A former disused student accommodation block in Hulme, Manchester will be given a new lease of life providing homes for young people who are leaving care.
Up to 30 young people between the ages of 16 and 18 will be supported at Boundary Lodge by community landlord Mosscare St Vincent’s (MSV) on behalf of Manchester City Council.
This is part of MSV’s longstanding commitment to ensure young people, who have been getting a raw deal in recent years and particularly during the pandemic, get the support they need to move their lives forward positively.
From later September this year the site will be run as a ‘foyer’, a type of accommodation aimed at preparing young people for independent living by offering training and counselling.
Charlie Norman, CEO for MSV said: 'This latest project at Boundary Lodge will provide much needed new homes and support to help even more young people to aspire and achieve their goals in life. And this will be achieved by working closely with Children's Services and our partners within the City Council.
In fact MSV has been working with homeless and at risk young people for 25 years, and we are honoured to run two foyers (in Manchester and Blackburn) for young people who haven't had the best start in life to achieve their full potential and talent. Alongside this we have developed schemes across Greater Manchester and Lancashire to provide safe homes for 16 to 25 year olds experiencing homelessness and complex issues.
We helped to shape and pioneer a range of care leaver pledges for the GM Housing Providers as part of our commitment to the GM Care Leaver Covenant and our latest project, also in partnership with Manchester City Council and National House Project, will see 17 new high quality apartments for care experienced young people through the conversion of our old office premises in Moss Side.
Working with at risk young people gets to the very heart of what we believe as an organisation - that everyone deserves a decent home and every young person should have the very best start in life with a safe home and the right support. I'm so excited to see this latest project brought to life.”
Councillor Garry Bridges, Executive Member for Children's Services, Manchester City Council, said: “We take our role as corporate parents very seriously and are fully committed to doing everything we can to support young people as they leave our care.
“Not just somewhere to sleep and eat, The Lodge will also have onsite training, advice, and support available - all the things young people need to help them as they're starting out living on their own for the first time. It will also provide a stepping-stone to help prepare them to become good tenants and citizens in the future - something that is important as we build more affordable housing for rent across the city.”
MSV, which already manages The MSV Foyer within a five-minute walking distance, will buy and renovate the building.
The move will save money from the public purse as the new accommodation will reduce the need for sending children in Manchester City Council’s care to placements outside of the area, which is costly and will often result in unsatisfactory outcomes for those involved.
Demand for supported accommodation is also increasing, with Manchester having 100 young people on average in foyers and other types of temporary housing across the city. It’s a model that really works, as the Manchester and Blackburn with Darwen Foyers proves.
