Supporting communities

Whether it’s funding youth clubs, installing defibrillators or improving public areas, we’re continuing to support communities in the areas where we have homes.

In the summer, we worked with various local groups to transform a grassed area near some of our homes in Great Ayton.

Alongside the Brighten Up Great Ayton group, community interest company Moors Sustainable and Great Ayton Parish Council, we create a mini wildflower orchard at the entrance to Beech Close.

We planted apple and plum trees, as well as wildflowers which will attract pollinating insects such as bees, butterflies and beetles.

Broadacres donated £250 to the project as part of our 25 great things initiative, which celebrated our 25 years as a housing association.

We also contributed funding and gave permission for a community defibrillator to be installed outside our Rivendale extra care scheme in Northallerton. There are now two publicly accessible defibrillators in the Bankhead Road area, where we have a high concentration of homes. They will be accessible to all members of the local community in the event of someone having a heart attack.

Broadacres funds three youth clubs in Stokesley, Northallerton and Thirsk and we were recently delighted to find a new home for the club in Stokesley.

The move from the club’s original base in a building at Stokesley fire station to the town’s Methodist church was necessary due to the rising numbers of the children using the club.

All three clubs play an important part in getting children off the streets on an evening and giving them meaningful activities to do. The clubs are run by The Clock, a local charity who we are proud to have partnered with over the last few years. We also recently contributed some money to The Clock’s new trading venture, Clock Works, which has set up a community re-use store in Thirsk.

They are offering a 10% discount for Broadacres customers and more information is available from www.thirskclock.com/clock-works

Our Community Development Fund also continues to prove popular, with local organisations applying for grants of up to £500 to help fund community projects. Our own residents determine which grants to approve and one of the most recent awards went to Parents of Special Children (POSCH), a charity set up to support mothers of children with additional needs.

They used the money to run a four-week cookery course for mums, with a focus on showing them how to cook a variety of well-balanced meals on a budget.

This is particularly important because many of the mums have children with autism who are particular about what they eat (a common thing among autistic people), making meal-time selection and preparation difficult for their families.

Following the devastation of the floods in the Dales, Broadacres decided to make a donation at this critical time. A staff member had contact details for the Two Ridings Foundation who were giving emergency cash donations to those affected and we donated £1,500. In addition, Broadacres staff were brilliant in responding to appeals for donations of much needed toiletries to those people made homeless by the floods.

If you would like to apply to our Community Development Fund, please click here.