Bringing the sector together to support the National Emergencies Trust
“Building on our work to support our residents and communities during the pandemic through our charitable foundation, Clarion Futures, this new partnership provides us with more opportunities to make a difference.”
By Michelle Reynolds, Chief Customer Officer at Clarion Housing Group
As a social housing provider, we know that lower income households like many of those living in our homes, are often disproportionately affected by emergencies and critical incidents, such as flooding and fires.
That’s why we’ve become the tenth Patron of the National Emergencies Trust, an independent charity dedicated to raising funds and ensuring the right support is available for people affected by UK disasters, joining a growing list of Patrons that includes the likes of Co-op, Sky and Tesco.
It’s a partnership I’m really passionate about as it has the potential to benefit both our residents and wider Clarion communities. And the Trust’s focus on learning from lived experience and ensuring funds are distributed equitably struck a chord with our own values and approach.
Building on our work to support our residents and communities during the pandemic through our charitable foundation, Clarion Futures, this new partnership provides us with more opportunities to make a difference.
We already have a strong track record of bringing the sector together to achieve shared objectives, and our work with the National Emergencies Trust is another way for us to do just that. One recent example is our Love London Working programme which involved a consortium of sixteen housing associations working together to support thousands of economically inactive Londoners into employment. Another is the Kickstart Housing Partnership which we led to provide a way for 85 housing organisations to work together to create new jobs through the government’s Kickstart Scheme.
Our partnership with the National Emergencies Trust presents an opportunity to build on these successes, bringing the social housing sector together to ensure residents are able to access support during a crisis and boost preparedness for sudden and unexpected emergencies.
Together we can help the Trust to raise vital awareness during appeals and support its efforts to distribute funds quickly to local communities where they’re needed most, as well as galvanising the sector’s skills and expertise to support the relief effort after a major emergency.
It’s not just about supporting appeals and responses to emergency incidents, however. As a Patron, we’ll also be supporting the charity’s vital year-round preparedness work, enabling the Trust to strengthen its distribution networks, ensuring no-one is left behind during future emergencies, and helping it to progress innovative, survivor-led projects, like Bee The Difference.
Led by nine young survivors of the Manchester Arena attack, the Bee The Difference project highlighted six ways to provide better mental health support for children and young people affected by terrorism. It’s a fantastic project, and I’m delighted that our partnership with the Trust will help support other initiatives like this which could make a real difference not just to social housing residents but to society as a whole.
More broadly, our support will contribute to the Trust’s work on mental health, including the launch of a dedicated Mental Health Panel. During disasters, the Panel will offer expert advice to the Board of Trustees to enable them to make innovative funding decisions that best support survivors.
Past emergencies have shown the devastating impact that losing one’s home or being isolated from one’s community can have on people’s wellbeing.
It is my hope that by working with the National Emergencies Trust we can help minimise the impact of future emergencies on our residents and support the Trust’s efforts to distribute funding fast and fairly by working with our networks of trusted partners in communities nationwide.
And we’d love to collaborate with other social housing providers to maximise the reach and impact of the Trust’s work – if you’re interested in getting involved, email NET@clarionhg.com.
This piece first appeared in Issue 13 of Housing Executive in March 2024.