Small is BeautifulIAHSA /ACSA Global Conference Perth 2015

David Coe

My Background

4 years as International Director, Abbeyfield, IAHSA

Board Member

Previously CEO of International Psychoanalytical

Association and ORBIS, the Blindness Prevention

organisation

Chief Executive of the Soil Association, the UK organic

food body founded by E.F Schumacher author of ‘Small

is Beautiful’

Today we will look briefly at two examples of small is

beautiful

Abbeyfield in the beginning…..

A young Major returns from the war crossing war-

torn Italy………

He chances upon Cottolengo, a village in Italy

Eight thousand people of all ages lived there.

There were old people and orphans; people with

mental illness and people with physical disabilities.

All were cared for “by an order of sisters in a

Christian atmosphere”, in small communities of

around 8-12 people

3

In the beginning……..

He resigns his army commission and begins work as

a cleaner in a poor part of London

Out of this came the belief that loneliness among

older people was one of the key problems

So he invested his decommissioning payoff in the

first Abbeyfield house

Support from the press via his ex army chums

helped give the project international exposure and

coverage

4

The Abbeyfield Concept

8-12 people living communally

2 meals per day provided

Volunteer support-pastoral and practical

Good food, socialisation, physical, mental activity

5

Abbeyfield Today

Internationally present in 12 territories across 5

continents with 100 houses and 1,100 residents

In the UK, now 500 houses remain

Abbeyfield centrally is running down its support for and

involvement in small scale community housing,

preferring to focus on larger housing developments

Abbeyfield Development

Internationally

Was all self funding

Based on a simple statement of principles

A 2011 quality audit showed that quality and ethos were

more or less identical around the world in territories as

distinct as New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Ireland,

Canada, Italy, and Mexico

Mexico being all the more remarkable as the founders

had only ever had internet contact with the centre

Abbeyfield International merged

with Abbeyfield UK

Management Style

Carr Gomm the Founder sacked by Board in sixties

Organisation now led in traditional ‘command and

control’ style with unresolved conflict between central

control and the grassroots local Society developments

Recent example being the imposition of a new logo

Abbeyfield South Africa

South Africa Townships

65% unemployment, pension mugging rife

Abbeyfield had never been able to provide meals within

pension constraints

Partnership with Habitat for Humanity provided needs

assessment and community links

Partnership with community meals service and kids after

school project provided ability to provide one meal per

day

‘Beacon project’

Beacon Hill Village

In concept a kind of ‘Abbeyfield without walls’

A charity that provides support (but never personal care services) for the older person: one stop for social, cultural, wellness, home assistance etc)

Services provided by volunteers or at low cost by those on a roster

Purpose is to enable people to continue living in their own homes

Median age of beneficiaries is 78

Started in Boston USA

Beacon Hill Village

Now over 70 such projects in US, Canada, Australia

Characterised by being member-driven, grass roots,

member-governed, self funding, do not receive Govt

money

Delight in differences of new villages, with feedback to

existing villages through conferences, informal links etc

Growth started when an article appeared in the New

York Times

Examples of Small is Beautiful

Abbeyfield (originally) www.abbeyfield.com

Beacon Hill Villages www.beaconhillvillage.org

The Greenhouse Project www.thegreenhouseproject.org

Eden Alternative www.edenalt.org

Characteristics

Grass roots

Based on principle rather than procedure

Stakeholder /beneficiary involvement

Local control /governance

Devolved management systems

Often local initiatives

And in the corporate world……

Summary

Small is beautiful works

Consistency as seen in Abbeyfield, Beacon Hill Villages,

Eden Alternative, for key criteria like quality and ethos

is incredibly high (and anyway key issues like health and

safety subject to local legislation)

Local ownership /stakeholders are hugely motivated to

succeed and ensure beneficiary satisfaction

These projects have proved so attractive and exciting

they attract large amounts of free publicity

Summary Small is beautiful is cool

Put human relationships at the heart of all we do and

we can design structures that reduce depression,

anxiety, panic attacks, stress among beneficiaries-some

of the main elements affecting mortality in the age

groups we serve