ep10 How Collaboration Can Transform Communities

In this episode of the Rural Homelessness Podcast, host Matt McChlery talks with Keith Smith, founder of The Ferry Project, and Andy Brown, Chief Sustainability Officer at Anglian Water. The discussion revolves around the collaborative efforts to address rural homelessness through community engagement, the role of Business in the Community (BITC), and the impact of local initiatives. The guests share insights on how businesses can contribute to social responsibility, the importance of community centers in preventing homelessness, and the long-term benefits of sustained engagement. The conversation also highlights the recognition received from royal figures, emphasizing the significance of these initiatives in transforming communities. In this conversation, the participants discusses the transformative power of community engagement and collaboration between businesses and local organizations. The speakers share inspiring stories from Wisbech, highlighting how initiatives aimed at raising aspirations among youth and addressing rural homelessness have made a significant impact. They emphasize the importance of long-term commitment and genuine involvement in community projects, showcasing the positive outcomes that arise when businesses work together for the greater good.

Links

ferryproject.org.uk

anglianwater.co.uk

bitc.org.uk

Takeaways

• Rural homelessness is a complex issue that requires community collaboration.
• BITC plays a crucial role in connecting businesses with local communities.
• The Ferry Project focuses on preventing homelessness through community engagement.
• Positive interactions can significantly change a person's life trajectory.
• Anglian Water's commitment extends beyond providing water to social responsibility.
• Long-term engagement is essential for meaningful community transformation.
• Community centers can serve as vital resources for local populations.
• Educational initiatives are key to inspiring youth and expanding their horizons.
• Royal recognition can amplify the impact of community projects.
• Sustained efforts in community support can lead to significant improvements in local well-being. Aspirations can only be formed based on what individuals know and believe.
• Experiences can expand children's visions of possibilities.
• Community engagement can lead to significant social change.
• Businesses can impact communities without large financial investments.
• Long-term commitment is essential for effective community work.
• Collaboration between sectors can unlock transformative opportunities.
• Local initiatives can address food poverty and homelessness effectively.
• Youth engagement in community projects fosters leadership skills.
• Purpose-driven business practices enhance community relations.
• Every business has the potential to contribute positively to their community.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Rural Homelessness Podcast 01:57 Collaboration for Community Transformation 07:40 The Role of BITC in Supporting Communities 12:00 Preventing Homelessness through Community Engagement 14:51 Anglian Water's Commitment to Social Responsibility 20:41 Long-term Impact and Royal Recognition 28:50 Educational Initiatives and Community Support 32:41 Inspiring Aspirations in Wisbech 41:21 The Role of Businesses in Community Transformation 51:32 Addressing Rural Homelessness through Collaboration

 

Episode Transcript

(00:06):
This is the Rural Homelessness Podcast, where we discuss the important issues around ruralhomelessness, hear from those affected by it, and offer some solutions.
Brought to you by the award-winning homelessness charity, The Ferry Project.
Welcome to the Rural Homelessness Podcast.

(00:28):
Hello and welcome to the Rural Homelessness Podcast.
I'm your host Matt McChlery Now you've already done a really important thing today.
You've clicked over here and you are listening to this show.
It's not just your run-of-the-mill average podcast.
This podcast addresses real issues around real topics and makes a real difference in thelives of those people who are experiencing rural homelessness.

(00:55):
So thank you so much for clicking over here today.
Now on today's show, I'm going to be joined by Keith Smith, is the founder and the CEO ofThe Ferry Project, a homelessness charity based in Wisbech in the East of England.
And I'm also joined by Andy Brown, who is the Group Chief Sustainability Officer fromAnglian Water.

(01:20):
And together we're going to be tackling the topic of how working together transformscommunities.
and helps to address rural homelessness.
So it's quite a wide-ranging discussion today.
We do focus on rural homelessness for part of it, but most of it is really broadbrushstrokes on how businesses and community groups and ordinary people can all work

(01:48):
together to achieve great things.
So do have a listen and be inspired by the episode today.
So without further ado, let's welcome Keith Smith and Andy Brown to the show.
So let's welcome our guests to today's episode.

(02:09):
Hello, Keith Smith.
Welcome to the show.
Hi, Matt.
And Andy Brown.
Welcome to the show.
Hi, Matt.
Very nice to be here.
Thank you so much for joining me today.
Now for the benefit of our audience, I'm just going to quickly explain a little bit about
business in the community or often referred to as BITC because I believe you two have kindof done quite a lot of working and partnership together through business and communities.

(02:40):
So let's just understand a little bit about what that is first of all.
So I'm just on the business in communities website, bitc.org.uk.
And this is how they define themselves.
They say business in the community.
is the UK's largest and most influential responsible business network dedicated tobuilding a fairer and greener world together, supported by His Majesty the King for over

(03:06):
40 years.
We inspire, engage and challenge purposeful leaders to take practical action to mobilizetheir collective strength as a force for good in society.
So,
Business and communities, BITC.
Andy, how has Anglian Water become part of this network?

(03:31):
Yeah, thanks, Max.
So Anglian have been involved with BITC for a long time, for decades now.
And the whole purpose of the network, the reason that the prince, as he was at the time,set them up.
set the network up was kind in response to the riots back in the 1980s.

(03:55):
And I guess a bit of a breakdown in civil society.
And he thought that businesses could play a critical role in kind of getting much moreinvolved and being much more present in the community and bring their skills and their
kind of knowledge to try and make a better future.

(04:18):
So, I mean, that really fits in with the way that Anglian operates.
So we've been involved with the ITC on a number of different things.
So at a national level, we've worked on, they have a piece of work looking at wellbeingwithin the workforce.
And that's something that's really dear to our hearts.
So we've worked on projects around that.

(04:38):
We've worked on environmental projects.
We used to run a water task force for them across the country.
And then for the last,
Yeah, just over 10 years, we've been involved in their place program.
And that really came out of a project that they had running, which was called BusinessConnectors, which was asking businesses to basically second a fairly senior person through

(05:05):
BITC into a local community to go and understand what the challenges and opportunitieswere in the sector in a
particular location, not going in with an agenda, but going there to listen.
And then, just as the title suggested, a business connector to try and work out how theycould connect opportunities or challenges with businesses who could provide some support.

