North Region News
Great Places links up with Commandos
Great Places linked up with Wyre Neighbourhood Policing Team and the Commando Intervention Scheme to help a group of young people from the Wyre area.
The intention is to impart the values and standards that are instilled into Royal Marines called the ‘Marine Ethos’ to help young people with their social, emotional, and educational development, as well as improving their ability to make the right choices and increasing their chances of success both inside and outside of school.
The course ran for four weeks and the first cohort of young people from Fleetwood High School and Millfield High School met at the scheme’s woodland area in Thistleton with Commando Dave and Rob to create an outdoor campsite. The scheme is run by a former Royal Marine Commando and is registered with Lancashire County Council.
The participants learned survival skills as well as how to work as a team, improve communication skills, listen to instructions whilst being tasked to make shelters, light fires and cook food.
Catherine Reynolds, Neighbourhood Services Manager for Wyre and Over-Wyre, said: “We have been liaising on this initiative with the Neighbourhood Policing Team and the Commando Intervention Scheme to work with young people identified by their schools as being disenfranchised from their education and who reside in areas where Great Places have properties which suffer from youth related anti-social behaviour.
“The sessions were really well received, and we hope the young people enjoyed themselves and learned skills and techniques they can use in their home and school life.”
Hatching new careers
Great Places customers have been helped into work through the HATCH programme after teaming up with Premier League side Burnley and UK Youth.
So far three cohorts – a total of 27 young people – have taken part in the employability programme, run in partnership with KFC, which provides workshops and paid work experience placements for young people aged 16-25 who are not in education employment or training, or are at risk of being so.
Great Places has provided £15,000 to fund the programme in 2023 and those who signed up were supported via the More Positive Together scheme.
Among the successes of the programme, people have gone on to work for KFC, Boo Hoo, Daisy Communications and Aerospace supplier Hycrome.
Aateeka Bashir, Great Places’ Community and Partnerships Manager, added: “The partnership with Burnley and UK Youth is bearing amazing results as we see young people get into work or full-time education.
“The programme has been vital to young people who are estranged from parents and living on their own, or who are struggling with their mental health and aren’t quite ready for a full-time job.
“The programme allows them to get valuable, paid work experience which gives them an insight into the workplace and allows them to build on that.”
Great Places cuts ribbon on Darwen development
Great Places Housing Group has cut the ribbon on 67 affordable homes at the £9.6million Heathfields development in Darwen.
The homes, a mix of shared ownership and affordable rent properties, make up part of the development, in partnership with McDermott Homes and Blackburn with Darwen Council, on the site of the former Ellison Fold Colliery, off Ellison Fold Way, which will number 353 homes when completed.
The area has been bolstered by a £3million investment in the East Darwen link road, which will make it easier for residents and businesses to access the M65 and will also improve a number of local road junctions in the vicinity.
Helen Spencer, Great Places’ Executive Director of Growth, was joined by Cllr Phil Riley, Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, and other local councillors as this part of the development was officially opened.
Mrs Spencer said: “This development proved to be hugely popular as all 22 shared ownership properties sold very quickly.
“It’s been great to work with McDermott Homes, the council and all the partners on this project to provide quality housing to an area that needs it. The Market Sale properties give customers a great option to buy a fantastic new home and the rented properties have helped people to settle into a fantastic home of their own.
“It was also lovely to meet new residents who are enjoying their homes and have already formed a new community and it proves the power of partnership to bring about meaningful change to an area that was ripe for investment.”
Great Places comes to the rescue of single mum
A Lancashire customer’s life was torn apart after an accidental house fire decimated her home – but Great Places has been able to help her put the pieces back together.
The single mum, who had three young children, and had only just moved in after a property exchange and had yet to fully unpack, lost everything when the blaze ripped through the property. Sadly, the family dog and goldfish perished in the accident.
And as she hadn’t had a chance to get contents insurance, she was facing a very bleak and uncertain future – but that’s when the Great Places’ Lancashire Neighbourhood Management team kicked into action.
