounts (63.5%),

but actual numbers of participants is higher (7). Not all interviewee’s, despite being keen to

participate were able to participate effectively due to their lack of knowledge of Gentoo

Living, as their key partnerships with Gentoo were with other subsidiaries. This in part was

due to those key people we identified being unable to participate and suggesting their

colleagues, who in some cases have had less direct interaction with Gentoo Living.

All feedback and analysis can be seen in Appendix 10

Vision and Mission When asked how familiar stakeholders were with Gentoo’s vision and mission, 78% of

respondents stated they were very much or fully aware and 78% feel Gentoo Living is

helping to achieve them. The remainder were not aware of the vision or mission.

Comments about the vision and mission include:

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Some respondents think that people understanding the vision and mission are not

important, it is the things Gentoo Living do that are...

Once discussed, those respondents that were not familiar with the vision and mission said

they were….

Services This question was not asked in the last social account’s consultation. It was added to

assess how much stakeholders are aware of Gentoo Living’s activities.

67% of respondents are familiar with the services Gentoo Living provides, and these are

people who work directly with service providers. The remaining 33% have an idea of the

services, and these are people who had had limited contact with Gentoo Living.

Amazing vision, beautiful, clever, and ambitious,

especially in times of massive cuts. Think it is a fantastic

vision statement. You have to have something ambitious,

although I can't say whether you are achieving it or not.

I'm sure you have transformed some peoples' lives and

made a lot of peoples' lives better. Not sure you have

done this "beyond imagination"

Quite woolly, not

specific

I don't think anyone knows your vision, mission, values,

aims and objectives. People understand values as what

you deliver every day. Stakeholders are not interested

in your values, more what you are delivering. How you

measure them is difficult. You need to ask questions

about your specific programmes in social accounts with

stakeholders instead

They are very wishy,

washy.

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Of those who are familiar, comments about Gentoo Living’s services include...

Values Respondents were asked how familiar they are with Gentoo’s values and (following

discussions of the values where necessary) to what extent they think Gentoo Living is

achieving them.

Value Familiarity (very much/

fully) 2011/12

Familiarity (very much/

fully) 2009/10

Extent achieving

values (very much/

fully) 2011/12

Extent achieving

values (very much/

fully) 2009/10

Believe nothing is impossible 78% 57% 77% 86%

Re-imagine the future 67% 72% 78% 100%

Cultivate a learning curiosity 67% 43% 56% 43%

Live authentic relationships 44% 57% 67% 57%

Give us all you’ve got 56% 57% 78% 71%

The table shows the responses in comparison to the last social accounts. Responses are

varied. The only similarity is the extent to which Gentoo living is achieving the value “re-

imagine the future”. This is the value that respondents rate as the highest in achievement.

As discussed, this may be due to some of the respondents not being the original

stakeholder identified for consultation. Some respondents say that they are not sure it is

important for other organisations to know the values stating for example…

Other housing providers have tried to maybe be “jack of all

trades”. I think that you have got your housing management

side of things with a neat interface into Gentoo Living. I would

say this is essential. From my perspective working with

vulnerable people, making a difference to a community is key to

making people rent your homes. If you don’t have people who

feel safe in their homes they are not going to live there. I think

this is the most important part of what Gentoo Living does.

I am familiar with the

young persons

services and work and

learning, but not so

much the others

In terms of the values, as a partner it

would be useful to know these… at a

strategic level. It would be more useful

to know what services you provide…

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Aims and objectives When asked how familiar respondents were with Gentoo Living’s aims, 55% are very

much/fully aware. The remainder is not aware. This is a higher response than the last set

of social accounts, where 43% of respondents were very much/fully aware of the aims.

Aim 1: to enable people to fulfil their aspirations

Once the aims were discussed, 67% of respondents think that Gentoo Living is achieving

this aim. One respondent said “a little” and the remainder did not know. Again, this is a

higher response than the last social accounts where 43% were very much/fully achieving

the objectives.

Objectives

When asked about success in achieving the objectives for Aim 1 responses are very similar

with 66% of respondents indicating that Gentoo Living is very much/fully achieving each

objective.