(05:31):
And that kind of got our attention and we got involved in WhizBeach just over 10 yearsago.
But we've stuck around and we said, you know, actually, this is something that you can'tdo.
of something meaningful in just a short space of time.
So we've been working with BITC ever since.
They now have a national task force on place-based regeneration, which we're part of.

(05:56):
I sit on that task force and we shared a lot of the experiences that we've had inWhisbeach through the BITC network and they have now got an aspiration to have 50 place
projects running in every country in the UK by 2032.
So was WhizBeach one of the of pilot project areas then which the rest have kind of sprungout from?

(06:21):
Yeah, I'd say pioneer, I think is a nicer word.
So absolutely, yes, the work that we all did together in WhizBeach, because know, Anglincan't credit for it.
We always talk about it as being a coalition of the willing.
And the only way you can really create meaningful change is bringing

(06:43):
business sector together with the political sector, political leaders and the civicsector.
When you get those three sectors together you start to create genuine opportunity forchange.
So yes, we've always been really keen on feeding back on the learnings that we've had inWisbeach and one trying to shine a spotlight on Wisbeach and get you know, Wisbeach

(07:10):
nationally recognised on the map and bring people in.
to see some of the challenges but also see the opportunities there.
But equally, kind of share that learning with other organizations, other businesses, butalso with BITC to try and stimulate something similar in other locations.
And they've got about another 12 location place projects running around the country.

(07:33):
Great.
Keith, how has Ferry Project become part of BITC?
OK, so...
So Ferry is in a more receiving organization than organizations like Angling Water, whichare more in the position of giving and the other partners.
So Ferry Project is a homeless charity based in Whistbeach.

(07:56):
And as part of our work, we help homeless people and we don't just help them to get housedand so on.
But we also try and prevent homelessness.
And one of the ways we try to prevent homelessness is
now through a community centre.
let's go back.
So Andy mentioned that they've been involved with BITC in Whizbeach for about 10 years.

(08:17):
And when they first came out, the connector, the connector, by the way, was called RussellBeale.
And Russell came out and started to talk with various organisations in Whizbeach and thelocal authority and so on.
Fairy Project was one of the organisations he spoke to.
And he came along and basically said, is there anything we could do to help?

(08:38):
So we started having conversations about that.
And I started to share some of the challenges that Ferry Project was facing when we'vealready discussed in earlier podcasts about the challenges around rural homelessness and
some of the deprivation problems that they're having with speech.
And one of the projects that we actually shared with Russell that we were trying to getoff the ground was at that time there was a disused community center called the Queen Mary

(09:03):
Center that was potentially in line for demolition.
And we've been very project and have been approached by local community groups becausewe're of a reasonable size when we're using property to see if we would lease it to try
and save for the community.
we're having all sorts of difficulties.
One, the center was in quite poor condition and needed a bit of a refurb.

(09:25):
And two, trying to get the contract across the line of that lease was really quitechallenging.
And we shared that information and Anglin water them.
did some work with us and put us in contact with people.
So one, they helped us to get the lease over the line.
They actually helped with the negotiations and helped to organize that so that the QueenMary Center could actually be leased by us.

(09:47):
And two, once we've got that lease, they got together with partners and we had a massiveday where, I don't know, 400 volunteers must have come along and helped to redecorate and
paint fences and do gardening and do all sorts of things.
And indeed these partners came along and helped to refurb the toilets in the facility andchange the whole of the entrance hall.

(10:13):
And as a result of that, the Queen Mary Center was able to open.
And just to give you a quick idea of the impact of that.
So that was 10 years ago.
And at the time when it's open, the Queen Mary Center was probably, well, it hadn't beenoperating for a while, but even prior to it closing, it's not operating.
It had been open.

(10:33):
by the local authority, it was getting about, I don't know, 15,000 visits a year.
So last year when we took a recording of how many visits were now happening as a communitycenter, and it was nearly 70,000.
And the population of Westbeach is only 30,000.
So effectively it's like every person in Westbeach visiting two and a half times thecenter.

(10:55):
And the impact it's had is just remarkable.
you know, it's impacted in so many different parts of life, way beyond homelessness.
We've had counselling sessions, we've had youth sessions, there's all sorts of artsprojects, choirs, a church comes out of there, there's donations, there's employment work

(11:16):
going on, there's CABs based there, and so all this masses of stuff, this health projectsgoing on.
So the people of Whisbeach have been helped in innumerable ways because the centre now isoperating.
And it's operating because of our work with BITC.
And that was the first project, but it was a stimulating project.

(11:37):
And that's had a big effect.
And we've done many projects since, especially around employment and work opportunitiesand so on.
there's been some wonderful work going on.
Being the Rural Homelessness podcast and you're a homelessness charity taking on acommunity center.
How, just explain to us, how does that fit together?

(12:00):
with your kind of mandate of sort of helping the homeless, how does that sort of crossover into now also running and managing a community center?
How does it fit together?
Okay.
Right.
Well, again, you're not the only person who's ever asked that question.
So it's been asked quite a lot.
So if you think about it, somebody doesn't become homeless because of an event.

(12:26):
Actually, homelessness is something that happens over a period of time.
It's very seldom that one event triggers homeless, somebody becoming homeless, although itmight be the final event.
It might be the final event in a whole series of events that that person says, that's whyI'm homeless.
Whereas actually over time, decisions will have been made, things will have happened,traumas will have been suffered that have led that person down a route where they end up

(12:53):
homeless.
Now.
At the moment, there are over 30 community groups delivering services out of the QueenMary Centre.
And each of those groups do different things.
So some of them are arts related, as I say, some are health related, some are counselling,some are support.
And people get all sorts of different things out of the Queen Mary Centre.
But all the time, the local community is supporting the local community.

