Apply for Help

CRASH is the construction industry’s charity.

CRASH assists homelessness charities and hospices with their refurbishment and construction projects, sourcing pro-bono or discounted professional expertise, and construction products, from our Corporate Patron companies and supporters within the industry.

We know buildings affect the way we feel and behave – even a small refurbishment project can make a big difference.

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How We Help

CRASH has built long-lasting, significant partnerships with companies in the construction industry. We work collaboratively with all of the homelessness and hospice charities we support to deliver assistance in three ways:

  • Professional Expertise

    CRASH can source pro-bono or discounted professional expertise thanks to our Corporate Patrons. This might include architects, engineers, quantity surveyors or contractors.

  • Construction Products

    CRASH can introduce product specifiers to ensure the correct products are selected, and source free-of-charge or discounted construction products.

  • Grant Giving

    CRASH is not primarily a grant-giving body and will only consider grants where Corporate Patrons are involved with projects and have donated professional expertise and/ or construction materials. Please note CRASH will never be able to fully fund a project. Any grants CRASH awards are made possible thanks to the generosity of the construction industry.

Here are examples of the areas where CRASH may provide assistance before, during and after your construction project:

Pre-Construction

  • Advice on the suitability of a property
  • Site surveys and investigations, including Planned Preventative Maintenance surveys (PPM)
  • Production of architectural and engineering designs
  • Help writing the scope of works
  • Tendering and procurement advice

During Construction

  • Sourcing construction products
  • Our Corporate Patron companies who are contractors may be able to undertake the work, depending on the project size and location
  • Continued design advice from our Corporate Patrons if they were involved pre-construction

Post-Construction

  • Guidance on maintenance of your property via a Planned Preventative Maintenance survey (PPM)
  • Advice on dilapidations

Planned Preventative Maintenance survey (PPM)

A Planned Preventative Maintenance survey (PPM) can help a charity understand the work that needs to be done on their property.  This means a plan can be put in place that prioritises when work needs to be done and what it is likely to cost. This keeps a building in good condition going forward and avoids emergency repairs being necessary.

Our Corporate Patrons

Application Process

Here is an outline of our application process. We’re here to help you so don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to hearing from you. Once you’ve read the process please go ahead and create your application.

  • 1. Complete our online application form

    Please register and create your online account to start the application. The online application form can be saved and completed at your own pace, however you have a maximum of three weeks to complete the application.

    Supporting photos and evidence is mandatory.

  • 2. CRASH review and evaluate your application

    CRASH will now review your application against our eligibility criteria and get back to you in due course. We aim to do this within 1 weeks; however, response times may vary depending on current demand.

  • 3. Pre-qualification Call or Project visit

    If your project is through to the next stage of the application process, we will advise the next steps, this may be a pre-qualification Teams call or a project visit. We will aim to do the pre-qualification within 2 weeks, while the project visit could take up to 2- 4 weeks depending on the availability and location, however this may vary depending on the current demand.

  • 4. Application decision

    Following our call or visit to the project, the final step will be for CRASH to advise whether the project has been accepted and, if so, how we propose to assist. Depending on the application you may receive a pro‑bono report prepared by a construction professional, which will include details of the planned works, recommendations, and suggested next steps.

“The transformation of this house has been truly extraordinary and all stages of this development have been supported by CRASH: the architects designing, getting planning permission and working with Building Control throughout the build. The extraordinary provision of construction products from CRASH Corporate Patron companies, and a grant made this project happen. The house is now full and supporting residents in recovery from homelessness and addiction. From concept to completion, the CRASH input and support has been immense and incredibly reassuring. This is a CRASH house – it’s the only way of saying it.”

Mossie Lyons

Director at Kairos Community Trust

“Working with CRASH has been an invaluable experience. The health and safety audit was an extensive and invaluable piece of work for the hospice. The professional expertise and advice we received from CRASH’s highly experienced network of Corporate Patrons, was instrumental in saving the hospice thousands of pounds. CRASH also provided a significant grant which has enabled us to implement a number of essential upgrades across the hospice, guaranteeing the safety and wellbeing of our patients.”

Giles Witcomb

Head of Fundraising at St Peter & St James