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By St Paul's Hostel, Worcester
Develop a bike maintenance project at St Paul's Hostel that will enable residents to maintain/repair their bikes & learn new skills that may support them in employment opportunities.
Established in 1977, St Paul’s is the only high tolerance hostel in Worcestershire. We work with some of the most vulnerable members of society; homeless men and women aged 18plus, all of whom are or have been homeless. They often arrive at the hostel with little or no personal possessions and certainly no financial means that afford them the luxury of transport. Therefore, in order for them to get out and about, they walk, occasionally use public transport (when their funds allow) but in the main, travel is done by bicycle with almost all of our residents either owning a bike or having access to ones that have been generously donated by the public. We encourage this mode of travel as much as possible for the positive impact it has on their health & well-being and also the environmental. It will provide a safe place to store their bikes; equipment & training to repair & maintain them & provide new skills and help build links with the community help reduce stigma attached to homeless
What we'll deliver:
Why it's a great idea:
We are currently in Phase 2 of an Essential Upgrade & Maintenance programme on internal & external areas of the hostel. This includes the development of the front of the hostel to create a welcoming & social area including landscaping to will provide therapeutic activities & training and a bike storage & maintenance shelter. It is recognised that there is potential for this project to develop into a larger project/social enterprise that would support training and employment opportunities and generate income to further support the work of the hostel and the lives of our beneficiaries. This project would therefore also enable us to identify the need and the market for development.
Steps to get it done:
St Paul's has been successful in securing funding to develop the landscaping and social area, therefore seek funding for the Bike Maintenance programme only. We have links with a bike mechanic who will volunteer to teach basic bike mechanics as well as contact with an accredited trainer who can provide formal training to those who express interest to securing a qualification. We aim to engage with local police and community to host bike marking and maintenance sessions open to the public & make relevant links to obtain broken bikes for repair & redistribution to those who are in need.
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We've been busy planning the project over the last few months and we are so excited as we nearer our launch. The bike shelter is beginning to take shape, two residents have been selected as Bike Maintenance Mentors, equipment on order and training to commence soon. Our mentors have been busy planning and contributing their ideas to the project. We will keep you updated as we move closer to the launch.
Brilliant news, thanks everyone!
We're almost there! We are completely overwhelmed with the support we have received so far. Our first Crowdfunding experience for St Paul's and we are humbled by the support we have received. We cannot thank you enough. Few more hours to go and we're on target ........ more updates to come later but in the meantime THANK YOU
How will the money be spent?Total £14,597
Costs Breakdown
This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.
Total £14,597
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VolunteerorEstablished in 1977 in response to the high numbers of people in Worcester sleeping rough we continue to evolve in response to need & remain the only hostel in Worcestershire.
The events that lead to some becoming homeless are not always obvious or straightforward. We work tirelessly to help people live through homelessness & in order to improve care & support, we have embedded the concepts of Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) and Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) across the organisation. Our delivery is underpinned by our ‘Theory of Change’, where the ‘End State; (“People who leave St Paul’s have a place where they belong; the skills, capacity and enough support so that Worcester is a place where homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurrent”) is achieved through ‘Decisive Conditions’ (interventions)
This delivery model requires a number of elements to be in place, including a focus on safety, emotional intelligence, connection, communication, resilience and healing. The essence of this approach changes the nature of the question we ask from ‘what’s wrong with you?’ to ‘what happened to you?’ This new emphasis seeks to connect trauma history to current behaviour rather than seeing the behaviour as a character flaw. The screening of ACE’s is fundamental to our service delivery. Combining this & TIC enables us to address the impact of adverse experiences & equip residents with the skills they need to deal with them. This model differentiates us from other charities in this sector & requires the employment of specialist staff; resulting in significant positive impact.
For example, last year 79 new people accessed St Paul’s; 87 people left of which 40% secured accommodation either within our accommodation portfolio, private tenancy, social housing or had secured employment with accommodation through our Kitchen Assistant Training Programme; of the 58 residents who attended our Counselling service, 2 enrolled at College, both have applied to join the Housing Register, 3 secured tenancies, 2 moved into our resettlement houses & 100% reported an improvement in their mental health & wellbeing. Since 2017 we have provided employment to 10 residents/former residents as Kitchen Assistant trainees, Peer Mentor, Support Worker, Housekeeping and many volunteering opoortunities.
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Project Owner: Jonathan Sutton The Project Owner takes legal responsibility for receiving and spending the funds raised and ensuring the project is delivered.
Contractors: Garden Inspiration Ltd,NPJ Cycle Repairs The team responsible for building or installing the project.
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