(13:16):
So the people of Wisbech are supporting the people of Wisbech.
And what we believe, because we can't prove it,
is that if a person interacts with somebody else and that interaction is positive, it canchange the direction of a person's life, even if it's only very slightly.
But if you have 10 interactions each that are positive, they might make a bigger change.

(13:40):
And so the individual's life takes a slightly different course.
So if we can get a center that positively interacts with people, what we hope is thattheir interactions will mean that less people become homeless.
And we believe that hundreds of people have been stopped from becoming homeless because ofthe work that's taken place in the Mary Centre.

(14:00):
And indeed for Ferry Project is really good because our job is to try and help homelesspeople.
But if they've never become homeless, that's a much better place to be.
It's a much better place.
actually investing in this community centre, investing in the work that it does,encouraging it, encouraging groups within Westbeach, we believe is a long-term solution to
homelessness because hopefully it would never happen.

(14:23):
That's the aim and that's the goal.
So, so that's why we run the center.
We can never prove something that didn't happen, but, we believe, we believe ferventlythat lots of people have been safe from homelessness because of the world that's gone on
there.
Thank you, Andy, coming back to you, Anglin water, the regional water company and fromsomeone from the outside, cause they're on the surface of it, you know, pipes.

(14:51):
And this liquid stuff called water, that's what you do.
But it appears from your involvement in BITC and all these other projects that I've beenhearing about prior to the podcast, that there's much more to Anglian water than just
water.
What is it about the ethos of the company that wants to engage and sort of make lifebetter for the communities that it serves and operates in?

(15:21):
That's a great question.
In our involvement with Whisbeach, we were often asked at beginning, so why are yougetting involved?
What's in it for Anglia and Water?
The really simple answer is yes, we're a water company and we're there to ensure that weprovide drinking water to our customers and that we take their used water back and we

(15:45):
treat it well and we put it back into the environment.
you know, and create that kind of almost a circular economy.
But in doing that, we have to remember we employ, you know, thousands of people directlywithin the company and tens of thousands if you start to look through our supply chain as
well.
And we interact with every individual in the region.

(16:10):
you know, think approximately now there's about seven million people who are ourcustomers.
We're also facing
kind of huge pressures and changes.
So whether we think about the rapidly changing climate and the impact that that has onpeople, or whether we think about the cost of living crisis and, you know, coming out of a

(16:32):
pandemic, that has huge social pressures.
So we, you know, we as an organization have a role to play in all of that.
And back in 2019, the company
actually decided that we really ought to ratify that role that we have beyond what isconsidered a traditional business.

(16:54):
So we changed our articles of association.
So that's the kind of, you know, the DNA of the company.
And in there we put, we put a new purpose, which is about delivering environmental andsocial prosperity to the region we serve.
So our, you know, what we do as a company is now not just about supplying water, it'sabout supplying it in a way that enables

(17:16):
environmental and social prosperity.
And kind of coming in to Whistbeach with the ITC was a guess, you know, was amanifestation of that.
And we genuinely came in with no business objectives, no kind of corporate socialresponsibility boxes to tick.
It came out of a visit that our CEO, Peter, had in the East End of London.

(17:41):
He went on a business in the community, seeing his believing
visit to go and have a look at some of the challenges people were facing there and some ofthe solutions that being created.
And he came back from that inspired and said, well, you know, there have got to be placesin the region that are in need of our support and we need to work out how we can, you
know, make a lasting difference to them.

(18:03):
So we got together with our supply chain, our kind of top tier of our contractors, and wesaid, right, let's find a location and let's go in and listen.
And, you know, that's how we got involved in WhizBeach.
And it genuinely was about going in and trying to understand what the issues were, notriding in and saying, right, we've got the answers.

(18:25):
This is what you need to do.
If you just listen to us, we will tell you how to make things better.
It was about going in and trying to understand and then trying to pick a number of thingsthat we knew we had got skill sets in or got resources to support.
And not, as Keith said, yep, we came in with volunteers and we helped with Queen MaryCentre.

(18:49):
But what wouldn't have been good is if we took some pictures of that and we walked awayagain, because that's not really delivering anything.
So when we talk to other organisations about it, we say this is a long-term commitment.
If you genuinely want to make a difference in a location, you've got to show up, you'vegot to show up regularly and you've got to show up in the long term.

(19:10):
What's really interesting is that
although we went in with no business objectives, what's come out of it is a whole set ofkind of benefits to us as a business, whether that's, you know, individuals, employees
feeling a connection with the location, feeling better about the work that they do, thekind of connection we've had with organizations, including Keith's and with the school and

(19:42):
the college.
in town has unlocked access to talent.
You know, we're having to compete with lots and lots of other organisations to get kind oftalent into our workforce.
And then looking at it kind of more broadly, we've really had the opportunity to explore,OK, what will make Whizbeach successful in the long term?

(20:05):
And what does that mean in the kind of context of the landscape?
And what role does water play?
kind of in that landscape and is water preventing the sustainable growth and positivefuture of Whizbeach or can it be used to enable that?
That's amazing what has come out of that exploration.

(20:27):
And what are some of the events or projects that have happened over the last few years?
I believe the then Prince Charles came along as a result of some of the initiatives goingon.
Can you just tell us a bit more about that?
I guess you can split it into three chunks.
So one is, it's the kind of long term transformational stuff, thinking about how theinfrastructure works together, how connected or unconnected actually, which is so we've

(21:01):
been we've been looking at that thinking about how do you, you know, what would it looklike if we reconnected with which to the main line railway and.
how would that support the kind of regeneration of the town?
We've also been looking at the connection and the interaction between the kind of the townbusinesses and the education sector.

(21:27):
So what can we do to support kind of better attainment and aspiration kind of in theeducation sector and how do we link that up with opportunities?
and the skills gap that we see in our industry coming down the road.
And I guess the kind of more immediate stuff was around, you know, what can we as anorganization and our supply chain do to support some of the really urgent issues, the

(21:56):
things that are kind of causing an issue within the town now.
So, you know, that's where we've had, I guess, the direct
connection and interaction with Keith and the ferry project.
And some of that is, you know, it's not about coming in and saying, OK, we're a companyand BITC are an organization who work with communities.

