Centre of attention

The central role of users in the Navigator project has contributed to its striking word-of-mouth success. With almost no advertising, the project has helped put more than 900 16- to 25-year-olds on the path to improved accommodation, employment or training opportunities in just 18 months.

The high degree of user involvement also impressed judges in this year's Andy Ludlow Award, which selected Navigator as overall winner and recipient of an £8000 prize.

Run by the Association of London Government's London Housing Unit and sponsored by Housing Today, the award recognises innovation and good practice in tackling homelessness. Navigator and two runners-up (see right) were drawn from an array of projects supported by housing departments, registered social landlords and the voluntary sector.

Navigator, as its name suggests, is about helping young people find a sense of direction. It addressed a generation who had experienced difficulties on the route to independent living, and found themselves in temporary hostel accommodation run by Hillingdon's Project 2041. There, people aged between 16 and 19 could access support and advice on jobs, studying, health and accommodation.

But when staff surveyed users of Project 2041's services, 90% said earlier intervention might have prevented their personal problems from developing into homelessness crises. Project staff and Hillingdon's housing advice service then took up the challenge to establish a drop-in advice centre for young people, which became a reality after a successful pitch for single regeneration budget (SRB) funding.

Navigator's three full-time advisers and two outreach workers address homelessness directly but also deal with its indirect causes: family relationship breakdowns, unemployment, lack of educational prospects, ill health or criminal histories.

As centre manager Adesola Owolana explains: "It's about looking at young people holistically. Very rarely can you solve the problem by referring them to just one person or agency. There's a lot of one-to-one work, and a lot of follow-up."

The project has fulfilled the original expectation that early intervention can often help prevent a young person becoming homeless at all. "Over 70% of the kids say they're homeless and in need of accommodation," Owolana notes. "But after working with them, often it turns out they're not desperately in need, or their situation can be tweaked." Staff also find that taking young people to visit local hostel accommodation often helps them view their circumstances in a less critical light.

The idea is that the young people should believe in themselves 

Adesola Owolana, centre manager

Navigator's guidance has played a crucial role. In a case in which a mother was threatening to throw out her teenage son, Navigator supported both sides through mediation; where a young woman's difficult relationship with her stepmother was near breaking point, Navigator staff even drew up a cleaning rota. "A lot of issues were being focused on cleaning. The rota helped, because the stepmother could quantify what was being done."

The centre also has to be alert to the possibility that the homelessness problem is just hiding other, more serious issues. One young woman, for example, was referred to hostel accommodation but was discovered to have a serious self-harming problem. Two weeks later, a suicide attempt revealed a buried trauma: sexual abuse. "She appeared to be an average young person looking for accommodation, but there were a lot of hidden issues," says Owolana.

Where a housing need is pressing and genuine, Navigator will work with individuals to present a persuasive case to social services for priority housing. It will also refer young people to emergency accommodation and provide continuing support to youngsters who enter hostel accommodation.

The centre has a shop-front on Yiewsley high street in Hillingdon. Users helped make the compulsory registration forms user-friendly and helped design the interior as a "learning shop" including 10 PCs with internet access. A sofa encourages visitors to relax, chat and linger while to the rear, there are two "advice pods" and a more private room for one-to-one advice.

"It's designed to look like an organised young person's bedroom, with mirrors and lamps and up-to-date slimline PCs," says Owolana, who believes it's important users aren't offered second-rate facilities or an apologetic back room in a community centre. "The idea is that they should believe in themselves – believe they're worth more than naff second-hand PCs. And in return, they've appreciated and respected the centre."

The computing facilities are at the core of Navigator's work in helping young people into education and training. Users can take learning modules that offer a taste of college work, study basic IT skills or prepare for driving test theory exams.

The £8000 prize money will go directly to users through a fund to meet emergency cash expenses, such as loans for bus and rail fares and Friday night emergency accommodation, and may also go towards a proposed Andy Ludlow bursary.