Some comments to qualify these responses include:

0

11.1

0

0

33.3

44.4

44.4

44.4

33.3

22.2

22.2

22.2

33.3

22.2

22.2

33.3

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Objective 4: to provide support so that people can live independently

Objective 3: to support people to make informed decisions about their lives

Objective 2: to support people to increase their motivation, confidence, skills and knowledge

Objective 1: to support people to recognise their aspirations

How successful is GL in achieving the objectives for Aim 1?

A little Very much Fully Not at all Don't know

Gentoo Living is crucial in supporting people to fulfil

their potential. Whether this is younger people who

are supported to live independently in communities

or older people and people with disabilities who are

supported to continue living in their own homes,

Gentoo living appears to see people as individuals

who have ambition and potential to fulfil

You are enabling people to

live independent lives,

although I have not had

any particular individual

feedback I have seen your

schemes and ideas.

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Responses were very different and varied in the last social accounts with “supporting

people to recognise their ambitions” rating the highest with 85% achievement, and “support

people to make informed decisions about their lives” rating with 43%.

Aim 2: to enable successful communities

55% of respondents think that Gentoo Living is achieving Aim 2 very much/fully, 22% a little

and the remainder do not know. This figure is higher than the last social accounts, where

43% of respondents think Gentoo Living was achieving Aim 2.

Objectives:

When asked how successful we are at achieving the objectives for Aim 2, Objective 1 was

the highest rated objective, with 67% of respondents stating Gentoo Living very much/fully

achieve this. The same objective was rated as being achieved the most in the last social

accounts.

Comments relating to this include:

33.3

11.1

11.1

33.3

33.3

33.3

0

11.1

11.1

33.3

44.4

44.4

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Objective 1: to provide opp's for people to participate in making decisions about their

community

Objective 2: to support people to fulfil their vision and aspiration for their community

Objective 3: to provide support to enhance relationships within and between communities

%

How successful is GL at achieving the objectives for Aim 2?

Fully Very much A little Not at all Don't know

I see the role of Gentoo Living in the delivery

of the objectives especially in relation to

providing opportunities for people who are

often excluded or silent due to levels of

vulnerabilities (older people, people with

disabilities etc). This is evident from their

engagement strategies

You do build successful communities

within the limitations you have. You

don't have a magic wand. People are

poor, have poor health and poor

educational attainment. You strive to

help, but this is very difficult.

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Aim 3: to add value to Gentoo Group

67% of respondents think that Gentoo Living is achieving Aim 3 and its objectives, the

remainder do not know. This is higher than the last social accounts (57%).

Objectives:

The objective that is seen as being most achieved is “to influence local, regional and

national policies”. This response is the same as the last social accounts; however 100% of

respondents thought that this objective was being met very much/fully at that time.

Some comments from this consultation include…

33.3

33.3

44.4

55.6

33.3

33.3

22.2

22.2

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

33.3

33.3

33.3

22.2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Objective 1: to ensure the services we provide respond better to the needs of individuals and

communities

Objective 2: to ensure that social and economic benefits are generated from the Group's investment

Objective 3: to promote the Group's prospects for business growth and improvement

Objective 4: to influence local, regional and national policies

%

How successful is GL at achieving the objectives for Aim 3?

Fully Very much A little Not at all Don't know

The role of Gentoo Living is THE added value

to the group (as the largest Registered Social

Landlord in Sunderland). It demonstrated

that the Group is serious about improving

and supporting the lives of many vulnerable

people within the city as well as provide

appropriate and suitable accommodation

Local, regional and national policy

influence. In my role I always get a

great response from Gentoo. Your

director does influence policies

nationally.

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Others think we can do more, but with partners…

Right aims and objectives?

78% of respondents think that these are the right aims and objectives for Gentoo living, the

remainder were not sure. This is a smaller figure than the last social accounts, where 86%

of respondents thought these were the right aims and objectives. During this consultation,

there were some suggestions about changing the aims and objectives.

Feedback also suggested, as in the last social accounts, that communication around the

aims and objectives, externally, should be improved.

Partnerships 67% of respondents work in partnership with Gentoo Living, and all find partnerships to be

very effective. In the last social accounts, 100% of respondents worked in partnership.

