Abbeyfield’s International Department

What we offer

Somebody suggested I write a short blog on exactly what the International Department can offer in terms of help and assistance, so here goes! Clearly, the situation is evolving all the time but I will attempt to summarise our current services.And if something you need does not appear here, please ask! Treat it like a restaurant: if it’s not on the menu just ask the Chef!

Business planning, feasibility and strategy

The main service-and my background-is business planning, feasibility and strategy. For existing Abbeyfield Societies that normally means a visit to agree a development plan and assess the issues on the ground. The planning meeting will cover the next steps and assistance that Abbeyfield’s international Department can give you. The end point is that every office has an agreed startegic and business plan.

For new or potential Abbeyfield Societies that means taking you through the steps of developing an Abbeyfield project and ensuring  that you follow through the logical development steps.
As well as help with business planning, other practical assistance for the above will then fall into one of the categories below.

Fundraising advice and support

We can help you fund your projects by talking through all the sources of funds, and explaining how other Abbeyfield Societies have funded their projects. In very specific cases, funds may be available from government sources or from Trusts and Foundations.  We maintain an overview of these sources and can guide you accordingly.

We can also help you with specific questions such as legacy fundraising.

Marketing and Branding Support

We have a range of materials and templates available that cover everything from newsletters to marketing your house. These can be quickly filled with your text and Bingo you have then created a professional standard leaflet.

In particular, we can help you with Website implementation. As a previous Blog describes, Abbeyfield is implementing a new Global Website that can host your site free, and ensure you are integrated both graphically and practically to the Abbeyfield family. Equally importantly, the site will feature an accommodation search that can include your houses. The new Abbeyfield site will have a phased delivery between January and March 2012. Meanwhile, we can help set you up a Website like this Blog, which uses a free software and hosting solution.

Communications

For the moment, this Blog is our principle tool for informing you what is happening around the world. When the new Website is launched, the Blog will be part of the site and form a seamless resource for you. We can also link you with others who have started up Abbeyfield houses, who can help or mentor you.

Financial Modelling and Planning

Using bespoke software we can model and test out all the assumptions of your business plan and ensure your Abbeyfield project is viable and can meet its financial targets.

Quality

From model policies to advice, we can help you with all the practical aspects of ensuring a quality service. Policies and other materials will be available in the members only area of the new Website.

A Team Effort

These services are of course delivered by all the Departments of Abbeyfield, as well as International. The Milan Conference in May 2011 clearly demonstrated that Abbeyfield is going global, and has the resources in place to support and nurture this direction.

David Coe

International Director

d.coe@abbeyfield.com

New Board Member for Abbeyfield South Africa!

New Board member Ingrid Lestrade with Annie Templeton, a fellow Director of the Goedgedacht Trust

Abbeyfield South Africa has made a new appointment to its Board as it adds new people to ensure it is representative of the communities it serves.

Ingrid Lestrade

One of the 'POP' projects where Ingrid works

Ingrid Lestrade is 32 years old. She comes from a little rural community
situated on the west coast of South Africa. She was born into great
poverty with a single mother and four sisters. Ambitious from a young
age she was able to make her way through school and soon after became
one of South Africa’s Judo champions. She started University but had to
drop out after a couple of months into her first year because she
couldn’t afford to pay the fees. To earn some money she started cleaning
cars for a company and was soon promoted to working in admin. She then
started working as the secretary for Lawyers for Human Rights and not
long after was promoted to Trainer. Within a couple of years she was
running the Lawyers for Human Rights office in Stellenbosch. It was here
where she developed a love of youth work. She started working one day a
week for the Goedgedacht Trust in the Riebeeksrivier Valley training
rural youth. In 2000 Ingrid was appointed full time community worker and
youth worker for the Goedgedacht Trust. Through the Trust she was able
to return to university and complete her LLB degree. For the past 12
years Ingrid has been developing a programme called the Path Out of
Poverty (POP) programme for rural children and youth. Four main threads
that run through this programme are: Education, Health, Personal
Development and Climate Change. Ingrid is currently roling out this best
practise model to other rural areas. In 2010 Ingrid was made co-director
of the Goedgedacht Trust.

Abbeyfield South Africa hopes to integrate rural housing for older people into the multi age POP projects.

Websites and Abbeyfield’s New Website Project

Blue sky thinking for Websites

Free websites and hosting

Whether you are a large or small national society or an Abbeyfield project without a building yet, we can help you to have a professional Website to attract potential residents and to market your house or services. This Blog for example uses free software and free hosting, and (in my opinion at least!) gives a polished, professional approach. Do let me know if you need any help setting up a Website. A Blog site can be set up in hours, perhaps to help you over the interim period before the Abbeyfield website project is completed.

Abbeyfield’s website project

Abbeyfield has recently commissioned a UK company to develop a brand new website, with completion expected between January and March for the components most useful for national Abbeyfield Societies. Once it is completed it will provide a site for any national society, where you control the site content, and which is hosted free by the main Abbeyfield site. As hosting and Web development costs are expensive this will provide a huge benefit to anyone using this facility.it will also ease integration of Abbeyfield’s accomodation search facility.

JB Munro’s Visit to St.Albans, 5,6,7 September 2011

JB Munro in Abbeyfield's Brown's Field House in Cambridge

JB Munro, Chair of the International Council was in Copenhagen on behalf of another charity in which he’s involved and he took the opportunity to come to St.Albans for some induction and orientation. As well as meeting the Abbeyfield Directors and other staff, JB and I took the opportunity to visit three Abbeyfield Houses.

