EARLY DAYS
The Seed of an Idea
Housing was a problem in the 1960s. ‘Cathy Come Home’ , a legendary drama by Jeremy Sandord directed by Ken Loach, screened on BBC TV in 1966 had everyone talking. It highlighted the distress of poverty and homelessness which caused a young family to be broken up. The issue of homelessness became more prominent as a result of 'Cathy Come Home' and it was at last on the public agenda . The film and the resulting outcry brought about the foundation of Shelter, the charity for housing action, and it later influenced changes in the law regarding homelessness, so that local Authorities had to comply with legislation instead of using their own methods of dealing with homeless people, or not dealing with them which was more likely to be the case.
None of this was unfamiliar to three Quakers relaxing on a beach in Holland on Sea in Essex. Ella Vinall was the Personnel Manager for Betts, a factory which employed young women. Ella found it difficult to keep women in employment in the area. It was not easy for any single person let alone a single woman to find accommodation in the area. Ted Dunn was concerned with finding accommodation for ex offenders who like single women met discrimination in renting rooms. The Hostel of the Good Shepherd in Colchester, for which Denise O’Brien was the outside Social Worker, knew the stigma of young unmarried women expecting a baby and the difficulty in finding move on accommodation from the hostel.
The Shaping of a Vision
There were several meetings in the spring and early summer of 1965 at Colchester Quaker Meeting House in response to a concern for accommodation for unmarried mothers and ex prisoners. This seemed to crystallize around doing something practical and it was decided to create an informal association to help with homelessness in the area. The first recorded meeting of the 'Housing Committee' of the proposed Housing Association was on 1st July 1965. It met at the Shewell Road Meeting House.The Housing Committee met twice a month to thrash out their aims and decide where to start.
Derek Crosfield agreed to become Chairman (but NEVER President, according his quote in the minutes). The other members were; Ted Dunn as Vice-chairman, Kathleen Tufnell as Honorary Treasurer and Bernard Brett the secretary. Ruth Lord, Denise O'Brien, Albert Pike, Alexander Robertson, a researcher at Essex University, and Denys Rendell were the other founding members of the Association. John Cole, a London solicitor, and Tina Thurston, a housing office in a London Borough, were to soon join this group.
The support of the local churches and others sealed the future of the housing association as an ecumenical concern and from these early times the Management Committee was never exclusively Quaker, drawing upon the participation and support of members of the Church of England and the Roman Catholic Church, of the Jewish community, of agnostics and many others. All were welcome, provided they were prepared to make an active contribution.These people of vision and practical commitment began a piece of work which brought hope and peace of mind to countless others over the next four decades.
A House for Unmarried Mothers
Alex and Denys drew up a proposal and draft constitution in which they decided that only 51% of the Founding Members needed to be Quakers rather than the 75% first suggested. Their primary aim was to house unmarried mothers but the committee wondered if the stigma associated with this group might be avoided by creating a mixed hostel that included other homeless people. However this would be to dilute the pimary purpose and this was rejected.
Whilst keeping a lookout for a suitable house to convert into bed-sits or flats they appealed to Quakers, prestigious people and Trusts to gather support and finance. Bernard had previously met Peter Pears and Benjamin Britten and wrote to them to invite them to become Supporters of the project. They expressed an interest, and suggested giving a concert to raise money. This was an idea that seemed to lose its way as there was no record that it ever took place.
Cannon Collins, the Founder of Christian Action Housing Association was to speak at the Colchester Council of Churches AGM on 1st November and they hoped to meet him there for advice. However, on 21st October, Group Capt John Glen, from the Christian Action Housing Association came to a special meeting. Denys Rendell remembers John Glen travelling around East Anglia in a customised mini, with the necessary paperwork for a constitution, so all that needed to be done was to insert the name of a new group into a generic document. Thus the Memorandum and Articles of Christian Action (Colchester Quaker) Housing Association Ltd were signed on 2nd November 1965.
The Christian Action (Colchester Quaker) Housing Association was, a month later, also registered as a charity. It was soon seeking funds and in particular ‘deeds of covenant’ for tax recovery for purchasing ‘ordinary houses for unsupported mothers and children, large enough to accommodate four to six tenants in bed-sitting rooms together with a caretaker or married couple. Each tenant to have a self contained room sharing communal washing facilities.’ It was estimated that each house unit would cost between £5,000 - £10, 000. The first house unit was to be Hythe House.
The Race for Hythe House
In March 1966 they found Hythe House on the market and decided to have it surveyed. In early April, Ted Dunn called an Emergency Meeting as a 2nd purchaser had appeared and haste was needed to secure the capital for what obviously seemed 'fit for purpose'. The Housing Acts of 1957, 1961 and 1964 changed the legal framework in which the associations, started in the 50’s and 60’s, operated.
Conversion of a House to Bed sits
Brian Roach was asked to draw up plans for conversion of the house into 7 bedsits, and a further sum of over £ 5000 was now needed for this work. The appeal was widened with a second printing of 5000 leaflets by Cullingfords. It was hoped that a Colchester Borough Council grant and loan might be raised to cover this but the begging letters continued to go out to many Charitable Trusts and individuals. The Buttle Trust declined to help unless it was to assist the illegitimate children of women from the professional classes. After more correspondence they gave £500!
It took more than a year to get approval from the Ministry of Housing before work could officially begin. The committee were keen to use volunteers where possible and they planned to have an International Voluntary Service work camp to apply Rentokil against woodworm and deathwatch beetle. They were encouraged by the commitment of many young people, not necessarily from any particular church, who joined the voluntary working parties at Hythe House before the builders could start work. The builders moved in in the autumn of 1967 and completion was in spring 1968. By this time the money for the conversion had been raised and a loan of £5000 agreed by the council.
A married couple, Brian and Judith Dawes, had been in touch offering to take the post of live-in wardens. A salary of £350 p.a. was offered as well as accommodation for the couple and their 2 young children. Judith would be expected to child-mind 3 or 4 tenants’ children while their mothers were at work. However, when the Brooke Street Nursery suggested the children could go there, the Dawes were asked what reduction in salary would seem fair. The minutes record that their reply was too modest! Derek Crosfield, a member of Essex County Council, was trying to ascertain if the project would run at a deficit as he believed the county might pay a deficit grant of about £900 a year.
Hythe House was opened by the Mayor of Colchester in May 1968.
Business Planning - Al Fresco
In July 1966 Colchester council offered them 17 Chapel St to rent for a few years till it would be demolished to build Southway. This house provided shared accommodation for 5 or 6 foreign students and workers and the management sub-committee was chaired by Jean Watts. Joy Donnelly who probably owned the house before its compulsory purchase soon joined the Executive Committee and sold the household equipment to the association for £100. It was known as International House and lasted till about 1970.
In September 1966 a hostel for discharged prisoners was discussed when they were approached by Senior Probation Officer Mr Jowett. They tried for sometime to find a suitable house and formed another sub-committee in the spring of 1967 which brought John Cole into the organisation as well as John Longhurst. They had talks with the St. Leonard’s Housing Association which worked exclusively for this client group and in autumn 1969 they set up a Colchester branch of this HA with the same management committee as CQ. They were then helped to buy 32 Artillery Street to house a discharged prisoner and his family. Eventually the house was transferred to CQ ownership.