This may explain some of the varying responses this time (as discussed earlier in this

section).

Although one of your aims is around meeting the needs of

individuals, there is still nothing in there for me around

improving outcomes. You can provide the as many services

as you like and hope that you meet needs but one of the aims

should be around outcomes. Feelings of safety perhaps. Whilst they are the right aims

and objectives, I wonder if there

is an aim around contributing

to the city's strategic

outcomes?

Having more of an influence on national policy. If what you are doing

works, then why shouldn't it be being looked at on a national level. I know

what goes on because I live and work in the area, just wondering maybe if

you have meeting with Ministers. This might happen but I don't know

about it. I know from my work with the Home Office there is more scope

to influence. Maybe partners could help you with this. Not necessarily

government people, but big hitters who work with Government.

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Partners appreciate that Gentoo Living is key in delivering joint objectives, for example

Case Study

The following case study highlights further the influence partnership working has had...

Case study: Principal Policy Officer People and Neighbourhoods, City of Sunderland Council

I was looking to do work with young people at Farringdon School. I went to show them

Government’s campaign on teenage relationship abuse. This was on Children's Commissioner's

Take Over Day, and I asked the young people what they thought of the campaign. They said it was

rubbish and suggested we make a film.

I went to school every week for 6 weeks and worked with 13 - 16 year olds. We worked on what

they thought Domestic Violence was. I had lots of media students who spent a lot of time coming

up with information and wanted to make a DVD. I didn't have the skills to do this. So I secured

funding of £5k and liaised with Gentoo Living and in partnership we all made a DVD. Gentoo

Living staff gave up their time and skills to assist with this joint project. The DVD was piloted in 6

schools across the city and from September this year every school in Sunderland will be discussing

this issue as part of PHSE. I couldn't have done this on my own. As a result of this partnerships,

the “so what” factor is that every school in Sunderland has a policy and procedure about

relationship abuse. I then received a letter from two Home Office Ministers about this project and

in Parliament on 14 February there was a debate and vote about compulsory sexual and

relationship education in PHSE - schools are now going to have to discuss it as part of curriculum.

The young people said they are really proud of themselves and it is the best thing that they have

ever done. They have met with MPs from their area, Vera Baird, Deputy Leader of Council, the

Mayor. They were made to feel really important - it was amazing. I couldn't have got anywhere

without Gentoo's help. .... young people driving this forward based on support from Gentoo.

They have also recently received a Young Achievers Award for this project.

As the Lead Commissioner for HHAS within the Council, Gentoo Living have worked very closely with myself and my team to develop new opportunities

to support people within their own homes and support the strategic outcomes of reducing reliance of ongoing statutory services and maximise

potential of individuals. Without the transparency and willingness to engage from Gentoo Living, this would not have been as effective.

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What is Gentoo Living doing well?

Feedback suggests that Gentoo Living is a good, innovative partner who delivers, looks to

constantly improve, and is open and transparent....

Two partners are not sufficiently aware of the impact of Gentoo Living itself as they have

more interaction with other parts of the Group. In comparison with the last social

accounts, comments related to the impact Gentoo Living has had on communities, and the

value we add to Gentoo Group. This time there is a shift to talk more about effective

partnership working.

What does Gentoo Living not do so well?

The key areas suggested for improvement are more promotion of the programmes and

services provided…

Partnership working is a biggie....

You are more forward thinking and

innovative in terms of the services

you provide

The way in which you engage with

an open, transparent and

willingness to improve enables the

service offers to develop and grow

to meet changing needs

Not aware of new

programmes. Need to

publish these more. Share

with partners what you are

doing.

You do so much there must be

some way of communicating it

better, but not too cumbersome for

people to absorb. Because you are

quite a pioneering housing

association doing lots of new stuff.

You are not imposing yourself on

people……. . Spread best practice.

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9.2 Summary

The majority of external stakeholders participating in the consultation are familiar with

Gentoo’s Vision and Mission, but less familiar with the values. Some views are that these

are not key for people to know, it is more what we deliver that is important.

Two thirds of respondents were familiar with the services provided, and there are

suggestions that these should be promoted more widely, especially with partners.

