A Bournemouth charity which has supported over 2700 homeless people to access safe accommodation and get their lives ‘back on track’ has been awarded £225k in National Lottery Reaching Communities funding.
The grant, which will be paid over the next three years, will enable Hope Housing Training & Support (HTS) to employ three further support workers for its Opening Doors programme, which helps formerly homeless people to develop education and employability skills and move towards independent living.
Hope HTS was founded 15 years ago by Julie Berti and her father David Botterill to help the growing number of local people experiencing homelessness.
The charity now has 100 supported accommodation beds across Dorset and collaborates with over 54 local organisations to house vulnerable adults, before helping them into training, employment and independent living.
Julie said: “Our successful Lottery bid couldn’t come at a more important time for Hope.
“Echoing national trends, there has been a rapid increase in the number of rough sleepers in Bournemouth and across Dorset. Bournemouth alone has seen a 168% rise in applications for help with homelessness in the past two years. As a result, demand for safe, dry and secure accommodation has risen.
“Hope clients benefit not only from a safe and stable living environment, but they are also supported to break away from negative patterns and the uncertainties of their former lives.
“We support them to make major improvements in their lives, such as reconnecting with families and dealing with addictions.
“They also learn healthier ways of living and our highly trained support workers and qualified counsellors are on hand to offer guidance, counselling and encouragement, liaising with external agencies as necessary.
“This Lottery funding will be critical for maintaining and expanding our services and will allow us to continue offering high-quality support positively impacting the lives of vulnerable homeless adults.”
Glynn Hannam is a former client of Hope with lived experience of homelessness, who has gone on to become a Support Worker for the charity.
He said: “I lived in Hope accommodation after personal struggles in my life. The charity helped me get my life back on track. Eventually I applied to be a volunteer with its maintenance team and from there, as my confidence grew, I moved into training as a support worker, something I am incredibly proud of.
“I am now able to use my own experience and the training I have been given to help other people affected by homelessness.
“The day I walked into Hope transformed my life. I’m a living example of what this extraordinary charity does every day and it’s great to be part of its growing team.”
Julie Berti added: “The first 15 years of Hope has seen many challenges and unabating demand for our help. But each day we are here we are changing the lives of people affected by homelessness for the better. Every single person matters, and every single person has the right to a better life.
“We want to make the next 15 years even more successful than the last and this Lottery funding will enable us to bring hope to even more people who really need it.”
To support Hope HTS please visit: www.hopehts.com
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Picture caption: TEAM HOPE – The Hope HTS staff team including co-founder and CEO Julie Berti (third from left) and Glynn Hannam (third from right), who was supported out of homelessness by Hope and is now a support worker for the charity.
Additional information:
Hope also offers its clients opportunities to learn new skills through personal development workshops, accredited maths and English classes, Food & Hygiene courses, construction industry training, guitar lessons, cooking classes and cycle repair workshops.
The charity’s innovative enterprise Hope Soap started in 2019, also through Lottery funding, and sees luxury home made soap natural products manufactured in-house at Hope’s base in St Swithun’s Road. Every purchase of HopeSoap results in the donation of a Sanitary Pack to someone living on the street or in supported accommodation locally. www.buyonegiveonesoap.com
Media information on this release from Debbie Granville at: hello@debbiegranvillepr.co.uk