Learning together, building connections: Bringing the Good Home Network together face-to-face
The Centre for Ageing Better and Foundations are bringing together local authorities in the Good Home Network to support learning, peer support and innovation in home improvement services.
Our Evidence Assistant for Homes, Livia Dragomir, discusses the benefit of human connection as the network meets in-person for the first time.
On a cold and sunny morning my colleagues and I found ourselves walking towards the venue in Central Manchester where we are to hold our first in-person meeting of the Good Home Network.
Having built up strong connections and consensus over the network’s first year of online events, it was exciting to consider what opportunities might come about from meeting face-to-face for the first time.
I hope that all who attend will feel the benefits of meeting in-person more than exceed the additional time and challenge of travelling from all over the country to gather.
The Good Home Network is an active hub for learning and connection for places and organisations who are currently exploring different ways of improving homes locally.
In the past year we have held regular online meetings focused on themes identified by members such as recruitment and retention, hospital discharge services and how to support people living in fuel poverty and cold homes.
This was the first chance for members to be together in person. As the day progresses, groups of network members worked to explore service design approaches and ways of measuring impact.
Local authorities found they faced similar challenges despite their different local contexts.
For instance, a service providing help with hoarding in the North East might not be funded by the same mechanisms as one in the West Midlands but the challenge of juggling high demand with limited resources is very similar.
Also the scale of work might be quite different across, for example, a combined authority and a small unitary council, but the underlying principles of community engagement, good communication and the need for provision of emergency care are universal.
The idea and principles of a Good Home Hub, a one-stop shop service on all aspects of home repairs and adaptations advocated by the Centre for Ageing Better, are actively discussed, dissected and validated by the diverse and significant real-life experience in the room.
When we launched the Good Home Network in partnership with Foundations we wanted people to learn from one another and build connections that can be sustained outside network meetings.
Nowhere is this more obvious than during lunch in this Manchester event space when conversation took a more informal tone and I am reminded that the human mind is a social mind.
The event in Manchester feels like it was a step forward in the life and maturity of the network. It was a chance for members to feel a deeper connection with each other and the network; and also to influence the direction of travel over the next year. We are excited to see how the network develops in 2024.
It is important however to acknowledge that as a nationwide network, online meetings have given us the chance to meet together without having to travel or take too much time out of busy schedules and will remain a valuable and effective way of keeping the network connected over the upcoming year.
In 2024, we will continue with our programme of online and in-person events focusing on, among other things, how local areas can use both stories and numbers to demonstrate the value of their service or support people to access finance to improve their homes.
We will also provide more opportunities for members to connect through informal peer calls, network visits and a masterclass programme.
To find out more about the Good Home Network and how to join contact [email protected]