A helping hand reaching out to young Londoners
By Amanda Diamonds  Although sometimes seen as a thing of the past, homelessness and inadequate housing is still a problem for young Irish people. Continuing our series on Irish voluntary organisations in Britain. Amanda Diamond visited An Teach Housing Association to ask director Joanne Murray what they are doing to address the problem.
On the third floor of a cavernous building in north London Joanne Murray greets her clients with the support of her trusty side-kick — her beloved pet greyhound Tasha.
With a smile as broad as the Thames and dressed casually in jeans and a shirt the 39-year-old director of An Teach Housing Association (soon to be Causeway Irish Housing) is a vision of relaxed friendliness and informality.
Joanne and her team of four are a lifeline to many young Irish living in north London.
And 23-year-old Lisa-Marie Austin can testify to that.
The young woman — whose family hail from Belfast and Kildare —found herself homeless and vulnerable in the capital after her flat was burgled five years ago.
She came to An Teach for help and hasn’t looked back since. “I really don’t know where I’d be today if it wasn’t for An Teach,” Bradford-born Lisa-Marie says solemnly. “They really helped me out when I first came here.”
Lisa-Marie is still living in one of An Teach’s flats in Haringey. She is in the final year of her fine art degree at Central St. Martin’s University — something she says she may not have achieved had it not been for An Teach.
She is just one of the hundreds of people Joanne and her team have successfully helped to get back on track.
“Often young Irish people come over and stay on people’s floors or in hostels,” Joanne says.
“This can often mean they are the hidden homeless.“And this is still a big thing within the younger Irish community here.”
But Joanne — whose family hails from Waterford, Skibereen and Dublin — hopes An Teach goes some way to alleviating this problem.
They have around 30-40 properties and house up to 100 people.
The housing is predominately shared but An Teach also provides bed-sit accommodation. Rent in a shared house can be around £85 and around £110 for a bed-sit. And An Teach pays the council tax and water rates for tenants in shared housing.
Tucked away in a corner of the building which also houses the Haringey Irish Centre, Joanne has the responsibility of finding suitable accommodation for the 100-or so tenants the small organisation helps every year.
She is increasingly charged with the task of trawling the streets
of north London in search of appropriate housing speaking to private landlords and other housing
organisations.
But it is not easy.
Joanne’s job is to ensure that An Teach’s rents remain low. But private landlords are not always interested. The organisation’s remit is to provide affordable and comfortable housing for people of Irish descent who are on low income, unemployed or who are in temporary accommodation — but it can be an uphill struggle.
“It is becoming more and more difficult,” Joanne insists as she sips her mug of tea and speaks of the wider problems associated with the rental sector in Britain’s capital.
She is horrified at Britain’s obsession with home ownership and feels it has a detrimental effect on people on lower incomes looking to rent.
“I think there needs to be a return to council housing with more investment in social housing,” she argues.
“It is horrific to think that homes are now regarded as commercial commodities rather than places to live in and be happy in.”
And the people who are affected most are the disenfranchised young she believes.
It is today’s young — especially those of Irish descent — that Joanne is passionate about.
Her first serious job — as she puts it — was in social services working with children in care. She then moved onto community youth work before working with young people living in hostels.
The South-Wales native has been at An Teach for six years.
And the human touch provided by the organisation is something which Joanne is particularly proud.
“Although I don’t have a lot of direct contact with the tenants I would recognise over 90 per cent of them on the street,” Joanne affirms happily.
“I’d like to think we are much more than a landlord. We are friendly and understanding but also provide a professional service.”
But the organisation doesn’t just provide affordable housing. It also has a life skills programme — funded by Dion and the Irish Youth Foundation — in order to equip young people with the tools needed for independent living.
An Teach’s full-time Life Skills worker helps people to get into education programmes, to apply for jobs as well as helping with social events and weekly budgeting.
“Our ethos is not just to house people but to help people move on and be independent,” Joanne insists.
“For some of our tenants we have probably been a lifeline by just being here.
“Sometimes people come to us lacking the necessary life skills they need to make the best of things.
“And lets not forget that we all need some help and direction in our lives from time to time.
“Ultimately, the best thing for us is being able to give people accommodation that they are really happy with to help them move on in their lives.”
Necessary Skills
What are the Key Qualities needed to work in an organisation like An Teach?
You need a commitment to public service and not to want to stray from that. You have to not be driven by money because you won’t become a millionaire in this line of work.
You have to be interested in people but at the same time you have got to be able to take a step back from the situation.
You need to be content in the knowledge that there is only so much you can do and you need to be satisfied that you are doing what you can.
And you absolutely have to have a sense of humour — it always helps.
An Teach at
a glance
An Teach provides affordable accommodation for young people aged between 18 and 31 who are of Irish descent. To be considered as a tenant by An Teach you need to be on a low income or unemployed and living either in temporary or unsuitable accommodation.
An Teach has between 30 and 40 properties and about 100
tenants.
Their properties cost between around £85 for shared accommodation and £110 for bed-sit accommodation.
Tenants can avail of An Teach’s Life Skills programme for as long as they would like.
The story of Lisa-Marie Austin
Lisa-Marie Austin has a bright future thanks to An Teach. She talked to Amanda Diamond about her experience.
“An Teach really helped me out when I first came to London from Leeds. I was sleeping on people’s sofas because I had lost my flat after I was burgled.
“They trashed the place and even left behind blood.
“It was a complete mess and I couldn’t go back there.
“It was awful.
“I tried to get my money back from the landlord because I wanted to move out but I couldn’t which left me with no money and no place to live.
“At the time I didn’t know anyone in London so I ended up staying with my mum’s friend.
“A friend I had made then introduced me to An Teach.
“I came in and had an interview and met some people here.
“From the off I felt I had come to a place where I would be helped.
“It was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere which was great because most places I’d been to made me feel like I wasn’t wanted.
“Often when I’d been looking for a place I was made to feel like I was just being a
nuisance.
“At the time I had pink spikey hair and lots of piercings.
“People would take one look at me and make a judgement about me.
“But nobody batted an eyelid here. They were great.
“They tried to keep me as close to my friend as possible and they gave me a place to live on the same street as him.
“I really hit it off with one of the people I met in the house so we moved into a two-bedroom flat ourselves.
“I was really lucky because I was able to move on and I’m really happy where I am now.
“But if I hadn’t come through An Teach things might have been a lot different.
“I don’t think I would even have a home now.
“I’d hate to think what might have happened. I could have ended up on the streets living in a shop doorway in Knightsbridge or something.
“This place is so important for people. If it wasn’t here people would be lost.
“I’m of Irish descent. My family hail from Belfast and Kildare.
“So it is important for me to be considered second-generation Irish. It gives me a sense of identity. I know who I am and I know where I’ve come from.
“We all feel really proud of that as well.
“Being introduced to other Irish people really helped me too because it made me realise that there were other people in my situation and who were like me.
“It’s very easy to feel isolated and that you are on your own. But you don’t have to be.
“I’m in the final year of a full-time fine art degree at Central St. Martin’s. I don’t think I would have been able to do this if it hadn’t been for An Teach.” | 