Broadland Housing Association

Homes, community & support since 1963

    • tenants

    Sleepout volunteers raise £2,616 for innovative homelessness project

    Michael Newey, CEO of Broadland Housing Association, with John Lee of Norfolk YMCA

    Sleepout volunteers raise £2,616 for innovative homelessness project

    Volunteers from Broadland Housing and YMCA Norfolk have raised £2,616 for an innovative project that will help set up young vulnerable homeless people in their first homes.

    Around 30 volunteers, including Broadland Housing Chief Executive Michael Newey and 9 other Broadland staff, slept out on a wet and cold night in March in the car park of the YMCA Community Hub in Norwich. They bedded down in cardboard boxes to raise money for the Housing First project.  The cash will be used to buy furniture for young people setting up in their own home.

    Michael Newey and John Lee
    Michael Newey (left) and John Lee (right)

    Michael Newey returned to the Community Hub to present the money to YMCA Chief Executive John Lee – who was also among the volunteers sleeping out for the night.

    Spending one night in the cold and wet was an eye-opener for those taking part, who will fortunately never know what it is like to be sleeping rough on the streets.  For us it was just one night. For people who are homeless, they face the cold, the wet and the dangers of being on the streets night after night.

    Broadland Housing is absolutely committed to tackling the problem of homelessness, and we are delighted to be working with the YMCA to be delivering the Housing First project with them, the first of its kind in East Anglia.

    Michael Newey, CEO, Broadland Housing Association

    We are delighted at the amount raised from the sleepout, which is part of the partnership between the YMCA and Broadland Housing, which is helping to deliver a really worthwhile project aimed at homeless young people who have difficult or chaotic backgrounds.

    For a number of reasons, these young people find hostel accommodation difficult, so the aim of Housing First is to skip that step and get them established in their own homes, with a support package to help them succeed in their tenancies and get their lives back on track.

    John Lee, Chief Executive, YMCA

    Housing First is an approach which aims to tackle homelessness among people with particularly complex needs by aiming to get individuals into their own home as quickly as possible and providing them with the support they need to make it work.  It involves minimising the amount of time spent in temporary accommodation and seeks to minimise the number of moves someone has to make before they move into a permanent home.

    Tenants raise £900 for Ukraine

    Tenants raise £900 for Ukraine

    Generous tenants at our Woodcote sheltered housing scheme have raised £900 for the Red Cross. The fundraising will help support children and elderly people caught up in the conflict in Ukraine.

    The 60 residents at Woodcote in Hethersett held a special coffee morning, where they watched 2 films about the background to the conflict. One film was presented by Red Cross workers on the ground in Ukraine.

    Stephen Baxter, scheme manager (far right in picture), said:

    Lots of residents had been asking what they could do to help. They were moved by images of families and elderly people suffering terrible conditions as a result of the conflict,

    Also, one of the carers who works here has a Ukrainian husband, so that has also brought the crisis closer to home.

    Woodcote tenant Richard Headicar said:

    The suffering of elderly people and children and families caught up in what is going on in Ukraine has tugged on all of our heartstrings.  We all wanted to do what we could to help mitigate their plight.

    Fellow tenant Molly Allison added:

    I have cried every morning when I see what is happening on the television.

    Humanitarian aid

    Red Cross teams are working both in Ukraine itself and in neighbouring countries, where they are providing humanitarian aid to the influx of refugees. This includes food and water, first aid and medicines, warm clothes and shelter.

    The charity has distributed over 90,000 food and hygiene parcels and provided food, warm clothes and other aid to around 7,000 people sheltering in metro stations in Kyiv. It has also delivered first aid training to over 12,000 people in Ukraine.

    Elm Road, Thetford

    With our partners Breckland Council, we have built 5 new homes offering dedicated support to people who were formerly sleeping rough from across the Breckland district.

    The development includes 4 x 2-storey, 1-bedroom terraced homes and an adjoining bungalow, with a shared garden space.