Just over half of respondents are aware of the aims and objectives, and responses are

varied relating to their achievement. A relatively high proportion of respondents stated that

they do not know how well they are being achieved.

In terms of partnerships Gentoo Living is respected and seen to be forward thinking and

innovative; constantly looking to improve; is transparent, honest and willing to engage.

Areas for improvement once again relate to better promotion of Gentoo Living’s

programmes and services externally, and, a suggestion to work more with partners to

influence more national policy.

9.3 Recommendations

1. Consider using random sampling to identified key stakeholders to ensure no bias. (Aim

3)

2. Ensure that the once identified, stakeholders can contribute to the consultation as

agreed, and not send representatives, to obtain valuable and relevant feedback. (Aim 3)

3. Improve communications with partners and promote what we offer. (Aim 3)

4. Examine working more with partners to influence more national policy. (Aim 3)

5. Carry out a complete stakeholder analysis to identify which people and organisations

would add value to Gentoo Living and the Group as a whole, both in service delivery

and in increasing influence, and develop an appropriate communications and

engagement plan. (Aim 3)

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10. INTERNAL STAKEHOLDERS

10.1 The Group’s Executive Directors

10.1.1 Consultation

In order to establish the views of internal stakeholders primary data was collected from the

Executive Directors of the Group and its subsidiaries. A questionnaire was sent via Survey

Monkey, an internet based consultation package to each Executive Director to ensure no

bias.

The aim of the consultation was to gather the opinions of senior staff regarding Gentoo

Living’s aims, objectives outcomes and partnership working, and how Gentoo Living helps

to achieve Gentoo Group’s Vision and Mission and values. It was sent to 17 individuals and

a response rate of 88% (15) was achieved, a similar response rate to the last social

accounts (87%).

Respondents were asked to rate questions on a scale of 1 – 5, 1 being not at all, 2 being a

little, 3 being very much, 4 fully and 5 don’t know. The questionnaire and feedback can be

seen in Appendix 11.

Vision and Mission

Stakeholders we asked to what extent they feel that Gentoo Living is helping to achieve the

Group’s Vision. 87% of respondents felt that Gentoo Living was helping to achieve the

Vision and Mission very much/fully, a figure higher than the last social accounts (77%). The

remaining 13% of respondents did not know. Of those who did think that Gentoo Living is

helping to achieve the Vision and Mission, views are very positive, and some comments

include...

The work Living does is at the heart of the vision. At the

moment it is limited in scalability and so doesn't reach all who

would benefit it, but this is an incredibly complex business

model to crack. Also, the vision extends to property and

planet, so these aspects of the vision are delivered by other

parts of the business.

Living is doing some great stuff

essential to the Art of Living

agenda but I feel as yet it is not

fully up on rails. More scale is

needed

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Values

76% of respondents believe that Gentoo Living is living the Group’s values, a similar figure

to the last social accounts (77%). The majority of comments were again were positive...

7% (1) of respondents do not think that Gentoo Living lives the Groups values and justified

this answer with the following comment…

The remainder did not know.

Aims and objectives

When asked how familiar respondents were with Gentoo Living’s aims 100% were very

much/fully aware, however an improvement was suggested in communicating aims and

objectives

It's hard to judge a whole division against the values...for me living

these values is a real individual people thing. I think that most of the

Living staff that I know (don't know all) do absolutely live the values

but there is a small minority (as elsewhere) who don't live the

values....I have however scored this question based on an overall view

of where I think Gentoo Living are aspiring in terms of the values.

If this wasn't all 4's (score = very

much) something would be

considerably wrong. That is not

to say it is perfect or 'there yet',

but right on direction of travel

Living is achieving successful

outcomes in relation to the most

difficult end of the welfare

spectrum, which is underexploited

by many for-profit counterparts. We

need to be able to capitalise on this

USP in attracting more government

funding.

I believe communication could be

clearer. It is not even easy to find out

Living's core objectives via the intranet.

This problem is not just with Living but

all parts of the business in my opinion.

I am aware....but I do think

we need to share this better

between us and throughout

our organisation. Board

papers, committees etc

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Aim 1: to enable people to fulfil their aspirations.

