YMCA Crewe has received a grant of £43,632 from Nationwide as part of their Community Grants programme, which brings their members and colleagues together to help tackle the housing crisis.
The funding will enable YMCA Crewe to continue the work of their Independent Living Coach. The grant will also cover the session costs for the weekly Key Independence Training (KIT) session to help individuals develop the necessary skills for independent living.
YMCA Crewe works with around 120 people experiencing homelessness each year, 58% of whom are young people, including care leavers, unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, and refugees. When residents leave, it can take time to acclimatise to an environment without support and with no immediate social network. This sometimes leads them back into YMCA Crewe’s supported accommodation. This grant will help to address this.
Josh Walker-Brooks, Head of Fundraising and Governance at YMCA Crewe, expressed appreciation for the impact this grant will achieve, stating, “The individuals who receive support from the Independent Living Coach regularly sustain their tenancies after 12 months, feel settled in their accommodation more quickly, and do not return to supported accommodation.”
Britain’s biggest building society has run its Community Grants programme since 2017 – offering grants of up to £60,000 to local charities and projects, particularly those focussed on housing. This year, it has awarded a total of £5.1 million to 105 housing-related projects across the UK.
Kirsty Hall, Social Investment Manager at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Helping local communities and charities is at the heart of what it means to be a building society for Nationwide. We are pleased our Community Grants programme is going to make a difference through this £43,632 grant to YMCA Crewe helping them make a difference in the lives of those who rely on their services.”
Over the last six years, Nationwide Building Society has awarded £27 million to housing charities up and down the UK, helping make lives better for almost 148,800 people.