(22:19):
We know what the answer is.
So if you just all move aside, please, we'll do some painting and everything will be fine.
It was really trying to understand and spend a lot of time working with people like Keithand others in the town to say, OK, tell us about
what you experience on a day-to-day basis.
What are you trying to do that you're finding difficult?

(22:40):
What skills and experience can we as a company and our supply chain as a group ofcompanies support you with?
So guess it's that's sort of kind of community cohesion in the short term.
There's education and aspiration and trying to develop opportunities in the medium term.
And then there's the long term stuff, which is about more infrastructure.

(23:03):
transformation or long-term change.
And part of that involved a visit from the then Prince Charles, now King Charles.
How did that all come about and sort of what happened there?
So, yeah, the King or the Prince as he was then is the founding patron of Business in theCommunity and so he was always interested in the work that the BITC were doing.

(23:34):
And I think the idea of place-based regeneration and the work that we were starting to doin Whisbeach resonated with him on a number of counts because one, you know, he's been
involved in place-based regeneration in a couple of places, kind of down in Dorset area,but also up in Scotland in Dumfries house, which, you know, he bought and then has used

(24:00):
that as a kind of
in the oyster, is that the right kind of term to try and say, right, okay, how caninvestment in that one building and one estate create benefit for the broader community?
And so I think he was quite interested in, you know, what experiences has he seen indeveloping support for the community in those locations with what we're in Whisbeach?

(24:29):
And obviously we knew one of the things that we've always
talked about with Keith and with others in Whizbeach was that it's sometimes quite hard toget people to notice a town like Whizbeach which might be struggling to find its direction
and to gain inward investment.
And one of the things that we thought we could do as a company was try and keep ringingthe bell, shining the torch on it.

(24:56):
And an aspiration was, well, if you can get the prints, as he was at the time.
to come, well that creates a focus.
Yeah, and he agreed to come down on part of his visit to the broader area, visit to theEast of England.
And yeah, Keith got to spend some time with him.

(25:18):
Sadly, I wasn't there on the day.
Our CEO was there.
But I was lucky enough to go up to Scotland actually and meet him at Dumfries House andtalk to him about...
what we were doing there and have a look at what he's been doing.
I was there on the day.
was stood, along the road on this sort of walk into, I think it's the church where all thesort of expo was happening and he was meeting with people.

(25:45):
I stood there for about an hour waiting for him to arrive and he kind of got out his car,walked past and I had like three second glimpse, but you know, I was there.
but Keith, Keith, you, you, actually got to meet the Prince and now King.
King Charles, when he came to Whiz Beach.
Were you able to talk to the King about the homelessness issues that are faced in ruralcommunities or what, how did that go?

(26:11):
Okay.
So, yeah, so both, the King and Queen, Camilla came, as you say, as Prince and I don'tknow what title she had before, in her role.
So, they stopped.
they, they came around and saw each group.
that was in the church and talked with each group.

(26:31):
And so they came and spoke with us.
They met with one of our staff team, and they also met with myself.
And we were able to share a little bit about the function that we were doing, but we onlyhad, we had about three minutes with the King.
So he was interested.
He asked some sensible questions about the work we were doing.
But it wasn't, we weren't able to start having a discussion about rural homelessness inany sort of depth, just about the size of the problem.

(26:58):
in Finland and what we were currently doing.
We had a longer chat actually in a previous meeting when we first met the prince becausewe also had a meeting in London where BITC was showcasing some of the work they'd done.
And indeed he came and saw a stand where Anglia and Walter were showing some of the workthey were doing with BITC.

(27:22):
And indeed he had a very long conversation.
in many minutes with one of my, my compatriots, John Heathorn, who'd been an ex clients,and he was talking to John about John's life and the fact that he got become homeless and
how how the ferry project had supported him and then in fact employed him.

(27:44):
And that's that had quite a profound effect on John.
That actually motivated John to continue his journey.
So John
John at that time had started to work for Ferry Project, but now John is actually a seniormanager within the organization.
And he still looks back at the time he met the Prince as being quite a, well, a time ofgreat inspiration and a time that he draws strength from to continue the work that he's

(28:11):
now doing.
So John now supports and helps many hundreds of homeless people a year and really is ableto interact with them.
a lot of the drive for that came from his meeting with the prince.
so the prince, you know, those types of visits do have an impact.
And if any of the listeners want to hear John's story in detail, John spoke to me on anearlier episode of the podcast.

(28:37):
So just search for John's journey from homelessness to hope, and you'll be able to hearall of John's story over on that episode.
Andy, you mentioned that you have also worked with
other local community groups in Wisbeach.
Yes you work with Ferry Project but they're not the only ones.
So what else can you tell us about these other community groups and the other involvementyou're having in the town with and through them?

(29:05):
Yeah so as I explained we kind of worked in these kind of three buckets if you like and Ithink one of the areas of real interest was around the kind of educational
sector and we know that if you're going to kind of make an impact in a child's lifethrough their educational program there's lots of research out there which says you've got

(29:33):
to kind of interact with them kind of four or five times over their school life to kind ofmake an impression and potentially kind of change their views and increase their
aspirations and give them some inspiration.
So we've worked with the primary school in Westbeach.

(29:54):
also work with the Thomas Clarkson Academy and then we've got a long term relationshipwith the College of West Anglia as well.
I mean, that's gone, been everything from, you know, going in and supporting students withCV writing, mock interview techniques and actually sometimes just going in.

(30:18):
talking about the outside world.
If you've grown up in Whizbeach and actually because it's a relatively isolated locationyou don't have a lot of experience of seeing other locations, seeing what is out there.
I mean we think we're an incredibly connected world through the internet and social mediaand everything now but actually that's not real life so you only get a certain level of

(30:43):
kind of...
It's one window, isn't it?
And that window usually has a particular lens on it, doesn't it?
Absolutely.
And so, I mean, I remember chatting to somebody who was really interested in history.
You know, her grades were really good.
I did an interview, kind of mock interview with her and at the end of it, it kind ofstopped.