Brown’s Field House

Marsha, Sally and team run  this innovative and cheery care home in Cambridgeshire. It has been described as a ‘fun fair for residents’ and the enthusiasm of the staff team and their approach to providing individual care is refreshing. Ducks, hens, house dogs, and themed areas provide stimuli for residents and a totally non institutional environment. Above, you can see JB in the sweet shop, and there is a chemists, post office, telephone box, and VIP area among other themed areas. The areas immediately outside residents rooms are recreated with ‘props’ (garden furniture etc) from residents’ previous dwellings all to make them feel secure in their new environment. Little wonder  this care home has won so many awards!

Brown's Field House's Post Office

David is returning there next week with Marc Servotte, the new Belgium Director, for a further visit, and also for a table tennis match with one of the residents!

A Vietnamese Experience

We also found time to visit An Lac House, which an Abbeyfield house for the Vietnamese community. Drawing on the UK for its residents, the house is full and runs a waiting list. The clean and airy design are all part of an Eastern influenced building that is fronted with two large Asian iron gates. Mai, the Chair and Aurore the Manager, treated us to a beautiful Vietnamese lunch, as served to the residents and the house includes a Buddhist shrine.

Shrine at An Lac House

Aurore, An Lac's Manager, with JB Munro and Mai, the Chair, at An Lac House

 

Abbeyfield Girton

Our final stop in Cambridge was at the Abbeyfield Girton building site. Abbeyfield Girtonis Abbeyfield’s flagship development of independent living with personal care that comprises 76 apartments with a built in leisure centre. Click here for full details of the project. The building structure is progressing rapidly and completion is set for Spring 2012.

Girton under construction

 

Next week

So roll on next week, when Marc Servotte, the new Belgium Director, comes to St.Albans for some orientation, and I have my table tennis match at Brown’s Field House!

Abbeyfield in the South African Townships

A pressing need

The photos below illustrate some aspects of life in South Africa’s townships.There is a huge percentage of households headed up by adolescents, water is drawn from standpipes in the street, and toilets are all external slop buckets, not always emptied by the municipal authorities. Drugs and the aids pandemic are rampant. As the photos below clearly show, housing comprises basic shacks made of corrugated iron, board or even card. Beyond the physical conditions, the older people we talked to spoke how wonderful an Abbeyfield house was as an escape from having their pension stolen by younger members of the household who would spend it on drink and drugs.

The Government is doing a very limited amount to provide better housing but it is too little and not without its problems. The Cape Times reported on the day we left the story of a peaceful protest by pensioners which was broken up by the police using rubber bullets. The cause of the protest was that some older people had been re-housed from shacks into basic accommodation but the electricity had not been connected up for 8 months. The older people could not afford to cook, light or heat their new homes using oil out of their pensions.

Township shacks

Township shacks

We were told how when it rains raw sewage will often be washed down this bank from the slop bucket toilets that are not emptied. Rubbish and refuse also get washed away and and disease outbreaks are common.

Washing at the standpipe

washing at the standpipe

Slogans like this are cruel irony against the backdrop of the townships

Abbeyfield Guguletu

Here is Abbeyfield’s Guguletu house, the first completed township project.

Inside Guguletu

An urgent need for funds

Abbeyfield South Africa urgently needs funds to provide more housing for older people against this desperate background. A site has been secured, and the intention is to build further dwellings that will incorporate Abbeyfield’s community partners who already operate a soup kitchen for older people and a creche. Abbeyfield’s international department will be working with Abbeyfield South Africa to help them develop their plans and secure funding.

Site for Abbeyfield's next township dwelling

Children at the creche operated by Abbeyfield's community partner

Abbeyfield CEO, Paul Allen, displays his skills with children

Abbeyfield South Africa

Abbeyfield Office

Abbeyfield South Africa offices

Until recently, this was the Abbeyfield South Africa office.

Inside the office

As the view above shows, the office was very cramped and subsequent to our visit, Abbeyfield South Africa has moved to more spacious offices, in an area where many South African NGOs can be found.

Abbeyfield South Africa is headed up by Director, Zoe Paul, seen below on the left.

Zoe Paul, South Africa Director

Abbeyfield South Africa’s first house

Here is a picture of the first house in South Africa.

Abbeyfield South Africa's first house

Inside the first house

Stein House is another Abbeyfield residence in Capetown.

Stein House

Inside Stein House

Electric fencing is a reminder of the divisions within SA society

Whilst Abbeyfield South Africa began by providing housing for the white population, pressing social needs and poverty soon led the organisation to start projects in the townships, rural areas, and coloured population. This vital development work is covered in other posts which you can see by clicking on the titles above.

Abbeyfield France

David with some of the Abbeyfield France Board

Meeting with Abbeyfield France

Yesterday David held a very productive meeting with the President and some of the Board members from Abbeyfield France. After a long period of clearing all the necessary bureaucratic hurdles, Abbeyfield France has successfully set up the Abbeyfield France Foundation and is currently looking to open an office in Paris. The Foundation already has some funding from a legacy left to them some years ago.

A new director

Director designate, Florence Spitzernotte, in the middle of the group of five in the photo above, begins formally in mid October, and Abbeyfield France will be taking forward the project and planning their first house with the help of Abbeyfield’s international Department.