Collaborative meeting

21/03/2023

Chairs’ summary

Our latest Partnership Collaborative meeting was the first of 2023 and saw a range of organisations come together to positively be part of, and show commitment towards, the Changing Futures programme.  

As always, the initial networking was nice and relaxed, and set the scene for good conversations to happen. After some opening words from the Chair, Darren, we moved onto Anna Smith's update on the programme; which further informed people of the context, challenges and successes of Changing Futures to date.  

Following this, Sarah-Jane Freni set the attendees a creative challenge, to draw how they perceive the Changing Futures programme. This exercise went well with a diverse range of perspectives. All had in common the view that we need to influence existing structures to change the way services are delivered for people facing multiple disadvantage so they don’t get stuck going round the roundabout endlessly. 

We then went onto a system change exercise led by Anna. She asked attendees to work in groups to explore how they would fix one of the three key systemic issues identified by the Changing Futures Programme: 

• Complex homelessness and mental health cohort - lack of accommodation and support offer, tailored to meet the needs of people facing Multiple Disadvantage and are at risk of exploitation, including disabilities and other EDI considerations. 

• Women experiencing domestic abuse – need for targeted, co-located, specialist domestic abuse support for women facing Multiple Disadvantage at the point of contact, within statutory or voluntary services and particularly in marginalised communities.  

• Young People involved in the criminal justice system - need for safe, trauma-informed housing solutions and choices for young people, particularly care leavers. 

From this, it was apparent that most, if not all, in attendance felt we all want the same things and we need buy-in at all levels to sustainably embed new ways of working and change systemic cultures.  

This was then followed by a coproduction presentation from Independent Futures. This seemed to be most poignant and moving part of the meeting, with the stories of two IF members really touching people’s hearts and reminding us all of the realities that people experiencing multiple disadvantage face. It was recognised that IF is a special asset to Changing Futures and Bristol, which should be valued, celebrated and utilised wherever possible.  

Finally, we took a moment to celebrate a number of professionals and services who have made significant contributions to our collective cause.  

Overall, it was a very good meeting and hopefully, we can keep building the on the learning from each one to keep engaging the wider system in Changing Futures’ work.