100% of respondents think that this is the right aim and objectives for Gentoo Living

compared with 85% in the last social accounts. One comment did suggest a change to

some wording….

When asked how successful do they think Gentoo Living has been in achieving Aim 1 and

its related objectives, 67% of respondents state that we are very much/fully successful, 27%

do not know, and 7% think we are having some success.

Stakeholders were then asked what Gentoo Living does well and what it can improve. The

majority of comments relate to increasing the scale of the programmes and services to

continue to be successful...

Aim 2: to enable successful communities

87% of respondents think that this is the right aim and objectives for Gentoo Living, a figure

lower than the last social accounts at 100%. Comments from respondents who did not

think that this was the right aim for Gentoo Living related to defining what a “community”

is...

I think the first objective should read:"To

support people to pursue their ambitions"

Gentoo Living has undoubtedly

made a huge impact with those

they have interacted with. The

challenge is to continue the success,

but with a greater number of

people.

What Living do is great

stuff, the next challenge

is to make it more

scalable

I think the programmes we

run are positive and do

make a difference. Are they

a scalable solution that

could be developed to

create a greater impact to

a wider audience?

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When asked if Gentoo Living was successful in achieving Aim 2 and its objectives, 87% of

respondents said yes. This response is much higher than the last social accounts where

only 31% thought we were successful. Of the remaining 13% in this consultation exercise,

a comment to justify why they did not think we were successful relates to the scale of

perceived changes:

Aim 3: add value to Gentoo Group

93% of respondents think that Aim 3 and its objectives are right for Gentoo Living. One

person did not, and made comment about links between the aims and objectives, and

would suggest clearer communication....

I feel that Living have had a bigger impact with

individuals, than with communities. We have had

some good successes, but haven't turned around any

'failing' communities - which really is the 'Holy Grail'.

I agree with most that is written but, I don't get the linkage between the overall aim and

the objectives. Not sure whether some of the objectives are performance metric?

Don't get the last one.

This is a maybe .....as I believe

with the adoption of new

technology and Social media

that the traditional concept of

community is changing. People

are less constrained by the

geographic boundaries of

community.

I'm really not sure about this one as I have a bit

of an issue about the term 'community' I think it

means such very different things for different

people and certainly it's not simply a

geographic consideration. Also, I'm not sure

about the 'participation in decision making'

element - does that make for a successful

community? Maybe we need a Group definition

of successful community that we can all work

towards? A lot of decision-making participation

work is also carried out by Gentoo Sunderland.

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60% of respondents think that Gentoo Living has been successful achieving this aim very

much/fully. This is a much higher response than the last social accounts where only 39%

thought that Gentoo Living was being successful. 33% of respondents in this consultation

exercise do not know, and the remaining 7% think we have had some success.

Those who think we are achieving provided the following views:

Some suggestions for improvement include…

Partnerships

73% of respondents work in partnership with Gentoo Living. This figure is an increase on

the last social accounts (61%). 53% think the partnership is very effective, again an

increase on the last social accounts where only 31% thought that partnerships were very

effective/effective. There are suggestions to do more work together across the Group and

recognise the contributions from other parts of the organisation.

I find it fulfilling and

refreshing relationship

Joint objectives with targets

should be set, monitored and

measured across the year

Living add huge value to the Group.

With other landlords, their work is

typically thought of as 'housing plus',

whereas here, it is centre of the business

in our aspiration - and getting closer in

reality. Still work to do but a great start.

I think the whole

concept of Living is

receiving significant

influence on a

national platform

Living could be more influential and

maybe needs to look at the lobbying

and networking opportunities at a

broader geographical level as I think

there is a great story to tell

Stronger links need to be forged

with other parts of Gentoo for

my part I have to work harder

at this. Living do some great

stuff but need help to scale it

up

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Respondents were then asked if there are any areas of joint interest that be pursued with

Gentoo Living and their area of the business? Key areas are:

Welfare Reform Agenda

Everything linked to job creation and training

Health, fuel poverty, employment and community champions

Gentoo Living’s Be Programme

Responses also suggested more communication around new innovations from Gentoo

Living and increased information sharing around our agendas across the Group.