(31:05):
So that was really great.
One thing, though, you you say you want to go to university and study history and that'sbrilliant.
But when I asked her what she wanted to do, she said, I want to be a history.
teacher.
And I said, well, you know, that's a really laudable kind of aspiration.
Why do you want to do that?
And that was, you know, the really the only role model that she'd seen was the historyteacher in the school.

(31:29):
And I said, you know, I don't want my mother was a teacher, you know, I don't want to putyou off being a teacher, but, you know, do it if you if it's genuinely a vocation, if you
really want to teach and that's going to be your passion, brilliant, go and do that.
That would be amazing.
But if not, have you thought about what English Heritage do?

(31:52):
Have you thought about the National Trust at Peckover House in Whizbeach?
Have you thought about, know, almost every large company, big kind of national,international company has an archivist, has a historian attached to them?
as I said, there's so many other things you can do with a history degree.

(32:15):
that's either very directly history focused or can go on to be something else because bydoing a history degree, you learn a lot about research and being able to explain that
piece of research that you've done.
And I said, you know, there are all sorts of political advisors that will have come from ahistory degree background.
So that was a really interesting one.

(32:37):
But then, you know, going in and doing careers fairs.
and bringing lots of other companies in to show the breadth of different kind of jobopportunities that are out there.
I think that's been really important.
Can I chip in?
And just one I remember.
So Matt, the one that sticks in my mind was a story that was relayed to me.

(33:02):
a guy called Russell Beale was helping out Russell was doing a lot and but they wereworking with a primary school and they went into the primary school and
they were trying to get the children to dream and imagine the world of the future.
And so they asked the question, if we were to build a new swimming pool in Whiz Beach,what would you like in it?

(33:23):
Okay.
And so they described in a level of detail, the existing swimming pool that was already inWhiz Beach and basically said they'd like it done up a bit.
Okay.
And so Russell started to say, well,
about slides?" They go, well, what are slides?
And he said, well, these are slides.

(33:44):
And he tried to describe it and they were looking at him a bit baffled.
know, what's this new modern fad that he's talking about type of thing.
so they were very confused.
So Russell then said, well, where's your nearest slide?
I know there's a slide in Hunstanton.
How many of you visited the swimming pool in Hunstanton?

(34:05):
which is at the nearest seaside resort really to
to Whist Beach.
And less than half the class had ever been to Hunstanton.
So he organized and Anglin Walter organized a trip out to Hunstanton and they went to theswimming pool, but they also went to the beach.
And as I say, less than half the children in the class had ever been to the seaside.

(34:31):
None of them have ever been in that particular swimming pool.
And that then inspired them.
So when they came back, they came back after the trip.
And Russell said, so what do you want in your swimming pool?
And they started talking all about slides and all these things that they could do andbeing able to have, don't know, different things.
But instantly their vision, their focus just grew.

(34:54):
It just, it was just a massive expansion of what the possibilities were.
And one, that was great for those kids.
Two, that story has been shared on a number of occasions and I don't know if it had anyimpact.
But after a while, Wisbeach town council introduced something called Wisbeach Day, wherethey actually put sand and donkeys and buckets and spades in Wisbeach Park because they

(35:20):
now know that primary school aged children do not get to the seaside, even though it's notthat far away.
And so they give them an experience of the beat in Wisbeach itself.
But for me personally, what it helped me to do was to understand aspiration.
And it helped me to understand.
why to some extent the aspiration in Whist Beach has been, we keep being told people havevery low aspirations and it helped me to understand that you can only aspire to what you

(35:47):
believe and what you know.
you don't realize that there's something beyond that you have an opportunity elsewhere,you can't aspire to it.
It's really what Andy was saying about that student.
The fact that they didn't know the other careers, they couldn't imagine going and doingthose careers because they just didn't know that they were there.
And one of the things Anglin Water would be able to do and BITC have done is to start toprovide the young people of Whist Beach with a vision of what is possible, what is

(36:18):
available, the opportunities that there are that are not currently available to them orweren't available, that here are possibilities that you can aspire to.
And I think that's been incredibly powerful.
And personally, I think we're starting to see
an increase in the aspiration of people of Whisp Beach.
They do want more and that drives them to do more.

(36:41):
so I think you can have quite a profound effect on the population just by helping them tolift their eyes up and see that the world is actually a much bigger and exciting place
than possibly they thought before.
then just the other thing that really sticks in my mind is with

(37:03):
Again, with Business in the Community, we were awarded their kind top honour of beingResponsible Business of the Year back in 2017.
Along with that honour comes the request to host the next big event in 2018.
So we were very happy to do that.

(37:24):
And these are quite big plush events held in the Royal Albert Hall in London and usuallyrequire
kind of celebrity guests to kind of attract the, you know, thousand of business people tocome and take part in the night and learn a bit more about kind of being a responsible
business and take part in the award ceremony.

(37:47):
But we worked really closely with BITC and said, well, how can we do this in a differentway?
And what we wanted to do was really showcase Whizbeach and say to all the businessesthere, you know, actually,
if you could go away tonight and go and find a place like Wisbeach where you've got someskin in the game, you could go and see what you can do to transform that community.

(38:11):
And although we did have, we had one kind of celebrity to kind of host that night, whichwas Sir Lenny Henry, what we said, and we agreed with the ITC, was that we'd run a
competition in Wisbeach and say, right, can we find some young, aspiring
co-hosts who would like to run the award ceremony alongside Soleni Henry.

(38:35):
And we just asked people to record a two minute video and send it in, tell us about themand their life in Whish Beach and why they'd like to get on stage.
And we had a love, you know, fantastic set of entries and we recruited, well originally itwas going to be three people and a backup.
And we took them down to London beforehand and we gave them some media training, not thatthey really needed it.

