10 years of Big Help Project - Big Help Homes

It's the final week of our #TBT series, where we have spent the last 6 weeks looking back on the 10 year history of Big Help Project. We began in 2011 with food support for those who have fallen into poverty; which led to our support services to address the reasons why people are in food crisis. We then launched our own trading shops to provide affordable and ethical ways of purchasing household goods, as well as Painting Green which redistributes remanufactured paint.

In 2011, we were a small local charity based in Knowsley. Since 2019, we have become a national charity, when we saw the opportunity to create healthy home environments and provide affordable housing across England. This was the beginning of our housing journey, Big Help Homes.

In 2019, we set up our supported housing across Merseyside to provide a home and wrap-a-round services for those who are homeless, living dysfunctional and chaotic lifestyles, or those fleeing domestic abuse. We wanted to address the underlying issues of why people were falling into crisis, and tackle those reasons head on. We do more than just provide accommodation; we aim to provide assistance, advice and to connect people with the additional external support they need to empower them to tackle the challenges they face. This could be for many reasons: struggling with debt, job loss, poor mental health, drug and alcohol misuse, domestic abuse, being at risk of becoming homeless etc. The object of supported housing is to help people to be able to go on and hold their own stable tenancies, without the risk of homelessness. We want to help individuals and families to get back on their feet and develop strong, resilient communities.

We have since grown from local supported housing, to general needs housing across the country, and we are expanding more each day. Our national portfolio of ethically managed housing ensures that all of our properties are truly affordable, offering to those with specialist needs and general needs. We now have over 1,600 properties meaning we are able to help more families and individuals than ever before; and can strengthen the ties that bind communities together.

We are proud and happy to have been able to help and support so many people over the past 10 years. No one should face poverty, and no one should have to go through it alone. We’re looking forward to the future and seeing how we can continue our work to ensure we keep helping as many people that we can, and how much more we will grow to be able to do so. It is a testament to our incredible and dedicated supporters, partners, donors, volunteers, and staff that we have been able to carry out our work over the last decade, and have been able to grow and expand our services to help as many people in the country as possible. Thank you to everyone who has been and is a part of our journey. We can’t wait to take the next steps with you.