The role of the Evaluation Steering Group was to comment and advise on the overall research methodology and review any outputs. It also had a role in providing steer on national and local factors that might have impacted the evaluation and to act as advocates and supporters of lessons learnt.
The individual steering group members were:
Peter Lister
Peter has worked extensively in the youth sector, including with Government, local authority and charity organisations. Over 20 years with The Prince’s Trust, he designed new programmes, managed volunteer networks and was lead on strategic partnerships. In 2005, he commissioned a report on Making Partnerships Work with HM Treasury.
In 2011 Peter chaired a co-location project to encourage charities to have a presence in job centres to increase volunteering opportunities and he was an adviser to the Social Exclusion Unit. He has also been instrumental in securing funding for new volunteer leadership programmes in the sector. Peter worked in local government in West Yorkshire for 14 years, including in Education Welfare, child protection, youth work and regeneration. Peter is currently UK Director for the new international charity, Chance for Change which utilises wilderness journeys to help people break a dependence on long term support from hostels, care or prison.
Glyn Halksworth
Glyn is currently the commissioning and strategy lead for drugs and alcohol at Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, a post he has held for the last 7 years. Prior to this time Glyn has worked in several practitioner, management and commissioning roles in the drugs and alcohol field in London and East Anglia, as well as working in the supported housing sector and with collective advocacy in London and Scotland. In his work with carers, Glyn was chair of the Scottish Young Carers Services Alliance for two years as well as sitting in this role as part of the national executive of Scottish carers services.
He holds an MSc in Public Service Commissioning, as well as postgraduate qualifications in management and addictions. Glyn is currently undertaking a MRes, en route to a PhD in which his research will work with people in ‘recovery’ from drugs problems to explore community organising approaches to the development of recovery communities. Glyn is also an Associate of Plymouth University’s Drug and Alcohol Research Unit.
Peter Cockersell
Peter has worked in the field of homelessness for over 20 years. Since 2004 he has been an Operational Director of St Mungo’s and is currently Director of Health & Recovery. Peter is a founding Director and acting Managing Director of Homeless Healthcare CIC, and a small private company, Intapsych. He is a UKCP-registered psychoanalytic psychotherapist, with over 10 years experience in NHS and private practice, much of it with homeless people and people with histories of complex trauma. He is a published author predominately on mental health, complex trauma and homelessness.
Peter is a member of Nafsiyat Intercultural Therapy Centre, the College of Medicine’s Faculty of Homeless Healthcare and Inclusion Health, the Metanoia Institute, the Council of Jungian and Psychoanalytic Analysis, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He has a BSc in Anthropology, an MSc in Intercultural Therapy, a PgC in Leadership in Health & Wellbeing, and is in the process of completing a doctorate in psychotherapy.
Helen Mathie
Helen is Head of Policy at Homeless Link, the national membership organisation for agencies working with homeless people, where she oversees their policy and research programmes. Helen has extensive experience of working in the voluntary sector with socially excluded groups in both a frontline and policy capacity, including in homelessness services, community development and adult learning. At Homeless Link, Helen oversees their national and local influencing work, advising government across a range of policy areas, including health, criminal justice, welfare and housing.
She is also involved in a number of national and local research projects evaluating and evidencing different aspects of homelessness and social inclusion. Helen has been a member of the DH Inclusion Health advisory groups and regularly represents Homeless Link on Home Office and DWP committees. In 2013 she was seconded to the Health Inequalities Unit at DH to review health commissioning and access to primary care for excluded groups.