About Foursquare
Our History, Vision and Goals
Four Square has been a major voluntary organisation in the homelessness sector in Edinburgh for the past 27 years. It is now one of the largest providers of homelessness services in Edinburgh with an annual income of just over £2.5m, the majority of which comes from contracts with the City of Edinburgh Council (CEC).
Our Beginnings
The “Edinburgh Working Party on the Single Homeless” was established in 1977. The main concern of the time was the Dickensian conditions in several “common lodging houses”. The Working Party’s recommendations led to the creation of ECSH – the “Edinburgh Council for the Single Homeless” - in 1978.
Our Early Days
Director, Grassmarket Advice Centre (GAC) Officer, 2 Development Officers and 2 Administrative Secretaries were appointed in 1978-79 and the first services operated by ECSH were the GAC and Cowgate Centre (3 Cowgate workers). ECSH immediately took on an active campaigning role on hostel conditions and the threatened closures, together with its other major role as an umbrella body for homelessness organisations.
Our Service Development
New services were developed from 1980 up to the start of the Government Rough Sleepers Initiative in 1998 including: Stopover hostel for 16 to 21 year olds; Follow-up housing support service; Housing Association Supported Flats. Other services added include: in 1998, Edinburgh Furniture Initiative (EFI) merger; in 2000, Edinburgh Clothing Store merger (formerly run by the WRVS); in 2002, Partners in Education employability service. A major development was the Cowgate Centre moving to purpose-built premises in 1998.
The Scottish Executive’s Rough Sleepers Initiative (Phase 1) started in 1998 and offered the potential to bring to fruition many of ECSH’s service ideas.
With RSI phases 1, 2 and 3 ECSH was able to develop or enhance our Cowgate Centre night/weekend service; Prison Outreach Project housing advice and information service; Number 20 accommodation for homeless young women; and Supported Flats scheme (CEC tenancies)
2003: A Different Climate, A Different Name
We are now operating in a new era of strategic planning and service provision:
- Competitive tendering and new CEC commissioning function (including Supporting People regime) means new challenges
- Purpose-built Stopover (2002) means our hostel provision is of a high standard
- Edinburgh’s Homelessness Strategy and Action Plan gives a clarity to the City’s priorities and funding opportunities
- We have firmly established our place on various strategic planning bodies and the independent voluntary sector umbrella groups – the Housing Support Interest Group and the Lothian Homelessness Forum.
In this new era, we have seen the need to re-examine our own core principles, core activities and development strategy. This has led to our new name of Four Square (Scotland) which we believe reflects our work both in Edinburgh and in other parts of Scotland. It also represents our 4 areas of strategic focus and service provision:
- Accommodation and Support
- Practical Assistance
- Advice and Advocacy
- Education and Training
Here and Now
Four Square’s newest service development is the launching of our Spectrum employability service this year. Spectrum is based on the knowledge and expertise developed over the past five years of action research work funded by the Scottish Enterprise New Futures Fund and the Big Lottery and European Social Fund (originally for our Partners in Education programme).
Spectrum works in three ways:
- to facilitate capacity building for staff working in frontline homelessness services, developing their skills in employability assessments and advice to their clients
- to provide an employability guidance service to all clients referred by Four Square projects and other service providers in the City
- to provide a modular training programme in developing ‘emotional intelligence’; life management and work skills delivered at HMP Edinburgh and in the community.
We believe that through Spectrum’s continuing work we will be better able to provide an integrated service to the people using any of Four Square’s range of projects. We are already seeing the fruits of this integrated approach in HMP Edinburgh, where prisoners are able to receive housing advice and information from our Prison Outreach Project, employability guidance and training from Spectrum and housing support from Follow-up upon leaving prison.
Working in this way, we also believe we can realise Four Square’s vision, goals and core principles:
Our Vision
- To be recognised as a leader in working with homeless and other socially excluded people to achieve their full potential.
Our Goals
- To be in the top three providers of positive outcomes for service users
- To sustain and develop best value and best practice services with our key partners
Our Core Principles
- To provide a quality service to all users of projects managed by Four Square – in a safe, non-threatening, secure environment
- To work with other agencies to enhance and promote the quality of services available to homeless people in Edinburgh and beyond
- To develop and manage new services that are relevant to the needs of homeless people
- To be an equal opportunities organisation and oppose discrimination against all groups and individuals within society
- To consult with and involve service users
- To use all means possible for the prevention of homelessness and work for the social inclusion of homeless people
- To campaign against policies and practice adversely affecting homeless people
- To respect and develop the skills offered by staff and volunteers of the organisation.