(38:59):
actually.
we took them to Highgrove House and they got to meet the Prince of Wales at the time.
And then you know I can't remember the date in July in 2018 they all stood up that's rightwe paid for them to buy themselves an outfit and we said buy something that will be
suitable to stand on the stage but also think about the fact that you might be going tointerviews and things later so you know perhaps don't go for the most crazy outlandish

(39:27):
thing think about
buying something which could have a dual function.
Anyway, I stood on the side of the stage that night, Keith was there and took part in itas well.
And they got up next to Lenny Henry in front of a thousand or so senior leaders fromaround the country and absolutely blew the crowd away.

(39:51):
And you know, certainly had me in tears, one of most emotional nights I was acting astheir chaperone.
I still keep in touch with some of them.
That was about six years ago and some of them went away saying, right, okay, I didn't knowI could do this.
I had anxiety.
If you'd told me I could stand on the stage and talk to people like this.

(40:12):
I think it was one moment where we did them as changeovers in the night so they weren'tall on stage at the same time and one of them still had their mic on as they came off the
stage.
and said something slightly inappropriate in a celebratory fashion as they handed over tothe next one coming on.
But the whole crowd erupted with that.
And so, yeah, it is, you know, I heard a really brilliant phrase, not from, kind of withinAngling Water, actually, from another company that work on purpose.

(40:43):
And they said purpose isn't always about making different decisions.
It's about making decisions differently.
So we did, we, you know, the format of that night was the same kind of format, but we justdid it in a slightly different way to try and generate more value out of it.
So yeah, that's, that's something that sticks in my mind.

(41:04):
That's great.
And this, this whole episode, we, we focusing on how working together can transformcommunities and sort of as a knock on effect from that can also help to address rural
homelessness.
So Keith, from your perspective, why is it important for business leaders to worktogether?

(41:27):
Not just for the good of their company, but for the good of their community in general?
Okay, well, let's approach that from two sides.
So let's approach it first of all, from the company side.
So the reality is for every company that they are based in their community and thosecompanies,

(41:50):
have the need to meet their customers and to serve their customers effectively.
Okay, so they want to build relationships with their customers.
So in working in a community on the challenges of that community, they demonstrate to thelocal community, they're a genuine company who wants to make a difference.

(42:13):
They want to have good employees, want their employees to feel happy in the work thatthey're doing.
and they want to make an impact on the community and actually lift the community up.
So it's really good PR for the company and so on.
But for the local population itself, okay, if you're in a community like WhizBeach, whichis a comparatively poor community, the level of investment in that community is very low.

(42:39):
So WhizBeach still hasn't received any, never received any leveling up funding.
We haven't had the level of investment that say Cambridge has and so on.
So the community then is impoverished in many different ways.
Now companies like Angling Water, other businesses and so on, they have staff with skillsand knowledge, they have resources themselves.

(43:05):
And by working together with local charities and people that understand the needs of thesociety,
They can actually bring some of their assets, whether that's to lend key individual staffto help the community group, whether that is to help draw down resources.
So let me give you a good example.
Russell, who, as I say, is an employee of Angling Water who's helped us, Ferry Projectsapplied for some funding to start doing some employment work from the joint authority.

(43:37):
At that time...
We worked with Russell and Russell came along and helped to coach us to actually go intoan interview process with him to secure some funding for that.
Russell helped and talked to us and supported us in that and we secured that funding.
So we were able to draw down some, I think it was at the time, nearly a hundred thousandpounds, which had a major impact.

(44:03):
It helped hundreds of people in West Beach to find work.
And that came as a direct result of the support that Russell was able to give us to do agood presentation to the joint authority.
And the joint authority saw that we were an organization which could meet the need and sopresented it for money.
And so that helped hundreds of people.
The company, what the company gave was time for Russell.

(44:26):
They didn't have to give any money themselves, but it had a major impact.
It secured a hundred thousand pounds into WhizBeach and as I say, impacted
literally hundreds of people's jobs.
And in fact, Ferry Project got additional work on the basis of that worth over half amillion pounds, where we went on for another six years, supplying employment support to a

(44:46):
whole range of people in West Beach, where we supported well over 1000 people to both lookfor and find employment in the area.
Companies can have profound effects without having to invest vast amounts of moneythemselves, but using the skill and the talent of the staff, they can share that skill and

(45:06):
talent with other organizations.
And the truth is, when business, when public sector, and when the voluntary sector allwork together, genuinely something magic happens.
That synergy, the exchange of ideas, the exchange of experience and knowledge can producesome amazing outcomes.
some genuinely changing.

(45:28):
So Anglin Water again helped us to get the lease on the Queen Mary Centre signed.
The Queen Mary Centre is a community centre.
When we took it over, it was disused, it was only having a very few visitors.
So last year, the Queen Mary Centre had in excess of 60,000 visits from a community of30,000 people.

(45:52):
And the impact of the Queen Mary Centre
is huge and Anglin Water just had a few conversations at the right time because we'd beensharing them with them some of our problems.
They went and had conversations at quite a high level with some senior council people whodidn't realize there was a blockage in getting the lease through.

(46:13):
That released the lease.
That allowed us to get the project going.
Anglin Water then gave us some staff time to help us upgrade it and the community centerthat was being gradually
wasting away and not being used, now is one of the most popular community centres in thewhole of Cambridgeshire having a significant impact in a very deprived community.

(46:34):
And to be frank, I don't know all the impacts, all the impacts of all the differentmeetings and all the different things that taken place in that centre over the last 12
years.
But that was all done because business and voluntary sector got together, spoke with thelocal authority, CAMHS County Council.
and suddenly a centre that was being shut down was opened up and became a vibrant, activecommunity centre.

(46:58):
So there's all those types of ideas and there's another organisation called People andAnimals which Angling Water got involved with and helped to create what's now called the
Whist Beach Farm.
And that's going great guns and helps people with mental health problems and learningdifficulties and...
That's been a large part of that has been the encouragement and support they've given tothe leaders of that project.

