Funding from The Cumberland Building Society will help a West Cumbrian homeless charity employ an outreach worker for its residents.
The building society has pledged that for every vote cast by customers at its AGM this month it will donate £2 to Calderwood House in Egremont.
That money will be used to cover the cost of an outreach worker which was cut after Calderwood House lost its local authority funding for the post last year.
Run by Time to Change West Cumbria, Calderwood House is a 10-bedroom emergency hostel for people aged 25 and over, prioritising military veterans and those with a local connection to the former Copeland area.
It opened in the town’s former police station in 2015, it helps residents rebuild their lives and move towards permanent accommodation.
The Cumberland’s chief executive, Stuart Miller, visited the charity to meet staff and residents, and see its work, and said it had been chosen because of the impact it has across the community.
“Calderwood House does an amazing job in helping homeless people get re-established into permanent housing of some sort,” he said. “It’s an absolutely amazing cause. Get your votes in and we can do fantastic work with great organisations like Calderwood House.”
The AGM donation will help restore that outreach work, providing practical support to people after they leave the hostel to help them establish successful tenancies.
Rebecca Irving, manager of Calderwood House, said the funding would make a tangible difference.
She said: “It’s going to be invaluable. We did have a permanent outreach worker that was funded by the local authority and unfortunately we lost that funding last year.
“Currently we’re just doing the bare bones of it when people move on because we just don’t have the money to pay staff to do outreach, but this money will help get residents settled in their properties.”
She said outreach workers helped former residents with everything from ensuring housing benefit is in place and setting up direct debits to reading gas meters and understanding household bills.
She added: “It will help people sustain a tenancy to avoid the revolving door syndrome of what used to happen before we had outreach – people would get a tenancy, be left on their own, not know how to run a house and end up back here.”
Founded by Rachel Holliday, who had experienced homelessness herself, Calderwood House has become a vital safety net for people experiencing homelessness in West Cumbria.
The hostel has 10 rooms, but demand continues to outstrip supply, with residents often staying six to 12 months because of a shortage of affordable housing.
Staff continue to support people long after they move on, helping them build the skills and confidence needed to maintain independent living.
Mr Miller said: “These places are critical to the fabric of local communities.
“The Cumberland is so deeply embedded in this part of the world and, as part of the community, I think we see our relationship with organisations like this as being incredibly important.
The Cumberland has supported Calderwood House previously through initiatives including its Kinder Kitchen initiative, while Ms Irving officially opened the building society’s Egremont branch last year.
A number of residents who return to become staff members or volunteers.
Ian Duncan is now a full-time support worker who says the place saved his life.
He said: “I was in a really bad place before. But then I came here, I structured my life again and that was all through Calderwood House.
“It gave me my life back. A few years ago I lost my mam, and my life spiralled out of control, I was street homeless for a few weeks and then Calderwood House helped me.
“To return the favour I came back to volunteer, and from there I’ve ended up being employed full time. I’ve come full circle.”
The Cumberland’s AGM will be held at 4pm on Tuesday, July 21, at Cumberland House, Cooper Way, Parkhouse, Carlisle.
