Handcrafted Projects

PARTNER

GP Bed Spaces

RESIDENTS 2020

Volunteering

Moved on into
independent living

"Handcrafted began when several people from local churches in Durham befriended people living on the streets. We support people to meet their basic needs such as housing, give opportunities to turn their lives around and to use their skills/passions to help themselves and others. The houses from our partnership with Green Pastures have been the foundation for many people to radically transform their lives."

Dan Northover, Founder and Trustee of Handcrafted

Overview

Handcrafted Projects runs training hubs across the North East in Durham, Chester Le Street and Gateshead, and provides supported accommodation. We have involved homeless or vulnerably housed people in renovating houses to move into, support people in setting up businesses, run a Forest School for parents and children, and take people on outdoor adventures. We empower disadvantaged and marginalised people to re imagine their lives, providing stability and promoting creativity so they can transform their circumstances and contribute to their communities.

Achieved to date

Our property renovation project leads to supported accommodation for trainees who are homeless or at risk of homelessness – giving them a home they have already taken pride in creating. We have turned 17 properties into safe places to live that feel like home for our residents. From a tiny workshop, we have gone on to establish three activity hubs, where over 50 individual trainees receive training and support in any given week. The positive routine of activities at our hubs keeps our trainees engaged and focused, equipping them to take control in other areas of life. We have introduced accredited training so people can gain a recognised qualification and improve their chances of getting a job.

Why we do this

Handcrafted was born out of a desire to see isolated people connected and those who had lost confidence in themselves reconnect with a future that had possibilities. Being a Christian organisation means that we value love, restoration and community: Every human is of equal worth, the past is forgiven, and we are better off together than alone.

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Future plans

We are expanding our housing stock to provide more homes for those who need them the most, which will include some more specific spaces for care leavers and direct access. We are extending the portfolio of training and activities we offer, beyond woodworking and crafts into wellbeing and cookery, and we have ambitions to repeat our success in other parts of the region.'

green pastures review

Handcrafted approached GP when they had just developed their first wood-working workshop and were working with people whose lives had gone in wrong directions. This was starting to have a real impact and people were discovering that they could achieve things that they thought they couldn’t. Many of these people though did not have accommodation so GP was able to step in and buy houses for them. As our partnership developed, we found a way to purchase run-down properties, release funds to Handcrafted for the renovation, and then for them to use those funds to bring them up to scratch, often utilising the newly found skills of those Handcrafted clients who would end up living in those properties. This has had a deep impact on those men who could look at the house they live in and say to themselves I was a part of this! Seeing lives change is deeply impactful and we are super-proud of our partnership and how, through a deep love for people that all at Handcrafted demonstrate, the project is growing and growing.

contact

John Hinton

E:

john@handcraftedproject.com

T:

0191 378 1562

W:

handcrafted.org.uk

A:

Unit 7, Skillion Business Centre, Littleburn Industrial Estate, Durham, DH7 8HG

location

GP BEDS

other beds

partnership est.

Feb 2014