(47:20):
And that's now having again a profound effect in West Beach.
there's all these types of spin-offs when you can get people who are passionate businessthat has business understanding and the public sector where they can channel resources and
stuff and things can get unlocked and change can happen.

(47:40):
yeah, they're just some examples of why
is so important for business, the voluntary sector and the public sector to work together.
Just to kind of jump in and add some thoughts on that, one of the things is we, you know,try to share our experience in our engagement in Whistbeach, you know, for the last 11

(48:00):
plus years.
And I talk to lots of businesses and through the ITC and other networks about, you know,what's worked and why it's worked.
and encourage other businesses to get involved in locations that are important to them.
And one of the first things I always get asked is, so what was the business benefit?
what metrics did you put in place?

(48:21):
How were you tracking what impact you were having?
And I have to say at that point, said, you know, if you want to do it well, you can't dothat.
You cannot go in with something in mind and, you know, be so blinkered.
to kind of say, right, we're going to do this particular thing and it's going to drivethese outcomes and we're going to be able to record those.

(48:47):
If we'd have done that, if we'd have gone, right, okay, we're going to focus on thisthing, we've got these metrics to track so that we can demonstrate that we've done a good
thing, you probably then would have ignored all the other opportunities and actually,quite frankly, the things that really need your help and support.
So that's the advice I give to other people is don't go in

(49:09):
with an agenda, don't go in saying, this will be what the business benefit is and this ishow we're going to record it.
Yes, you can do that in time.
Sometimes I don't think it's always necessary to be perfectly honest.
I'll probably get shot down by other businesses for saying that.
know, as Keith said, you know, we're not sitting here looking to record what the totalsocial value we might have unlocked so that we can put it in our annual report.

(49:37):
That's not what this is about.
this was about for us was really an exploration in, okay, how does a corporate work in away in the 21st century that is a model of good citizenship?
And I look back and think, my father years and years and years ago worked for Unilever andI remember going up to Port Sunlight.

(49:59):
I've been to Bournville and seen how Bournville was created and the, you know, the kind ofVictorian approach.
And it's a bit, you when I talked to our old CEO about it, it was a bit like that.
It's about saying, sometimes you just know that something's the right thing to be doing.
And I think, I don't think I've come across anyone who is involved in our company, whetherthey are an investor or one of the directors or one of our supply chain alliances or

(50:27):
anyone else who works in it, who've come to Whizbeach and talked to people and gotinvolved that's gone away and gone.
or that's not really had an impact or that's not been worthwhile.
So, you know, that's what matters to us.
I it's been every time I talk to Keith, I hear another story about how, you know, someknock on benefit from something we might have done years and years ago, it's now kind of

(50:51):
to fruition.
So we've heard lots of sort of benefits sort of for the community and a whole variety ofnumber of ways that can be achieved through businesses working together.
to help transform their communities.
But because this is the Rural Homelessness podcast, do we have any stories of how thisworking together approach has made an impact on those who are experiencing homelessness or

(51:21):
rural homelessness, taking Whizbeach or Fenland as an example?
Yes, so let's build on it then.
So this type of
project, what it does is, if we're looking at if let's go back to the Queen Mary Center.
So the Queen Mary Center now contains a donation hub.

(51:42):
Now that donations hub is a place where people give goods, right.
And many of our homeless clients come go when they get their first house will have nofurniture, they'll have no pots and pans, they'll have nothing for it.
The donations hub now
they can go to that donation hub and they can get furniture, pots and pans, towels,bedding, beds, pillows, lamps, and so on.

(52:12):
And that then helps them to set up their home.
Okay, so it makes a significant difference to them.
They allow them to get a fresh start and get going.
Okay, that did not exist before the Queen Mary Center was...
made available is something that's been developed over the years with the Queen MaryCenter and indeed was developed out of the help that BITC gave us as part of COVID.

(52:38):
It came from donations that were given to the ferry project as part of COVID and has ledon to this donations hub.
And that now has, well, we've had well over a hundred clients who have benefited directlyfrom donations from there.
If we look at during COVID and post COVID,
BITC helped Ferry Project develop links with local food businesses.

(53:04):
And during COVID, we supported, we gave out over 60,000 meals to people in need during theCOVID period.
And since then, we've continued.
And over the last three years, we've given away on average 400 meals a week to homelesspeople in the community.

(53:26):
who need food because they're in food poverty.
So what's that 400,000 a week over 50, 50 weeks, we're talking what 20, 20 or 1000 a year.
again, another 60,000 meals.
all these connections, so local business supplying the charity with goods that we're ableto share with homeless people.

(53:49):
Opportunities with work, so one of our clients actually got a job.
on through Anglin Waters apprenticeship scheme that they set up as a result of this work.
So there's a direct result there.
So we've got all sorts of spin offs that are working all the time, absolutely to helphomeless people.

(54:10):
And indeed Anglin Water got us in contact with Keir Construction.
Keir Construction wanted to help.
Ferry project.
So we needed to redesign a part of our building to create a hub where homeless people,people off the street could come and ask for support and have a place for support.
Keir totally refitted the whole of that space.

(54:32):
So we now have a hub which any person with housing issues in the population can turn up toat any time right the way through into the evening.
And there'll be a member of staff there who will talk to them about their housingproblems.
And last year, over a hundred people were kept from becoming homeless by that.
so, you know, we can start to link clearly that this type of business work does have allsorts of outcomes, many of which at the start of the journey, you have no idea would be

(55:01):
available to you.
And I mean, certainly from our perspective, what the relationship we have with Keith andit's, you know, it's one of that we can't, you know, we can't do this absolutely
everywhere across the region.
Hanging water cover.
you know, from the Humber down to the Thames and 14 counties in between.
part of the work we've been doing in Whisbeach was about saying, OK, if you spreadyourself so thin across a region like that, you're not going to make any difference, any

(55:30):
impact.
Does it make a difference to work intensively in a location and try and create sometransformational change?
And what started out with this work in Whisbeach
is now being replicated with our involvement in Norwich, in Lowestoft, in Colchester,about to be in Grimsby.

