Liverpool
Enabling people to be their best
As part of our retrofit project in Kirkdale, in partnership with our contractors we have supported Everton in the Community’s Safe Hands programme which supports young people living with special educational needs, developmental disabilities and poor mental health. Our support has seen the addition of a sensory room and therapeutic outdoor space at 41 Goodison, and through our Onward Digital Connect initiative, we have also donated laptops and digital smartboards to the facility.
Through our Digital Connectivity Fund, we provided our customer Katey with a free laptop and six months’ free data so she could access training and education. Katey from Liverpool said: “Thank you so much Onward, this has been a game changer for me. I can now start my new job with better pay, better hours and I can work from home too!”
Through the Onward Community Fund, we have gone beyond housing by granting over £20.2k to seven local projects across Merseyside since March last year. For further details about how you could get support, please email socialinvestment@onward.co.uk.
One of the projects to receive a grant from the fund was Norris Green Community Alliance’s Food for All initiative, which is set to support around 720 households with essential food and household items as well as employment opportunities, health and wellbeing support.
Team Oasis Children’s Charity’s Pathways to Employment project will help local people living in Dingle to pursue sustainable employment with targeted workshops, practical work placements and career mentorship through a grant from the Onward Community Fund.
During Mental Health Awareness Week we hosted a Mental Health Matters event for our supported housing customers. Attendees were able to try a range of activities such as breathwork, meditation and relaxation, chair-based football and games designed to test personal reflexes, responses and reaction.
In Kirkdale, we’ve partnered with Liverpool City Council to develop a joined-up approach to housing services for customers living in the area. We’ve also worked with local partners here to reduce fly tipping and antisocial behaviour.
In November, we worked with 13 local partners to hold a drop in event for customers living in Canning, providing advice on finances, housing, food, employment, mental health and wellbeing.
Providing homes our customers love
Since April last year, we have made improvements to our existing homes in Kirkdale through an energy efficiency project to make 105 homes warmer, quieter and more affordable. A total of 400 homes will benefit from the project.
Over this period, we have also made improvements to our existing homes across Merseyside and Cheshire West, including 316 new kitchens, 267 new bathrooms, 26 new roofs, 510 new doors and 218 new boilers, as well as the installation of new windows in 331 homes.
Following feedback from customers, we have renewed front steps across homes in Kensington and Fairfield.
Creating places people are proud of
Following issues with waste management in Canning, we worked with Liverpool City Council to provide 100 new bins for people living in the area. We have also delivered external cleaning across the neighbourhood, which has included jet washing steps at the front and rear, as well as clearing light wells at the front of buildings.
Thanks to funding from Liverpool City Council, we created age-friendly gardens at our Holmwood and Ashfarm schemes in Liverpool. As part of the project, we’ll be delivering gardening activity days and displays throughout the year alongside additional wellbeing activities.
In Speke and Garston, we partnered with Liverpool City Council to deliver skip days and alongside customers, helped to clear fly tipping and clean up the area. We also hosted a Community Clean Day in Anfield and provided skips for customers to get rid of large unwanted items.
We worked with local partners Liverpool City Council, Novus and Community Shop to deliver a series of events in Kirkdale for Big Green Week. The local community came together to create a cleaner, greener Kirkdale through a garden competition, litter pick, skip day and bin consultation.
In Kensington and Fairfield we have worked with Liverpool City Council to improve communal areas, increase waste management provision and tackle antisocial behaviour, whilst also providing extra support for customers in need.
Colleagues and volunteers from Barclaycard recently attended our Meadow Court and Bosco Court schemes and helped to improve the communal gardens with the help of customers.
During Volunteers Week, our Older Persons Team helped at GROW Speke, a community initiative in South Liverpool that is turning derelict land into a vibrant outdoor space. Customers also got involved making hanging baskets and harvesting vegetables they had grown.