Accommodation Concern

Who we are

Accommodation Concern is a small registered charity operating locally within Kettering, Northamptonshire. Its core purpose is to prevent and alleviate poverty, need, hardship and distress by delivering advice, support, training, outreach services and other services related to the prevention and alleviation of poverty and homelessness.

The charity was established in 1987, incorporated in 2012 and aims to assist disadvantaged and vulnerable community members especially rough sleepers, homeless and those on the edge of homelessness. As such, the charity is at the forefront of social action towards safe, stable and ultimately independent accommodation within the area.

The charity offers a wide range of needs led free services which are mainly accessed by adults although there are an increasing number of younger members of the Kettering and North Northamptonshire community who are rough sleepers, homeless, sofa-surfing, in temporary accommodation or living in poverty.

Positive outcomes and impact achieved includes enabling access to: accommodation, social welfare, benevolent funds and varied resources; sustaining at risk tenancy; increasing distribution of nourishment, clothing, footwear and hygiene resources; and improving independent learning especially transferable life skills.

Monday to Friday the charity provides a Kettering town centre based advice through appointments (and drop in) staffed by a team of paid staff and volunteers.

Other services include 1-2-1 support and advocacy services to facilitate access to other critical services such as GPs, addiction treatment programmes, mental health services and rough sleeper outreach services.

Since 2016 a supported accommodation housing unit (Pioneer Project) acted as a pilot for the charity offering direct accommodation to single homeless people including packages of support services to help with their independence and sustained tenancies. This had grown over the past few years to our current 3 x 3 bed houses and 1 x 4 bed house, alongside 6 intensive Rough Sleeper Initiative flats for those with complex needs.

Mission Statement, Vision and Objective

.Mission Statement

The charitable purposes of the Charity are to prevent and relieve poverty, need hardship and distress, especially but not exclusively in relation to housing matters, by such means as the Trustees from time to time think fit.

Vision

By 2024 AC will be a leading and sustainable housing charity in Kettering.

Strategic objectives

Identified in 2019

• Lead on a professionally run and permanent 24/7 homelessness centre with resources (including launderette, storage & PO box address) and outreach team
• Act as an ethical landlord with adult and youth supported accommodation
• Provide activities and courses: Art, Music, English and Math
• Be a robust cross sector partner
• Be a community educator of root causes and collective impact solutions to rough sleeping

Updated in 2021

In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic and the change of landscape both locally and nationally the Trustees took the opportunity to review and update the business plan and the strategic objectives

• Maintain a high-quality housing, benefit and debt advice service
• Provide high quality supported accommodation housing units
• Prepare for the local authority changes positioning Accommodation Concern as a lead provider
• Improve sustainability through diversification of income streams
• Develop existing service provision in response to changing operational environment