Commissioning 2.0: Why our commissioning system must change

Andy Meakin BA(Hons) MBA, Project Director, VOICES   I spent fifteen years of my public sector career…

Staffordshire Police: Anticipating, preventing and responding through workforce development

By Sharon Sharman, Learning and Evaluation manager, VOICES   Commissioners, providers of services, teams and individual frontline…

A Shock to the System

By Sharon Sharman, Learning and Evaluation Manager, VOICES   It was a cold Wednesday afternoon back in…

Join our team: Service Co-ordinator (full time post)

This is unique job opportunity to work as part of a vibrant and supportive team.…

Stoke-on-Trent Community of Practice: A Journey of Prison Release

By Sharon Sharman, Learning and Evaluation Manager, VOICES   On 8th July 2020 @SoTCoP held the first…

‘Positive Partnership Practice in a Pandemic’

By John Ryan, WBLL Adviser – VOICES, SNSCAB   Introduction Working in partnership with the local Drug and…

Listening and Learning in Lockdown: a learning and evaluation update from VOICES

By Sharon Sharman, Learning and Evaluation Manager, VOICES   Since 2015 the VOICES citywide learning programme has…

Multiple Exclusion Homelessness – A Safeguarding Toolkit for Practitioners

Working in collaboration with Keele University, Kings College London and CASCAIDr the VOICES team have…

Coronavirus and its impact on benefits for people experiencing multiple disadvantages

By Julie Holdcroft, Welfare Benefits Caseworker, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North & Stoke on Trent   The DWP…

Coronavirus (COVID-19) and changes to the Care Act 2014 – A briefing for homelessness providers and practitioners

By Bruno Ornelas, Fiona Bateman and Michelle Cornes   Introduction This briefing highlights the changes to Care Act…

Universal Credit, Specified Accommodation: Payments from Universal Credit and/or Third Party Deductions for ineligible service charge arrears

By Citizens Advice Staffordshire North & Stoke on Trent   The Issue Ineligible service charges are those not…

In Plain Sight: Review and Photo Gallery

Back in February VOICES commissioned local arts-based companies, B Arts and Rideout, to coproduce a…

COVID-19: Ending the Interim Accommodation Duty and Mental Capacity

Co-written by Bruno Ornelas (Head of Service and Safeguarding, VOICES) Fiona Bateman (Chair, CASCAIDr)   Does a Local Authority…

Homeless Health Service: Timetable

By Dean Spruce, Communication & Media Manager, VOICES Brighter Futures’, North Staffordshire GP Federation and Stoke-on-Trent…

‘A Cuckoo in the Nest’: An introduction to Cuckooing

By Geoff Davies, Specialist Housing Advisor, Stoke North and Staffordshire Citizens Advice Bureau   Introduction More and more…

Working with Complexity: Social Care and Housing

By Tom Pollard, Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust   As a newly qualified Social Worker supporting…

Unwise choices or uninformed decisions regarding housing options? The duty to make enquires and the implied duty to support decision making before reaching conclusions

By Bruno Ornelas, Head of Service, VOICES Belinda Schweh, Chief Executive, CASCAIDr and Geoff Davies, Specialist Housing…

In Plain Sight – The lives and hopes of invisible people

An interactive journey with storytelling buskers, following the lives of Tash and Steve; two individuals…

#seethefullpicture – Improving Access to Mental Health Services for People Facing Addiction

20th January to 16th February 2020 A campaign launched by the Fulfilling Lives Programme.   Introducing the second…

Communities of Practice: Update

By Steve Freeman, Solution Focused Practitioner   The current round of @SoTCoPs began in September with a…

EU Citizens and the right to UK benefits: Part 1: The EU Settlement Scheme

By Karen Dunn, Specialist Welfare Benefits Team, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke on Trent   This…

A Persistent and Unequivocal Refusal? The Ending of Interim Accommodation

The duty to provide interim accommodation The provision of interim accommodation has always been an area…

Opening the too Difficult Box: Strengthening Adult Safeguarding Responses to Homelessness and Self-neglect

By Bruno Ornelas, Head of Service, VOICES Over the next three years (2019-2022) we will take…

Stoke-on-Trent Communities of Practice: New Season

By Lee Dale, Community Development Coordinator, VOICES   After a momentary pause and much reflection, we are…

25 years of The National Lottery

Since The National Lottery’s first draw took place on 19 November 1994, more than £40…

Safeguarding, homelessness and rough sleeping

By Bruno Ornelas, Head of Service, VOICES Adult safeguarding has seen a considerable shift in how…

Emerald Publishing Literati Award for Excellence

Two members of the VOICES team have been awarded the ‘Emerald Literati Award’ for their…

Alternatives for Universal Credit claimants with limited access to bank accounts

By Lisa Kearns, Welfare Benefits Caseworker, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke-on-Trent   What is the problem? Currently…

Get Talking Hardship

By Andy Meakin, Director, VOICES   This may be an apocryphal story, I can’t remember where I…

