The Bridge had the pleasure of receiving not one, but two grants that will help us continue the work we do in helping people experiencing homelessness. Tudor Trust has given us their second grant of £29,563, which is part of the funding they are providing over the course of three years. Lloyds Bank Foundation has provided us with a three year unrestricted grant of £75,000. We wanted to thank both institutes for their generosity and have a deeper look into what these grants means for The Bridge and the homeless community.
The most common reason for homelessness today is a landlord wishing to sell or re-let a property. Latest figures show that 6,700 homes were sold, and 2,670 were re-let. Unfortunately renting is the only option for a lot of people, despite the risks it comes with, such as this. The average home today costs 10 times more than the average salary. To put this into perspective, the last time house prices were this high in relation to earnings was in 1876.
When it comes to Leicester homelessness in particular the Leicester City Council reported that 5,385 people contacted their homelessness service in the 2023/24 financial period, which is an increase from the 4,869 people recorded last year. We see this ourselves at The Bridge; in July of 2024 our services were accessed 1,677 times, which is an increase of 55% from July of 2023.
Lloyds Bank Foundation is an independent charitable foundation who are working in partnership with many small and local charities to make a positive impact. Tudor Trust is an independent grant-making trust that supports volunteer and community groups. To receive funds from both will make an incredible impact to The Bridge.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Tudor Trust for awarding the second grant in our three-year agreement. Their continued support ensures that we can reach out and support those who need it the most.”
“We’re indebted to the support of funders such as the Lloyds Bank Foundation. Their support is vital as we seek to extend our services to a growing number of people who are finding themselves in a position of homelessness.”
-David Fawcett, Chief Executive of The Bridge.
Receiving funds like this can help The Bridge in many ways, such as supporting the services we provide. We are open 5 days a week to our guests, and offer breakfast, hot drinks and a hot lunch, shower facilities, a washing machine and dryer, clothes and toiletries, access to computers and free wifi. We also offer a number of activities and wellbeing projects to our guests such as art, music, English lessons, and cooking classes, with a few new ones on the way thanks to our current success with our Crowdfunder campaign. Projects like these help to build lifelong essential skills, fight the loneliness that a lot of guests struggle with, and grow in confidence. This funding also means we can continue to fund our staff, such as our case workers, who work downstairs with our guests to help them with whatever issues they may be facing. A case worker's main aim is to support people out of homelessness and into temporary accommodation by filling in forms, making referrals, helping to understand the housing system, etc. One staff role we wouldn’t have been able to fund if it weren't for these grants is our new Lived Experience Worker.
The role of a Lived Experience Worker involves forming trusting relationships with our guests, using their lived experience to encourage, support and help guests to work with caseworkers, and putting individual plans in place. It also requires reviewing our services, making sure they are guest centric and getting the guests involved with decision making, and supporting them with their mental health and other potential needs. Another part of the role is planning events for the guests, such as the World Homeless Day event we’ll be hosting in October.
Our Lived Experience Worker is Leah, and she was happy to share her story here:
I was served a Section 21 by my landlord. I was told by the council that I was to stay in the property until I was forced out by bailiffs. I was given a homeless prevention officer who ignored my every communication. By April 2019 I was removed by bailiffs and had to go to the council office where I was placed in a hotel and was told I would have to pay for the hotel unless I quit my job. The price of the hotel was more than I could afford so I had to leave my job and claim universal credit. I was told I would be band 1 and would be housed within 14 weeks. This didn’t happen. I received an email to say I was put in band 2 with up to a 2 year wait. I gave birth whilst still living in the hotel, I sent endless emails and rang daily with no reply from my housing officer. After many phone calls, help from agencies and a letter written to my MP, I was finally offered a property in October 2019, and I was just left to sort everything out myself. After 3 months of getting settled into my new home, I decided to get back to work. I applied for a job that I had never considered doing, I always said I wouldn't do this job, but I decided I needed it to be able to support myself and my children better and give us a better life. I heard back within 3 weeks, completed my fitness test, English and maths tests and medical assessment. I began my training as a prison officer. I qualified in April 2020; in September 2023, I began getting severe headaches and my whole body was aching every day. I saw a doctor and was referred to multiple specialists to find out what was wrong. In January 2024, I woke up one morning and felt paralysed from the waist down. I could not walk or do anything with my children. I was admitted to hospital and several tests were made, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and inflammatory arthritis. I had to go on sick leave as I was no longer able to do my job. I went to see my rheumatologist in April 2024 and was told it was no longer safe for me to work in the prison and that I was to hand in my notice. I was worried and scared for what the future would hold and applied for every job on Indeed even if I didn’t have experience. I got an email reply from The Bridge CEO David, who invited me for an interview. I met with David and Keith at The Bridge for my interview and explained my lived experience being homeless and also informed them of my health issues believing that I probably wouldn’t be accepted due to my health conditions and the fact that I can wake up on any given day and be unable to work for weeks at a time. However, they gave me the opportunity despite my health condition. I started at The Bridge in May 2024 originally as a support/caseworker. A few weeks in I had an MRI and lumbar puncture and was diagnosed with RRMS (relapse remitting multiple sclerosis). Despite this, I am still here at The Bridge and I’m now employed as a Lived Experience Worker. I want to help the guests at The Bridge be heard and have them help me to improve our services.
I believe my experience plays an active role in helping the guests because they can see that you can change your situation, but it takes time, motivation and effort.
We’re so grateful to have Leah on our team, offering this service to our guests, and we are especially grateful to Tudor Trust and Lloyds Bank Foundation for making the role possible.
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