The final question was whether there any key areas in which stakeholders feel that Gentoo

Living should be involved which it is currently not? Two comments were received that

relating to doing more around the ageing population and lobbying and influencing more.

10.1.2 Summary

There is a general feeling with Internal Stakeholders that Gentoo Living is helping to

achieve Gentoo Group’s Vision, Mission and Values. Whilst stakeholders agree that

Gentoo living’s aims and objectives are right, there is a suggestion that these are

communicated more effectively.

There is recognition that Gentoo Living’s programmes and services are successful, but that

the scale of programmes and services needs to grow for success to continue, and funding

and funders needs to increase.

Living is already involved in elderly

people, but this agenda looks like a

Tsunami about to hit us and I wonder

whether there is more we could focus

on?

Lobbying and

influencing

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There is some debate about what a “community” is. However, Gentoo Living recognises

that a community can mean a community of interest, or a neighbourhood, and both are

considered in our programmes and services.

Partnerships within Gentoo Group are seen as being effective, although there are

suggestions to work more together on similar agendas, and recognise the contributions

from other parts of the organisation. Feedback will be acted upon, and more partnership

working will add value to the Group.


1. Examine further methods to communicate more effectively with partners and other

audiences, the Group’s vision, mission and values. (Aim 3)

2. Examine further methods to communicate more effectively with partners and other

audiences, Gentoo Living’s aims and objectives. (Aim 3)

3. Examine how programmes and services can be expanded, and how further

funding/resources (i.e. volunteering) can be achieved to aid expansion (Aim 3)

4. Examine further how Gentoo Living can work with partners on similar agendas.

(Aim 3)

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10.2 Gentoo Living Staff

10.2.1 Consultation

Secondary data was used in relation to staff, taken from the Group’s Annual Staff Survey

2012 (results can be seen in Appendix 12). The survey has been analysed in relation to

Gentoo Living staff only, regarding their satisfaction levels working for Gentoo Living, their

views of the management team and how the organisation’s objectives are met, and, how

they are kept informed of aims and objectives. The questions used in this survey are

externally validated to gauge the culture within an organisation.

In 2012, 69 Gentoo Living staff chose to complete the questionnaire using the Optivote

system. In total 22 questions were asked which can be seen in Appendix 13

The top 5 areas of satisfaction were:

My job is important in delivering the groups ‘vision and mission’.

The majority of those who voted (97.1%) were either very satisfied or satisfied that their job was important in helping to deliver the vision and mission of Gentoo.

I feel a sense of loyalty to the group

66 people (95.7%) of respondents felt a loyalty to the company. Only 3 (4.3%) were undecided on this matter.

I have a safe and healthy working environment

Again 66 people (95.7%) felt satisfied or very satisfied that they had a safe and healthy working environment and 3 (4.3%) were undecided.

I know what is expected of me at work

64 people (92.8%) were confident that they knew what was expected from them at work with only 5 (7.2%) people stating they were undecided.

I have the right materials and equipment to do my job

64 people (92.8%) again said that they were satisfied that they had the right materials to do their job with 3 (4.3%) people undecided. However 2 respondents (2.9%) said that they were dissatisfied with the materials at their disposal.

10.2.2 Conclusion

The results of the Optivote survey confirm that the majority of staff are satisfied with their

working conditions in Gentoo Living. The majority of staff are able to see how their role fits

in with the Vision and Mission of the Group and are happy with what is expected of them as

employees. However, there are still areas which show staff are disaffected with some

aspects of the business. When people were asked about whether colleagues were held

accountable for low performance, 22 people (31.9%) said they were neither satisfied nor

dissatisfied, 12 people (17.4%) said they were dissatisfied and 1 (1.4%) said they were very

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dissatisfied. There were also significant numbers who said they were neither satisfied nor

dissatisfied in the following areas:

My opinions and ideas are listened to and acted on – 19 (27.5%)

People in my team quickly resolve conflicts – 14 (20.3%)

I regularly receive recognition and praise for the good work I do – 13 (18.8%)

People in the group share skills, knowledge and ideas – 12 (17.4%)

The right actions have been taken as a result of your feedback last year – 12 (17.4%)

People value and respect the things that make me who I am – 11 (15.9%)

I am kept informed about things that affect my work – 10 (14.5%)

The main areas, therefore, that people appear to need some reassurance are with regard to

being appreciated for the work they do, being informed about changes that occur and

making sure that everyone is treated fairly.