Universal Credit: Complex Needs Alerts

By Karen Dunn, Specialist Welfare Benefits Team, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke on Trent   Navigating…

‘Fees Fees, tell me more’ – New Tenant Fees Act

By Geoff Davies, Housing Advice Specialist, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke on Trent   The new…

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

By Geoff Davies, Specialist Housing Advisor, SNSCAB   Introduction Last month saw the introduction of the Homes (Fitness…

Association of Charitable Foundations event

By Andy Meakin, Director, VOICES   We were delighted to welcome colleagues from the Association of Charitable…

Sharing is caring: RIPfA event

By Bruno Ornelas, Head of Service and Safeguarding, VOICES   A key lesson to emerge from VOICES…

Listening and Learning with the NHS

By Samantha Fairbanks, Learning and Evaluation, VOICES Special thanks to Lee Dale, Expert Citizens   VOICES and Expert…

New: Wellbeing Academy

By Saul Turner, Community Development coordinator, VOICES   A new venture called the Wellbeing Academy has recently…

learning Programme: Safeguarding from abuse and neglect

By Helen Jones, Adult Protection Team, Stoke-on-Trent City Council On Wednesday 13th February 2019 The Staffordshire…

Hanley week of action

By Steve Willis, Service Coordinator, VOICES   During December PC James Howard of Hanley Police led plans…

Learning Programme Update

By Sharon Sharman, Learning & Evaluation Manager, VOICES The VOICES citywide partnership learning programme continues to…

Employment Opportunity: Community Development Coordinator

Job Title: Community Development Coordinator (VOICES) Contract: Permanent post Salary: £19,780.92 Hours: 37 hours per week, Monday –…

A Model of Specialist Welfare Advice and Advocacy at VOICES

VOICES Stoke-on-Trent seeks to empower people with multiple needs such as mental ill-health, substance misuse…

Small change to system change in Stoke-on-Trent

Lee Dale – Expert Citizens C.I.C. Mandy Jago – Volunteer VOICES and Expert Citizens C.I.C. Board…

Hard Edges 2018 – Stoke-on-Trent

In 2015 Lankelly Chase published the Hard Edges report to explore the prevalence, nature, geographical…

Access to Primary Care Services for Patients with “No Fixed Abode” – A follow-up to the Gatekeepers Report

Over the past 18 Months our partners at Expert Citizens have been host to 2…

City Centre Life Project – A new initiative to support people in the city centre

By Steve Barkess, Community Development Coordinator, VOICES & Lisa Tomkinson, My Community Matters   A new project…

Services for people experiencing homelessness in Stoke-on-Trent

By Dean Spruce, Communication and Media Coordinator, VOICES   Back in 2008, following the tragic death of…

Co-Creation – So much more than consultation

Dr John Wheeler, Associate Dean in the School of Law, Policing and Forensics at Staffordshire…

Novel Psychoactive Substances: practice implications and solutions

By Andy Meakin, Director, VOICES A multi-disciplinary community of practice   VOICES is hosting a Community of Practice…

Evaluation update

By Becky Rice, Local Evaluator   In the coming week’s two outputs from the local evaluation will…

Transatlantic Practice Exchange 2018

We would like to give our congratulations to our very own Steven Barkess, who has…

Ensuring our customers achieve their financial entitlement with a SAWBA

By Karen Dunn, Specialist Benefits Advisor, Citizens Advice Staffordshire North and Stoke on Trent At VOICES…

Stoke-on-Trent CoP – Past, Present and exciting future

by Steve Freeman, Chair, Stoke-on-Trent Community of Practice Communities of Practice (CoPs) generally and Stoke-on-Trent Community…

Housing First for Stoke-on-Trent

By Andy Meakin VOICES Director VOICES has been implementing an approach to finding accommodation for some homeless…

Community Development Update

By Ben Wilson A warm welcome to Helen Bailey  Joining the VOICES team is community development…

Peer Mentoring Training

Sharon Sharman, Learning and Evaluation Manager – VOICES, and Penny Vincent, Senior Lecturer Community Engagement and Community…

Take home Naloxone kits are saving lives

Author: Dean Spruce, Comms & Media, VOICES Naloxone Training Last week the VOICES team received vital training…

New Psychoactive Substances – N.P.S. – Real Experience’s

Author: Sharon Sharman, Learning & Evaluation Manager, VOICES Expert Citizens, VOICES and RE SOLV have co…

Homeless people have the right to register with a G.P

Author: Andy Meakin, Director, VOICES Expert Citizens, Healthwatch Stoke-on-Trent, and VOICES have launched a card designed…

All together now

Author: Andy Meakin, Director, VOICES I read an exciting document about commissioning today. You’re thinking ‘yeah,…

Epilicia: How Epilepsy gave me a new nickname

Author: Alicia Simmons, Service Coordinator, VOICES March the 26th was Epilepsy Awareness Day. Service Coordinator Alicia…