We have held many enjoyable social events at Vincent House using our attractive lounge, garden and dining room. We occasionally hold a summer party in the garden and every December we have a special dinner for residents with entertainment including dancing to celebrate Christmas. We also host other events and a recent occasion was ‘Making It Home’ an evening of conversation and canapés held in April 2008.

‘Making It Home’ followed the Annual General Meeting which was held earlier in the afternoon on the same day. The guests who attended the event heard a selection of personal reflections on the meaning of home that stimulated lots of thought-provoking conversations.

At a time when finding somewhere to live is a major challenge for many people, ‘Making It Home’  was intended to contribute to the debate and perhaps even inspire some fresh ideas.The event was attended by the Committee, several shareholders, representatives of Vincent Housing Association’s partners Trinity Homeless Projects and The Stepping Stones Trust, and a range of other charitable organisatons including Shelter and Blue Sky. Everyone appeared to thoroughly enjoy the occasion; many found the talks moving as well as interesting and there were lots of favourable comments about the delicious canapés and tasty buffet. 

Geoffrey Roughton, Chairman of Vincent Housing Association Limited introduced the guest speakers - Lyn Hopkins, resident of Vincent House, Alan Joel of Trinity Homeless Projects, Paul Baker of The Stepping Stones Trust and Nigel Bolton of Shelter

Lyn Hopkins, resident of Vincent House for almost 30 years, was acknowledged as ‘Father of the House’ a title conveyed on the resident who has lived at Vincent House the longest.  In an amusing interview conducted by Geoffrey Roughton, Lyn explained why he feels so ‘at home’ at the House and the benefits of being a resident that have resulted in him making it home for so many years.

Alan Joel deputised for Steve Hedley, Chief Executive of Trinity Homeless Projects who was unable to attend due to other commitments.  In 1998 VHA purchased a dilapidated supermarket in Yeading Middlesex to enable what was then Yeldall Homeless Projects (YHP) to establish a project providing both accommodation and employment/training in a retail business recycling furniture, clothes and bric a brac.  In 2007 YHP separated from its parent charity (Yeldall Christian Centres) and became Trinity Homeless Projects with Steve at its helm. Alan did a great job in delivering Steve’s speech about the importance of home to the many individuals that Trinity, and formerly YHP, has been able to help.

Paul Baker of The Stepping Stones Trust was a resident at Hope House, the property in South Croydon that VHA acquired in 2001 to enable SST to provide supported accommodation to offenders on their release from prison.  Hope House is Phase 2 in SST’s 4 phase operation which aims to provide support from within prison and ‘through the gate’ to independent living.  Paul, who has moved on to independent accommodation and now works for SST, talked about how the opportunity to have a home at Hope House enabled him to re-establish his life. 

Nigel Bolton, Services Manager (Kent) SHELTER, presented a persuasive case study of a child in Newham who has been helped by the work of SHELTER.