Staff focus through a different lens as new human rights training tool kit is launched

Friendship Care and Housing (Friendship) working in partnership with brap have developed an innovative human rights training tool-kit designed specifically for social housing staff.   The tool-kit explores new approaches to learning and development to provide a deeper understanding of cultural needs and issues and where service delivery connects with the customer and focuses directly on the rights of the individual first and foremost.

Friendship’s staff work with customers from wide and diverse cultural backgrounds.  Drawing from their grass-roots knowledge and experience they are obviously best placed to understand the practical, real life situations and so develop a better understanding of views on equality, diversity and human rights issues in the world of social housing. 

A cross section of staff from administration, housing and estate management, performance analysis, training, development and members of Friendship’s board were invited to discuss a broad range of questions related to Friendships current practice on equality and diversity, engagement with customers and human rights issues faced by vulnerable groups. 
The information collected was reviewed and has set the framework to develop the training tool-kit.

Friendship’s front line staff and managers will be the first to benefit from the training sessions which, are being piloted in February.   The training will then be rolled out to other member companies within Longhurst Group and offered to other social housing landlords.

Sophie Hall, service improvement manager at Friendship said “We were delighted when brap invited us to work in partnership with them to develop and launch this innovative and exciting project.  To genuinely improve service delivery, social landlords need to understand exactly who their customers are and recognise that everyone is different.  We have to keep abreast of changing patterns and trends in the regions and neighbourhoods we operate and have a deeper appreciation not only of cultural differences but generational gaps to, this is the only way positive change will come about.”  

Jonathan Driffill, Friendship’s managing director and brap’s appointed chair said “Friendship links with the spirit of brap.  This is a period of great change for communities and organisations and ever since I became involved with brap I've been impressed with its approach, innovative and cutting edge solutions to tackling inequality.  brap has been at the forefront of applying human rights principles to make service delivery better and I’m looking forward to helping them stay ahead of the game."

Asif Afridi, brap’s Deputy CEO said “what was so great about doing this toolkit was working with people at the frontline of housing provision and seeing how quickly they saw how human rights could help them deliver better, more responsive services. Human rights are going to be a big thing in the coming years, so we’re glad to see that there are forward thinking organisations out there prepared to test out cutting edge equalities practice. We look forward to working with Friendship more in the future.”