It is appreciated that these responses come from a small number of staff, however, the

following actions are recommended to try to address these issues.

1. Quite a high proportion of staff feel that their ideas are not listened to or acted on, and that people do not share skills, knowledge and ideas. In response consideration is being given to developing an “ideas database” for ideas within Gentoo Living to be logged and examined and responded to managers to respond to. The Group has also introduced a “Re-imagine” website where all staff can post their ideas to change or introduce new services, and staff vote on their favourite innovations. A number of new ideas have been brought into practice through this site, and all staff are encouraged to use it.

2. Some staff feel that colleagues are not held accountable for low performance, that any conflicts are not dealt with quickly, and staff are not recognised and praised for their good work. In response to this team training sessions are to be established, to make clear performance expectations and how both high and low performance is managed.

3. Where staff feel that they are not kept informed about things that affect their work, these individuals will be encouraged to suggest other methods of communication that will suit their needs. Currently there are a number of mediums of communication in place for all staff, such as quarterly training sessions, monthly briefings, staff conferences. These are over and above monthly one to one meetings and individual team meetings.

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11. Director’s Response

As Director I am proud to have supported the production of this second set of Social

Accounts for Gentoo Living. I feel that Social Accounting and Auditing is a great way to

evidence the exceptional work that continues to be delivered, and the difference that my

team is making to peoples lives; helping us to achieve our overall aim of Inspiring and

empowering enriched ways of living.

These accounts have enabled us to reflect on our services, to understand our programmes

and the needs and aspirations of our customers, as well as to identify areas for

improvement. My Senior Management Team and I will be working together to ensure that

the recommendations from the Social Accounts are fully explored and implemented within

the services and programmes.

Many of the services included within these accounts continue to be delivered; but, the

accounts only capture a moment in time. So much has happened since the scoping of

these accounts as we have added new services to our portfolio; Community Safety,

Safeguarding and Financial Inclusion. This broadened Gentoo Living’s service offer and

prompted us to develop a new delivery model for the future.

As an organisation that constantly strives to improve, we have reviewed our service offer

and developed a new ‘themed approach’ and structure. This themed approach was

launched in Gentoo Living’s 2013/14 Business Plan with key objectives under each theme.

The key themes for Gentoo Living are:

Safety, Support and Crisis

The Be programme

Work, Learning and Personal

Financial Wellbeing


Volunteering

Community Empowerment

We deliver a range of programmes under each of these, as follows:

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As part of reviewing our service offer we adopted a “Logic Model” approach. This enabled

us to re-evaluate and understand our rationale for what we deliver, to establish the key

intermediate and longer term outcomes that we want to achieve, as well as key output

measures. We will continue to strive to fully understand the impact of our work.

We know that the outcomes we have measured to date, although they are important steps,

could be considered “soft” outcomes, for example, people having increased confidence and

motivation. Therefore, using the Logic Models and the insight gained from the Social

Accounts, we took this opportunity to introduce “harder” outcomes, for example, people into

employment and improved health. With this shift in focus a change to the way outcomes

are measured and communicated will emerge.

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Our new focus will be translating the outcomes within the Logic Models into social value

and, potentially, financial savings. Linked to this is exploring how we scale up outcomes

measurement from Gentoo Living to the Group as a whole to enable us to demonstrate the

overall value and the outcomes achieved by all subsidiaries within Group. The result of this

will inform whether we produce further Social Accounts and what the scope would

encompass.

We plan to distribute the Social Accounts to a range of internal and external stakeholders,

including Board and Committee Members and the Group’s Executive Directors. We will be

producing a summary of the accounts which will be available on the Group’s website and

will also be distributed to stakeholders.

With Gentoo Living’s 2013/14 Business Plan approved and the revised outcomes

measurement approach being developed the next year should help us to build on our

successes to date and move us further towards improving the art of living with our

customers.

Caroline Gitsham

Director

Gentoo Living

Documents

Gentoo Living Social Accounts - The Social Audit Network