Today, Friday 30 August, we're celebrating Starts At Home Day.
Starts at Home Day, organised by The National Housing Federation, celebrates the value of care and support services, and the difference having a safe and secure place to call home can make to people's lives.
This year, we're shining light on our foyers and the amazing work that our colleagues do to help our young residents thrive and succeed in life.
We recently visited Coops Foyer in Wigan with Councillor, Lawrence Hunt and Bridge Foyer in Chester with Councillors, Katrina Kerr and Paul Chamberlain.
All three of the Councillors were amazed with the remarkable work that our colleagues do each day at the foyer to support the young people. Katrina Kerr said "I firmly believe that every young person needs the best start in life and what I've seen here is a very dedicated team of people..."
Our foyers provide friendly, welcoming and non-judgemental places for young people to live for a set period of time. We encourage young people to succeed, introduce life skills and encourage them to take responsibility for achieving their goals.
We're proud to be able to offer four foyers across the North-West to help support those who are at risk of becoming homeless. Our four foyers are called:
- Verve Place, Warrington
- Bridge Foyer, Chester
- Coops Foyer, Wigan
- Ravenhead Foyer, St Helens
- Over 135,000 young people aged 16-24, were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK.
- 1 in 52 young people are homeless or at risk of homelessness in the UK.
- 67% of cases of homelessness in England were not successfully prevented or dealt with.