Two decades of rebuilding lives and changing futures

In the latest edition of Marketing Derby’s Innovate Magazine, we meet the team at Derventio Housing Trust, which over the past two decades have worked tirelessly to help homeless people rebuild their lives.

In that time, the organisation has grown from a night shelter to a thriving Community Interest Company, with a staff of 100 providing housing and support to more than 1,000 people a year, as well as bringing millions of pounds into the Derbyshire economy through grants and funding.

Homelessness is a deeply challenging social issue and a huge economic one, costing the UK Government £1.7 billion each year.

The team at Derventio has been at the sharp end of dealing with this crisis, providing support to help clients rebuild links with their families, improve their mental health, escape addiction, gain employment and secure new homes.

Derventio has grown from a single house to providing nearly 700 bed spaces across five UK counties. Around 200 people are housed in Derby, nearly 150 in wider Derbyshire, and more residents are housed in Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Swindon and Nottinghamshire.

Phil Rowland, Derventio’s strategic operations director, told Innovate: “We had the same policy back then as we have now. If somebody presents to us as homeless, they can move in with just the clothes on their back.

“They don’t even have to bring a toothbrush. We can supply all of those things – all of the furniture, all of the white goods.

“We provide very person-centred support and help people prepare for living independently.

“We try to focus on the positive things. People can grow from that. It’s about focusing on small steps to get where you want to be.”

Over its 20-year history, Derventio and its team members have won numerous awards but it’s the impact its work has had on the lives of the 10,000 people it has helped which gives the team most satisfaction.

Phil told Innovate: “I feel very proud of the company and what we have achieved and being a part of that is wonderful.

“When you house somebody who may have been unemployed for a number of years, it gives you such a sense of pride.

“We have residents who go on and work in housing, so that they can use their lived experience. Others go and work for drug and alcohol services. One former resident, who left us six years ago, still works for a local taxi firm.

“We see people go on and get married, have a family. It’s wonderful.”

To read the feature in full visit https://heyzine.com/flip-book/09140571b9.html#page/62.