A women's refuge in Ashford has celebrated 28 years of providing a safe haven for women and children fleeing domestic violence with an extensive modernisation and official re-launch.
Assisted by a grant of £2,181,790 from the Homes and Community Agency, the new refuge has been designed to be environmentally friendly. Solar panels provide hot water, there are recycling facilities for every flat and the overall building and immediate environment has achieved an Eco Homes rating of Very Good.
The newly remodelled Ashford refuge will provide 16 self-contained one bedroom flats, communal living areas and nursery facilities run in partnership with the Rising Sun Domestic Violence Project.
Owned and managed by Casa Support, part of AmicusHorizon, and working in partnership with a number of agencies, an extensive range of housing related support and services are available to residents affected by domestic abuse. These include a monthly legal advice surgery, holistic therapies and counselling.
A ceremony marked the official opening of York House, a new home for adults with complex communication difficulties in Cheadle, Stockport.
Managed by the Seashell Trust in association with Guinness Northern Counties, York House provides residential placements for Seashell Trust students moving on from Griffin Lodge on the campus of the Charity's Royal College Manchester as they become independent adults.
Seashell Trust is a registered charity providing education and residential care for people with complex communication difficulties from across the UK. It operates Royal School Manchester, a day and residential, co-educational, non-maintained special school and Royal College Manchester, an independent specialist college catering for learners between 19 and 22.
Additionally it runs a residential home for autistic deaf adults with complex needs and a domiciliary care agency. It regularly hosts a number of inclusive community activities on its campus.
York House is home to tenants who have a range of disabilities including deafness and autism as well as learning difficulties or physical disabilities. It has six en suite bedrooms, three of which are fully wheelchair accessible, and features state of the art equipment designed to assist tenants in their day to day living.
There is also a communal living area, kitchen and garden and the property has been furnished to a high specification thanks to the support of Macclesfield furniture retailer Arighi Bianchi.
One of York House's new tenants planted an apple tree to mark the launch of the residence, which has been developed by local building firm Wates Living Space. Having been involved in the development of the property, Wates Living Space has now pledged to continue its involvement with the Seashell Trust by taking part in fundraising activities over the forthcoming year.
St Mungo's Endell Street hostel for the homeless in Camden was short listed for the prestigious 2009 Civic Trust architectural awards.
The hostel, run by London's largest homeless charity, was officially opened by Homelessness Minister Iain Wright in December after a £3.2 million transformation to create a state-of-the-art centre.
It now provides accommodation for 53 homeless people. It but also brings health, work and learning programmes together under one roof.
The hostel was short listed after being judged socially beneficial, while making a positive contribution to the appearance of the local environment.
St Mungo's worked in partnership with Camden Council to refurbish the hostel with a grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government's Hostels Capital Improvement Programme.
Originally built as a Victorian school, Endell Street has been used as a hostel by St Mungo's for over 25 years. The grant meant that it could be beautifully restored to create an innovative homeless facility.
False ceilings, partitions and layers of paint were stripped away to reveal the main school hall, which has now been converted into a training and counselling space for residents.
Endell Street not only provides invaluable services to homeless people, but also serves the wider local community through access to onsite facilities, including an IT suite, in-house training programmes and a recording studio.