SPONSORED: 'Tech companies, lend us your expertise' - Crisis CEO on its partnership with Cisco

The boss of the national charity for homelessness, Jon Sparkes, has hailed his new connection with Cisco, calling the tech sector a natural ally

"What ideas can you give us in terms of how we can increase the impact of our services? Tech could make an amazing difference to our people, as well as the people we help."

That's the question to the channel from Jon Sparkes, CEO of Crisis (pictured) - the national charity striving to end homelessness.

Fresh from a visit to Downing Street to discuss policy with the government, Sparkes is adamant that an alternative fount of leadership lies within the tech sector.

It leads him to explain the rationale between his partnership with Cisco.

In a restaurant in Euston, Sparkes and two of his colleagues sit with Cisco's UK&I partner boss, Angela Whitty.

Across from the bread baskets and bottles of sparkling water are Karl Smith and Mandy Pattinson.

It's a setting worlds away from where they used to be, at different times in their lives, in Liverpool and Newcastle.

Both were formerly homeless.

Both of their lives used to revolve around trying to stay safe day by day, but especially night by night, out living rough on the streets.

Now with their lives back in control, they're ambassadors for Crisis and living proof that homelessness can be ended.

What's the impact?

Both Mandy and Karl emphasise that the impact of outside support is entirely life-altering.

"Look, I've lived the change that can happen when people look at you and actually see you as a person," Karl says.

"It built me up over the last few years, and the process was properly emotional.

"Without that support, over the years you become isolationist. You become territorial.

"You forget how to speak to people. That's the thing you see, it's harder to get help when you've forgotten how to speak to people."

He added:

"My life before, it was a horrible picture…And when I see kids going through the same thing now, it breaks your heart because no matter what other people say, they need someone who understands who is willing to talk to them, to remind them how to engage with the rest of the world."

‘My life has been transformed'

For Mandy, her addictions threw her life as a social worker with a family in Newcastle into disarray.

"Once the addictions really kicked in, I lost everything. My kids cut contact, and I just wanted to die actually, when I walked through the doors of Crisis.

"Living in a car and then in a park, it was terrifying. But I just couldn't break the habits of addiction. It really took someone looking out for me, getting me to rehab and then Crisis building up my self-esteem again to fight back.

"And you know it really is incredible, Crisis helped me get another qualification and show that I can be sober. You know, it might sound like a cliché but I really was overwhelmed by the genuine love and care…Bit by bit I got built back up, got a flat and reconnected with my family…My life has been transformed."

Both Karl and Mandy have spoken on behalf of Crisis at corporate events, including at Cisco's UK Partner Forums earlier this year.

‘We can add scale and resources to their fight"

Cisco's UK&I partner boss Angela Whitty is clear that having them interact with the company's partner community is important.

"This isn't just about CSR for us," she says,

"A few of us volunteered at Crisis at Christmas, which is obviously a very visible thing. And then myself, and people from my team, made contact with Jon to ask, what can we do? How can we help?

"So, in the UK, we've adopted Crisis as one of our major headline sponsor charities, along with the Trussell Trust.

"The thing is, we know we can add scale and resources to their fight… A charity like any organisation is being affected by the need for digital transformation."

Crisis' head of organisational change, Sarah Farquhar, lays out exactly what kind of influence tech leaders can have on their cause.

"Sometimes, we can feel like we're pushing boulders uphill. And then along comes a company like Cisco, and the momentum changes.

"I hear it all the time from my colleagues that tech could make an amazing difference to both our people delivering services and the people using our services. It's hard for us to answer questions on how we as an organisation need to modernise our infrastructure, because that's not our expertise, right.

"So, I really believe that tech has a role to play in ending homelessness in a more systematic, more data-informed way."

What's next?

So, what's next?

On the agenda is a London Bridges Walk on the7 September, which has an ambitious fundraising target of £60,000.

Whitty hopes that it will have a dramatic impact on galvanising further successes at Crisis.

It was the brainchild of Cisco partner Cisilion.

Whitty namechecked its marketing director, Hannah Cunningham, as being instrumental in putting the event together and fundraising.

And other channel firms have also got involved.

Softcat CEO Graeme Watt volunteers personally with his family at Crisis at Christmas, as well as helping with some IT projects at the charity.

Comstor UK&I MD Clive Hailstone, CAE sales director Richard Behan and Ingram Micro general manager Cisco, Dan Maynard, have also all offered sponsorship support for the walk.

If you too, want to get involved, check out the Bridge Trek event site, or contact Crisis for more information.