Involving homeless people to meet their needs - the Brent Homeless Users Group (B.HUG)

"We’re the only borough that did a single homeless review by users. I wish it existed in every London borough."

Atara Fridler, B.HUG’s director

Brent Homeless Users Group (B.HUG) is an independent organisation that aims to ensure that the range and quality of Brent’s services are appropriate to homeless people’s needs, and that they are given a voice.  It is hosted by bassac member Cricklewood Homeless Concern.

“For B.HUG, diversity is about seeing homeless users as equal partners." says Atara Fridler, B.HUG’s director.

B.HUG has done this by developing a compact, or framework for a better working relationship using:

• Speakouts
• Participation training
• Capacity building
• Exchange visits

The ideas have received the support of the local council. B.HUG is quite a fluid group with nine particularly active members who form the management committee. At one event there were 40 users and 70 at the conference.

In a recent service review - homeless people interviewing homeless people throughout Brent - homeless volunteers managed to contact 100 people. The majority of users are hard-to-engage groups, which is why Atara has focused on developing the capacity of the core group.

As she points out, "When that group engages directly with users, the response is very different - they are obviously more credible. But of course, not everyone wants to be involved at that level."

Exchange visits organised by B.HUG have involved six service providers visiting each other within the Brent area. The visits have been extremely useful in increasing their mutual understanding.

B.HUG has also hosted three speakout events. The first was attended by Brent’s director of housing and a representative from the primary care trust. The second focused on supporting people; and the third was a pre-election speakout, with each local political candidate.

The Supporting People review was quite a challenge for B.HUG. “It was a big step for the group but, as well as recognition, it gave something valid to users and it made B.HUG much more credible within the sector and borough.

"We’re the only borough that did a single homeless review by users. I wish it existed in every London borough. Our most successful outcome so far is that we are now recognised as a group within the borough,” says Atara.

“The idea of a user group is now much more established and sets a positive model of user involvement for users and providers elsewhere.”