Firstly, they helped to move the family to a hotel before they were able to be moved to a decant property in a neighbouring town, which Great Places carpeted throughout and were able to get them clothes and toiletries to help them navigate the immediate future.
Once they were decanted, Property Service Manager Brett Dixon and Neighbourhood Services Manager John Bilsborough set about assessing the damage. The fire had affected every room in the three-bedroom house, decimating the kitchen particularly.
The team cleared the property and began work on getting the home back to a lettable standard, which took seven months to complete, with the cost rising into tens of thousands of pounds.
The team also were able to tap into the House to Home Fund to provide the family with furniture and furnishings, which would have cost the family more than £10,000 on the high street, and also clothes and bedding etc from the Children In Need fund, thanks to Area Services Manager Sheena Harris.
The customer and her family have expressed their deep gratitude to Great Places and the team for all their help in allowing them get back to some sort of normality so quickly after what could have been a catastrophic situation.
They are starting to rebuild thanks to the work by our dedicated team but the case highlights the importance of tenants to have their own contents insurance just in case the worst happens.
Great Places insure the structure of your home, but our cover doesn’t include what’s inside it, like your furniture and your personal belongings.
Home contents insurance is offered through lots of providers.
More Positive Together wraps six years of achievement
The More Positive Together (MPT) and MPT Steps programmes closed at the end of 2023 after six years helping people across the county – and Great Places was a major player.
The projects were aimed at enhancing the skills and employment prospects of residents in some of Lancashire’s most deprived areas. The programme was delivered by one-to-one mentorship support to engage, motivate and help progress participants to make positive steps in their lives.
MPT focused on assisting individuals furthest from the job market, while MPT Steps aimed to support those whose employment opportunities were affected by the pandemic and helped to boost the skills and confidence of over 9,500 people since 2017 and collectively assisting 1,743 into employment.
Great Places’ MPT team supported 368 people on a 1-2-1 basis and of those 197 of them were unemployed and 171 were inactive (not claiming any benefits, not required to look for work); 123 people went into employment and 120 went into education.
Great Places also supported over 60 families with childcare support which is a huge barrier to getting back into employment. This is all amazing work as many of the customers hadn’t worked or been in any education for many years. Through a variety of engagement events, face to face and wrap around holistic support the team were able to make a real difference.
With Steps, Great places signed up over 228 participants – of which 170 were unemployed and 58 were inactive. We successfully helped 126 of these participants into employment and 58 of the individuals we supported were single parent households. 52 were supported in removing the barrier of childcare which shows a huge need for this support and allows families to increase their financial stability and move into the world of work!
Among some of the fantastic partnerships that have been created over the last couple of years, below are the highlights from the team’s success:
- Elisha House recovery project in Colne supports individuals with a history of substance misuse. We have worked with them over the past six years and have supported the development of various projects for example the community café, Walk leaders project, Bike leaders project, support with the setting up of the community gym and a community gardening project amongst many others.
- Syrian refugee support with CSOL and ESOL language courses, in partnership with Linkbridge and Burnley Pendle Rossendale CVS.
- Various SWAPs (Sector-based Work Academy Programme) offered to customers in partnership with local colleges, Lancashire Adult Learning and training centres – getting our local customers into local jobs with employers such as Euro Garages, Costa, KFC!
- NEETS (Not in Education, Employment or Training) supported into training and employment through collaborative partnerships in Claremont, Blackpool and a successful partnership with Burnley FC and the Hatch programme, creating pathways for the next generation.
- Aspire Academy – Learning Assistant qualifications- supporting over 80 participants to gain vital skills to enable them to move into the world of work within an education/support setting! This was 100% into employment pass rate with all participants.
The Great Places MPT team has also been shortlisted for a Housing Innovation Award – the category of “Dedication to Resident Welfare” for the creation of a health and wellbeing initiative giving our customers access to a wide range of services in one place.