(55:51):
And the relationship with Keith is a really open and honest one in saying, know, Keith canphone me whenever he wants to and say, Andy, this is an issue.
I'm not expecting you to say yes, but, you know, and sometimes, you know, it's, no,there's nothing I can do about that.
I'm really sorry.
But other times it is, yeah.

(56:12):
I mean, Keith, you were talking about the food distribution and COVID, you know, just asthat was, you know, becoming a really critical requirement, your van went kaput, didn't
it?
So, you know, Keith said, our van's gone kaput.
I don't suppose there's any chance.
And you know what?
There was just one of those opportune moments where we were renegotiating with our vehiclesuppliers.

(56:39):
And I can't remember how many vans we were buying.
I don't know whether it was buy 300, get one free.
But anyway, they offered us an additional van.
And chatting to our transport manager, said, well, yeah, we don't actually need it.
We can donate it to the ferry project.
So that's what we did.
Now, if Keith had phoned a week before, that might not have been happening.

(57:03):
But yeah, so it's building that kind of long-term relationship, I think, is reallyimportant.
And if you don't mind me saying, Matt, but it's a starfish story, isn't it?
Yeah.
You have starfish.
Somebody comes along, loads of starfish on the beach and they walk along and they pick thestarfish up and start throwing it in.
And others say, well, why are you doing that?
What difference does it make?

(57:23):
And the guy says, well, it makes a difference to that one as he throws it in, it makes adifference to that one.
And okay, you could say, you know, what difference has it made?
Well, it's made a difference to hundreds and hundreds of people in this beach and hundredsof homeless people.
And, you know, all those lives have been changed as a direct result of the relationshipwe've had with Anglin Water and changed for the better.

(57:46):
We can see it's for the better.
They tell us it's for the better.
know, John is a living case study of how it is better, how it is better.
You know, and we can do that and we can pick up with loads of people, apprentices in WhistBeach, people in schools, as I say, people and animals, people with disabilities and
learning challenges.
And we can see.

(58:07):
that things are better.
Whiz Beach is a better place because of the input that Anglin Water have put into it andwhat BICTC have done has made a distinct and clear and positive difference in people's
lives.
And that's just, I mean, it's just a wonderful privilege to be involved in, but it's, youknow, it's just exactly what Andy was saying.

(58:31):
It's the right thing to do.
It's just got to be the right thing to do.
And that goes both ways.
So everyone who, as I said, who's been involved in this process from our side goes awaybeing better, goes away with community and understanding their own privilege and bringing

(58:53):
that then into the way they make decisions at work.
And that's really, really important.
And the other thing is also just
This has never ever been about holding us up as an example.
If you went to the ferry project, you wouldn't see any mention of Anglian Water.
There's no logos.
We're not doing this for greenwashing, purpose washing, whatever people might want toaccuse us of.

(59:20):
We're not looking for press colloquies on that.
What's really important though is that other businesses and we...
And again, huge thanks to Keith and the team because we have probably brought, I don'tknow, 50, 60 businesses to Whizbeach over the last 10 years to talk through what we're

(59:41):
doing.
The last one being back in July.
As a result of that, big national business has gone away and said, yeah, right, OK, we'readopting another town.
We're going to replicate this and do it somewhere else.
So to your starfish example, you know.
If we can get another 10 businesses picking up a starfish, brilliant.

(01:00:02):
If they then can roll on and encourage another 10 to pick up a starfish.
You know, there are businesses in every community in the country.
And one of the things that we, you know, the ultimate utopian aim would be, God, wouldn'tit be brilliant if every business was really connected into their community and every

(01:00:22):
business was trying to help reconnect and
giving as much back as they're taking out from that community.
Because there's intangible benefits to be had from that for the business as well.
That really leads me on nicely to my final question of the discussion today is if there issomeone listening who is involved in a business wherever they may be located in the

(01:00:51):
country and they've heard what you've been talking about and they're starting to think
actually this might be something we could do.
What would your sort of final words of advice be to someone kind of teetering on the edge?
Should I?
Shouldn't I?
You know, is this for us?
I'm not too sure, but maybe.

(01:01:14):
What would you say to those people?
I'd say come and have a chat.
you know, either find me on LinkedIn
and drop me a line and mention the podcast and then share the podcast so that more peoplecan listen.
yeah, share the podcast.

(01:01:35):
We actually produced a booklet which was a kind of guide to collaboration for kind ofplace-based regeneration and that's still on our website so you can find that and Keith
has featured in that but it gives you the kind of top tips, it kind of talks you throughthe early stages of doing it.
And business in the community.

(01:01:56):
I've got a lot of resources on their website as well.
the other thing is to talk to the BITC place team because BITC have now got a target ofcreating 50 place based regeneration projects across all the nations by 2032.
I think it is now.

(01:02:16):
So they're, you know, they're actively looking.
What I would say though, and this is what I say to all the businesses who ever come totalk to me about this kind of work is that
This is a long term commitment.
This is not about rushing in on a white horse thinking you've got a solution.
This is about long term commitment and really kind of sticking with it because, you know,and I've learned this from Keith that you can do more harm than good by coming in, doing

(01:02:47):
something, know, jamming initiatives in someone's Flashing the pan.
And then disappearing again.
Having your logo
your picture taken and disappearing off.
So you've got to think about it, it takes some resources, but the benefits that you willget out of it will be greater than you anticipated.

(01:03:09):
Wonderful.
Well thank you Andy.
Andy Brown from Anglin Water and Keith Smith from The Ferry Project.
Thank you so much for your time today.
Pleasure.
Pleasure.
Wonderful to be here.
And thank you as well for listening to this episode of the Rural Homelessness Podcast.
Don't forget that a new episode comes out twice a month on the 1st and on the 15th.

(01:03:31):
So I do look forward to having the pleasure of your company again really soon.
Thank you.
Thank you for listening to the Rural Homelessness Podcast brought to you by The FerryProject.
Visit our website on www.ferryproject.org.uk