A pioneering project which could offer people living in hostels the chance to build their own home and a church scheme that helps vulnerably housed women are to pitch for funding to expand in a ‘Dragons’ Den’ style competition to help ease the housing crisis.
A competition co-run by the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Housing, Church and Community and the Cinnamon Network, the charity providing support for church social action, has shortlisted five projects tackling the housing crisis to bid later this year for grants.
Entries include a scheme from the New Meaning Foundation in Cambridge where people living in hostels can learn practical construction skills by building a ‘microhome’.
The scheme has already provided six microhomes in Cambridge for single people on land leased from Christ the Redeemer Church in Barnwell, Cambridge, with a living area, bedroom and bathroom built to be energy efficient and environmentally friendly. The 10.7 tonne homes are built away from the site in ‘modules’ and then moved into position.
The project, run in collaboration with Allia UK and Jimmy's Shelter in Cambridge, has brought together different groups in the city and has provided training in construction skills for people living in hostels.
Project manager, John Evans, from the New Meaning Foundation, said the need for the homes would be even greater when government funding to house and support homeless people during the pandemic comes to an end.
“This provides homeless people with a place they can call home. They are provided with one to one support so they can progress quickly into employment and into permanent accommodation,” he said.
You can read the full press release on the Church of England website here.
Do you know of any available land?
It Takes a City began in November 2018 when 150 senior influencers from Cambridge and surrounding districts met at St Paul’s Church to find new ways to eliminate rough sleeping due to homelessness by working together as a community.
A number of projects and collaborations have resulted around information, housing, support and employment.
To learn more and see if your might be able to help, read more about this work here.