'We're grateful beyond belief': Northampton homeless charity receives nearly £5,000 from housing provider

A Northampton homeless charity has received thousands of pounds from a housing provider.

The Northampton Hope Centre received a total of £4,880 as part of the Longhurst Group's Community Grants Fund, which encourages non-profit organisations to apply for grants of up to £5,000.

Fundraising and marketing manager at the Northampton Hope Centre, Louise Danielczuk, said: “In a year where charity has struggled financially and a year where the demand for services has sky-rocketed, we’re grateful beyond belief for the support.

“We’re overjoyed to be working with such a community-minded organisation."

The Hope Centre is a charity that supports those living in poverty by offering immediate crisis support through its 'HandUp' service for the homeless, a drop-in service and a move-on programme to support housing and personal development to enable individuals to live and work independently.

The charity's Learning 4 Living services teaches life skills and helps people reintegrate back into society and hopefully leads to work experience, a job or even a place to live.

Louise continued: “The funding enables us to link the HandUp and Learning4Living programmes, resulting in the opportunity to make a real difference for those whose life has taken them to the street.

“The difference the support from Longhurst Group is making is real, it’s tangible and it’ll help create a better future for those most in need in our community.”

The Learning4Living programme is additionally available to the wider community and is supplemented by the FoodClub, which provides low cost food through the Hope Centre's social supermarket.

Head of Community Programmes at Longhurst Group, Karen Prince, added: “We’re delighted to be able to provide this funding to support and bolster the fantastic work of a variety of organisations that work tirelessly to improve the lives of people across Northamptonshire.

“We know that many of these organisations have identified local need in their areas and many have experienced an increase in demand during the Coronavirus pandemic, so it’s great to know this funding will go some way to supporting them in providing their valued services.”

To find out more about the work of the Northampton Hope Centre, visit https://www.northamptonhopecentre.org.uk/.

To apply to the Longhurst Group's Community Grants Fund, go to https://www.longhurst-group.org.uk/about-us/community-grants-fund/