    Former rough sleepers are supported to transition into longer-term accommodation. Individuals also get help to access education, employment opportunities and healthcare. 

    The homes were developed in the grounds of Elm House, formerly called Elm Road Community Centre. Breckland Council has converted the centre itself into emergency accommodation units. 

    Lakenfields, Webster Court, Norwich

    kitchen at Webster Court, Norwich
    Kitchen of Lakenfields apartment
    Living room, Webster Court, Norwich
    Living area of Lakenfields apartment

    We worked in partnership with Norwich City Council to provide 6 new affordable homes at Lakenfields, Webster Court for people experiencing homelessness. A modular system was used to deliver high-quality homes, with minimal impact and disruption to the local community.

    A former car parking area north of Webster Court now accommodates 6 x 1-bedroom, 2-person flats. The single block of 6 flats over 3 storeys has a communal garden area and vehicle parking accessed off the existing access. The first tenants moved in during December 2021.

    Lakenfields was shortlisted for the national RTPI planning excellence awards in 2022.

    Lakenfields (Webster Court), Norwich, on Day 3 of construction
    Modular construction of Lakenfields apartments was completed in 3 days in December 2021
    Manufacturer Mod Pod International’s video, including pod interiors (1.30)

    Tenants can now get training in independent living skills

    Independent East / Your Own Place / Broadland Housing logos

    Broadland Housing tenants can benefit from tenancy and independent living skills training – thanks to our membership of Independent East.

    Your Own Place CIC successfully delivered its Tenancy and Independent Living Skills (TILS+) workshops to Saffron Housing Trust tenants last year. These engaging, practical workshops are now being offered to tenants of Broadland, Freebridge and Orwell housing associations, through their membership of Independent East.

    From January 2022, Your Own Place, a social enterprise based in East Anglia, will deliver the workshops to tenants at locations across Norfolk and Suffolk. The workshops, a mix of digital and face-to-face sessions, provide opportunities for people of all ages to develop and build on existing skills. A wide range of topics is covered, including saving and budgeting, self-care and wellbeing, and digital skills. The aim is to make a positive difference to tenants’ lives through developing their confidence and resilience.

    Helping more people into employment

    The partnership with Your Own Place is an exciting collaboration for Independent East. The new initiative aims to help more people into employment, reducing rent arrears and potential future evictions.

    Helping people to sustain their tenancies is a central part of what Broadland do. We are thrilled to be part of this partnership with Independent East and Your Own Place to invest in more support and training for many more people.

    Catherine Little, Executive Housing Director, Broadland Housing Association

    We’re absolutely delighted to be working not just with the residents of 4 regional housing associations, but with 4 housing associations that want to collaborate, support residents from across East Anglia and recognise that our Tenancy & Independent Living Skills Plus (TILS+) are beneficial for any person in any situation. Their compassion and understanding that having an impact on lives goes way beyond just being their landlord is why we want to work with them and be a part of building on the skills that tenants already have. We know that the residents we work with are experts in their own lives, we respect their experiences and contributions and love the two-way learning. Fun, participative and engaging workshops will be delivered with 400 tenants during 2022 across 8 different locations – with the aim of building the skills to be happy in their homes and ultimately prevent homelessness.

    Rebecca White, CEO, Your Own Place

    We have been really pleased with how well the workshops have been received by Saffron’s tenants and it’s fantastic that it’s now going to be delivered by Independent East to help even more tenants across the region. Not only is it a great opportunity for them to learn new skills, but it provides scope for tenants to meet those from other housing associations, share their experiences, support one another and help create cohesive communities.

    Paula Tuck, Assistant Director of Customer Services at Saffron and member of the Independent East Residents Group

    Watch a video of Chantay, one of Saffron’s tenants, talking about her experience of the TILS+ workshops (credit: Your Own Place).

    Accessibility by WAH