Resonance - Twenty Years Of Impact - Report - Page 92
1 IN 206 PEOPLE
in England are without a home27
RESONANCE KEY MILESTONES
MILESTONES
• £300m of funds under management
• Real Lettings Property Fund 2 is fully deployed, having raised £98.5m,
purchased 334 properties and housed 679+ people.
• The Women in Safe Homes fund attracts 10 new impact investors taking the
overall fund size to over £26 million - this includes the Church of England’s
first ever social impact investment
• The Women In Safe Homes Fund buys its first property for housing
partner Nacro
AWARDS
• The Resonance Everyone In Fund is highly commended in RESI Awards
for Best Residential COVID-19 Response
• Shortlisted in the LGPF LAPF Awards in the ‘Impact Manager Of The Year’
category for our property funds
• Highly commended in Property Week’s RESI Awards ‘Social Impact’
category ‘Best COVID-19 Response’ for our property funds
1 IN 53 PEOPLE
in London are without a home27
MATT’S STORY
PROPERTY FUND TENANT
Technically homeless and sofa surfing
I started my working life in the Royal Navy. After I left I did quite a few jobs, here,
there and everywhere. Eventually I decided to move to Madrid, and was there for
five years teaching English, but then decided to come back for various reasons.
I was 54 when I moved back in with my parents who were elderly. I had stayed with
them four to five weeks before it was quite obvious that I wasn’t going to be able
to stay there very long. I just told them I was going back to Spain, because it kept
everything nice and calm and stopped them from worrying too much. But I didn’t
and I ended up becoming technically homeless.
I decided to get in contact with some friends of mine and I literally sofa surfed for
five to six months. But I was running out of friend’s sofas that I could use. I didn’t
want to be out on the streets and was telling my parents that I was still in Spain. So,
I decided - because I’m from the area - to go to Heathrow having found that there’s
quite a few homeless people that used to come into the airport in the evenings
once the security had left.
I got talking to a couple of homeless people. And they said, it’s a good idea to come
to the airport if you haven’t got anywhere to sleep. Simply because it’s safe, it’s
warm. There are shops that are open 24 hours, and you can be safe there to tuck
yourself away in the corner.
After that I was moved to a halfway house hostel type accommodation. I think I was
there for literally three weeks when an opportunity came up through the outreach
workers at the hostel, who said they’ve got a place, which might be suitable for me
as permanent accommodation. I was a bit wary because I hadn’t been able to see
it, either online or in person. But then I came here. And it’s been fantastic. It looked
fantastic when I arrived. And I’m more than happy with it.
When I came upstairs and opened the front door, with my housing officer, from
St. Mungo’s, I was really, really surprised. I walked in the door, and I was absolutely
astounded at the standard of it. It was brand spanking new. Everything, all the
furniture was new. In fact, a lot of it was still in its wrappers. And it’s been fantastic,
I’ve got it how I want it. I’ve bought various items for the flat, it’s worked out very
well. And I’m really, really happy.
Having my own space has been a really good thing for me
I generally tend to do well, when I’m on my own and sort out my own routine. I’ve
got everything close by either a bus ride away, or shops are literally a five minute
walk down the road. And basically, having the space and being able to sort myself
out has been a wonderful experience.
The local area is actually well connected. There are a couple of tube stations, with
good connections into central London, within a twenty minute walk so it doesn’t
take me very long to get into work in central London.
There’s a lovely nature reserve, Brent Reservoir, not far away. And I can walk literally
fifteen minutes and get to a lovely park area. And I’ve got parks just behind me,
which are nice, especially in the summer.
So, I thought I’d give it a go. And I was there for about a year I suppose in and
out, sleeping there deciding never ever to go out on the streets. That just wasn’t
me at all.
I think without this place, it would have been particularly difficult, especially
because of the pandemic.
I found myself within a group of people who would congregate around the
terminals and sit and drink cups of tea and coffee and fall asleep, and in the
mornings go to libraries, go to McDonald’s, sit and then come back to the airport in
the evenings. So, it was okay. It was safe. It was warm, and it was out the way.
When I was sleeping rough in the airport, I didn’t really think I could get out of that
situation. But my resolve was to get out of it somehow. And then the pandemic hit.
If it hadn’t been for the pandemic, I wouldn’t be here. I’ve now got this place. So,
pandemic and post-pandemic wise, this place has given me ample opportunity to
improve myself and get a job that I enjoy.
But I was very much thinking, how am I going to get out of this
And then the pandemic hit. And you know, we just couldn’t sit around the airport, it
was difficult to keep social distancing. So, they brought in outreach workers to the
airport, St Mungo’s being one of them. We were all taken to various hotels in and
around London, which was a godsend, to be honest. The hotel I was in, was one of
the smart Travelodge hotels, because my needs were low level. I spent three months
there in central London.
When I come in from work in the evening I make myself a decent meal, a cup of
tea, sit down in front of the TV or have some music on and consider where I was
before this place, falling asleep on really difficult chairs. And now I’ve got a nice
comfy sofa. I’ll sit here, close my eyes. And that’s it. I’m in the land of sunk!
“When I came upstairs and opened the front door, with
my housing officer, from St. Mungo’s, I was really, really
surprised. I walked in the door, and I was absolutely
astounded at the standard of it. It was brand spanking new.”
Source:
27 Shelter 2021
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