“I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There’s help and you should accept it. Sometimes you can’t do it on your own. I was overwhelmed by the support.” – Beneficiary of The Brick

Did you know that 894,000 children in the UK don’t have their own beds? One organisation working to address bed poverty is The Brick, our charity partner. The Brick supports people experiencing homelessness across Wigan and Leigh in five key areas: housing, personal development, food & health, training & employment, and wellbeing.

October 10^th is World Homelessness Day so are taking the opportunity to reintroduce them and highlight the amazing work they do in the community local to our UK head office.

Housing

The Brick team provide residential and support services to respond to felt needs for those unable to find suitable accommodation. They have a portfolio of properties across Wigan and Leigh that can house up to 96 residents at one time. The service is facing increasing demand, and they are seeing higher occurrences of people presenting with ‘complex needs’. ‘Complex needs’ means that the individual has experience of two or more of the following as well as their experience of homelessness:

• Mental ill health
• Physical ill health
• Addiction
• Involvement with the criminal justice system
• Violence or abuse

The Brick works with a Trauma Informed Care (TIC) and Psychologically Informed Environment (PIE) approach to focus on the underlying causes of homelessness including trauma, rather than solely their homeless status, to empower individuals to succeed with independent living.

Between 2023-2024 they have provided 14,373 safe emergency beds for 422 individuals as well as providing long-term, supported accommodation for 91 individuals.

Wrap Around Support

Another key component of The Brick’s services is equipping people for self-sustained independent living. With service users often impacted by several linked barriers at the same time, this can be an impediment to accessing support. The team provides practical support in these areas to build skills and confidence that will continue to grow long-term.

The Brick’s services include assisting with GP Registration, accessing bank accounts and benefits, engaging with education and employment support, and moving on to independent living. This support is undertaken in partnership with the participants to provide unique personalised support utilising the skills and addressing the roadblocks particular to that person.

They also have a young person’s prevention Pathfinder programme that works primarily with 18–25-year-olds. This programme uses coaching to help overcome obstacles to accommodation, improve resilience, and prevent homelessness prior to occurrence where possible. Over the last year this programme has delivered 247 support sessions and supported 77 young people.

Multibank + Food Community

The Brick’s Innovative Multibank receives surplus goods that might otherwise be recycled or go to waste and redistributes them to people in need. These products range from household essentials like bedding and cleaning products to personal items like clothing and toiletries. In this way the project works to alleviate poverty as well as reducing pollution and waste.

These goods don’t just go to The Brick’s clients, they are also redistributed through partner third sector organisations as well as schools, social work teams, health visitors, health centres, faith groups, chambers of commerce, and rotary clubs. Through these channels, 590,378 household items have been donated to families struggling with the cost-of-living crisis in partnership with 344 partner organisations.

A recent report showed that for every £1 invested in the project £5.01 was returned in social value.

The Brick also provides household furniture, including 165 brand new beds in the last 12 months. As part of our work to support them, we assist with the supply of duvets, pillows, and bedding to kit these out.

“The donations provided by The Brick made me feel better as I can provide for my family, and I can concentrate on my gas and electricity bills. My home is warmer and looks better. The children are happier in the home.” – Feedback from a beneficiary of the Multibank.

Their centre is also the home of their food community which functions similar to a shop so members can access affordable food with dignity and choice. 1,805 households have accessed the food community in the last 12 months.

Current Need

We are incredibly proud to support The Brick in this work. With increasing need for emergency accommodation and move on accommodation as well as demand for their Food Community and Multibank, they are currently running a campaign to help provide household essentials. Very often, when coming to emergencies accommodation people will have had to leave belongings behind. When they arrive, empty handed, The Brick can support with supplies to make them feel welcomed and provide dignity. For low-income families, providing essential supplies like toilet roll, shampoo, and deodorant, means that they can spend that money on things like their food shop or electricity bill. If you want to find out more about this appeal you can look on their website.