How we work
Impact of Climate Change
How we can help
Developing  Sustainable Living Skills with Customers

• SLK Skills 4 Life Programme
  
• Elements of the Skills 4 Sustainable Living Module
  
• Working Together
  

Greening SP Services

• The SLK Greening your Service Challenge
  
• The Nature of This Challenge
  
• Supporting You
  
• Training & Developing Links
  
• Your Part
  
• The Possible Benefits

As residents of ‘Planet Earth’ each of us needs to acknowledge the present situation of climate transition, and take personal responsibility to act to safe guard our home.  We also need to learn how to ‘adapt’ to the many and varied changes Global Warming will bring to our lives, homes & communities.

As customers leave our services they already face certain challenges & requirements which come as a direct consequence of climate change & reducing sources of cheap fuel.  These include:-

• Coping with the increasing cost of Energy
  Recent years have witnessed considerable fuel price increases and this is likely to get worse, many of our customers are in the lowest socio economic bracket
  
  
• Coping with possible rises in water costs 
  With increasing experience of weather extremes in Britain (as experienced this summer) water supply cost are likely to rise
  
  
• Meeting waste & recycling requirements 
  Many authorities are already penalising residents who do not recycle
  
  
• The Impact of Energy Assessments 
  The arrival of these for all properties, including rented, is fast approaching

• Provide tools for service providers to assist their customers in this field
  
• Guidance to Service Providers on how to create their own ‘Carbon Neutral’ Strategy or Service Sustainability Plan with clear targets and goals to help you, and your customers, live more lightly on the earth & improve service efficiency
  
• Deliver Seminar & Training events to help support Services on their journey to authentic sustainability

We feel very passionate about the need to honestly & fairly equip vulnerable people with the skills they require to help them live independently successfully, hence our creation of the SKILLS 4 LIFE PROGRAMME.

We feel equally passionate that the acquired skills should help your customers to sustain themselves in all areas of their life. This includes helping to prepare them for life in a more energy lean world where climate & physical conditions may vary considerably from what we have all experienced previously.

An innovative approach we have developed to assist Support Service Providers to achieve their ultimate goal of helping customers to acquire the skills, knowledge & confidence they need to learn to manage their lives and meet their own needs positively & successfully.

The programme provides a goals lead range of activity, which the customer can drive, that supports them in moving from their present level of skill & confidence to the place they wish to be in order to ‘feel’ and ‘be’ able to live independently successfully.

Click here for more details of the skills 4 life programme

• Climate Change awareness raising & how to ‘map’ your Carbon Footprint
• Awareness raising about ‘Peak Oil’ & Energy options
• Explanations on how to meet energy needs & select energy provider
• The principles, methods & benefits of Re-cycling & Re-use
• Guidance on ‘how to fix or repair useful items & save money or grow own food
• Awareness of natural surroundings & our connections with other beings

The Skills 4 Sustainable Living Module can be used as a vehicle to help us learn together how best to deal with the global climate challenge.  Introducing it will require organisations:

• To build greater connections with local agencies who are expert in this field
  
• Help customers understand their social responsibilities & appreciate their skills may be needed in their local community & better ‘root’ services & organisations in the locality.

In order to really achieve its full impact potential, the Customer Skills development programme is best delivered by organisations beginning their own process of ‘Greening their service’.

Our awareness of the impact of climate change is raising daily.  Press and media coverage in this area is unprecedented, and while we may be aware of the urgent ‘call to action’ these challenges demand, how many of us really know how and where to begin?

As part of our mission to encourage colleagues in the Social & Supported Housing sector to take action and respond pro-actively to climate transition, we are issuing the ‘Greening Your Service’ Challenge to social housing & housing support professionals everywhere.

We are keen to identify a number of organisations who wish to begin ‘doing something positive’ to make their organisations & services more sustainable, and better able to respond to the practical needs of their customers.

If you wish to take up this challenge we will provide tailored support to assist you in this journey.  This support will include helping you to:-

• Understand the context of the challenge facing all of us & how it relates to your service, business & customers
  
• Understand where your service /organisation is at present re:-
  
  1. Energy & fuel use
  2. Managing your waste, and
  3. Understanding your business resource needs & how this impacts on increasing environmental constraints
     
• Identify & decide on your priorities for action & set targets & outcomes to achieve
  
• Create a step by step Transition Action Plan to meet your objectives – including agreed milestones
  
• Engage staff & customers fully in the Transition programme
  
• Adjust services to help customers respond creatively to climate & energy challenges in their own lives
  
• Keep the process of transition moving & people motivated using visioning techniques & learning how to celebrate your achievements
  
• Show organisations how to share the load by doing this work ‘Together’ with others – drawing upon a vast array of support & interest from others outside your organisation.
  
• Have FUN & enjoy the process

Training & Developing Links

We can provide in-house training to support in your activities as well as guidance, key information about support from other partners, assistance in ‘keeping going’ & practical support in engaging customers & staff in the process.

You will need to:-

• Take the challenge seriously and put time & resources by to make it happen
  
• Enable colleagues and customers to be involved – make space, & staff time available to engage & discuss
  
• Be willing to try new ideas & look outside your organisation for inspiration
  
• Be prepared to be inspired & surprised by the desire of ‘others’ to do something
  
• Bring this process to the heart of your organisation – allocate a director level champion within your service

Be creative & radical in developing solutions & remember to have FUN with this

The benefits of this work can be amazing, as it is a true leveller for all involved, they include:-

• Saving money, energy & reducing Your CO2 emissions
• Better engaging customers in your service
• Improving staff morale & sense of belonging
• Giving the organisation a greater sense of purpose & direction - galvanising all players into action
• Minimising waste & making the best use of all available resources
• Raising the organisations profile locally & with partners, and

It can be creative & FUN. Contact us for more details