A new lease of life for an old barracks supporting homeless people and the wider community.
Homelessness
Nottinghamshire
Jun 2016
Donation of Doors Makes a Difference to HOPE
Based in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, HOPE offers formerly homeless people somewhere to live to help them rebuild their lives and move on from homelessness for good.
The need
With help from our patrons, we were able to support the renovation of HOPE community services. When complete, the new premises on Queen Street will have six bedrooms providing much needed move-on accommodation for those who are ready to take the next step back to independence.
HOPE anticipates around 50 adults and around 25 young people will benefit from this project each year.
“50 adults and 25 young people may not sound like a huge number, but these are individuals who are at the margins of society, who have multiple issues, and are in greatest need of help and support. They are people who have few alternatives; HOPE is likely to be their final option, other than rough sleeping. The facility, once created, will provide a safe environment from which to rebuild their lives.”
Chief Executive of HOPE
The solution
CRASH, with help from our patrons, donated numerous materials to HOPE Community Services to support the renovation of the building in which they’re based. In addition to this, we have awarded the homelessness charity with a cash grant of £10,000.
How our patrons helped
CRASH Patron A J Morrisroe & Sons has donated fire-doors to assist the refurbishment. In addition to these fire-doors, donations of materials have also been made by Jackson Buildbase, Marley Eternit, British Gypsum and Baxi Boilers.
The social impact
The work HOPE do goes beyond offering a place to stay. They work closely with those who turn to them for help to support them in getting their lives back on track and building their confidence.
An example of this is Ian, who came to HOPE because he had been sleeping on the streets after his marriage broke down. He could not stay with his family as they had no room so had nowhere else to turn.
Ian stayed at HOPE’s Hostel for several months where he made new friendships and his self-confidence improved greatly. During his time in the Hostel, he developed his independent living skills through volunteering and helped with cooking, cleaning and gardening, and even painting areas of the building.
This not only helped Ian make meaningful use of his time, but also to focus on positives – what he could do rather than what he could not.
Eventually, Ian moved on into low support accommodation and now feels much more settled. He has successfully maintained this tenancy for a number of months and, is currently in the process of becoming a volunteer with HOPE, to “give something back”.
Without the support of HOPE, Ian believes that he would not have felt confident enough to move on into his own home and he doubts he would have maintained that tenancy.
If it wasn’t for Hope I would probably still be on the streets. The staff are really approachable and I felt like I could put my trust in them to support me through a really tough time in my life.
Former HOPE resident
