There is nothing like the smell of baking to create a homely feel. At home I make bread most nights, what I mean by that is that I put the ingredients in the bread machine before bed and in the morning there is a fabulous loaf and the house smells so good. On Mondays our office and building has a very homely smell because Good Measure (previously Bloom Bakery) are back with a six week baking course with our residents.
I was out on Monday but keen to get back to see who was at this week's group. I had a house meeting in a café where, with my colleague Alex, we met the residents of one of our houses. We discussed how things were going, in particular cleaning and repairs but we also include a thought for the day moment – today’s was keep on trying:
“It doesn’t matter if you try, try and try again and fail. It does matter if you try and fail, and fail to try again.”
- Charles Kettering
I went straight from there to see the flat of someone who has been housed by Southwark housing team in the Lewisham borough and the obvious consequence is that he is isolated. Encouragingly it was his benefits advisor who contacted me. He speaks Portugese and very little English – thankfully I have a resident who came with me who can speak enough Portugese to translate. The accommodation was surprisingly nice, it has recently been converted and was very clean. But the main reason we went to the flat was to find out how we could help connect and support him as he starts to build his new life in a new borough. We invited him to attend the bakery class and he went straight to the group. Now we need to get him English lessons and I also suggested to my resident that he should do a Portuguese qualification because his translation work was really good.
I then cycled up to Deptford to visit Creekside Foyer, which provides accommodation for 45 young people aged between 16-25. I was meeting a potential resident and his support worker. So three homes in the space of 90 minutes for three very different meetings. I have always enjoyed getting out of the office, it is the best way to do my job. Visiting people in their home helps me to understand them and the situation they are in better. Over the years I have regularly told Lewisham Council housing managers that all their staff should get out to visit the accommodation they are sending people to. It simply helps to know what it feels like to walk into a shared house or a hostel. I also find that people are more truthful when you go to their place, they are a little more relaxed and they hide less.
I then dashed back to the office to see what the bakers were making - It was Muffins! As you can seem, there was some impressive treats that needed to be eaten.
So throughout the day I met people who despite their circumstances were not giving up - they were keeping on trying even if they had failed before. We must never stop trying and this applies to the housing advice, it applies to learning languages and it is so important when we start to learn new skills. As well as enjoying the fabulous smells of baking and enjoying the end product, seeing people trying something new is huge part of the Good Measure's approach. Who knows where it will take someone?
Good Measure do much more than baking classes, to check out their work and how you can support them go to www.goodmeasure.kitchen