📻 Don`t miss our Head of Operations Lucy live on BBC Radio Norfolk tomorrow (Tuesday 20 May)! She`ll be chatting with reporter Edd Smith about our campaign: 12-0 – Change the score on homelessness.
⚽ So, what`s 12-0 all about? Well - imagine your team losing 12-0. Unthinkable, right? Yet every night in England, there is enough homelessness to fill Norwich`s football stadium 12 times over. That’s 354,000 people, including over 161,000 children. It’s not just numbers - it’s families, futures, people, lives.
🪟 If you`ve found yourself in Norwich`s Royal Arcade recently, you might have noticed our striking window display. It`s an ordinary family facing extraordinary hardship, because it could happen to any of us. We`re grateful for the backing of Hainstone, who have the window display outside their office and whose team is walking 84 miles in 48 hours to raise money for our #HopeAtHome initiative.
💬 Lucy will be sharing how we can all help #ChangeTheScore - because homelessness is not inevitable. It’s something we can fix, together.
📍So, don’t miss it on BBC Radio Norfolk tomorrow - tune in and learn more about our campaign and how you can make a difference. Because everyone deserves a place to call home.
#12Nil #ChangeTheScore #VoiceOfHope #EndHomelessness #Hopestead
May 19
#RunForHopestead
Tackling the fantastic Colchester Stampede 10k (@runthroughuk) this weekend are @_flagshiphousing’s Kerry, Morgan, Olivia and Luke. They’re raising funds for #HopeAtHome, which provides household essentials to those moving into a new home from a route of homelessness. So far they’ve raised hundreds of pounds, which we’re incredibly grateful for!
You can still donate by visiting JustGiving and searching for "Kerry`s fundraiser for Hopestead - Colchester Stampede 10k"!
This unique run starts and finishes at @colchester_zoo, with the route looping past some of the zoo’s 260 animal species, before heading out onto the closed roads around the park before crossing the finish line within the zoo once again.
All that’s left is to wish them the best of luck for Sunday – we’re rooting for you!
#EndHomelessness #Fundraising #Hopestead
May 16
#MentalHealthAwarenessWeek
At Hopestead, we believe that everyone deserves a place to call home. And we know that everyone’s needs are different, and we’re deeply committed to making our services accommodating and accessible to all.
There’s a huge need for mental health support and for services that cater to differing needs. For instance:
📊 81% of lead tenants supported through #HopeAtHome in 2024/5 identified as having a disability
📊 And 39% recorded having mental health difficulties
📊 With 17% of these being neurodivergent (including those with autism)
This Mental Health Awareness Week, make sure to remember that mental health difficulties affect so many, and it’s vital we acknowledge, support, and provide services that are accessible to everyone.
#EndHomelessness #MHAW #Hopestead
May 16
#12Nil #ChangeTheScore
If you tuned in to @futureradio_norwich yesterday you might have heard our Director of Operations Lucy talking about our 12-0 Change the Score campaign!
She talked about some of the key stats and messages behind our campaign:
📈 Over 350,000 people are experiencing homelessness in England
🏟️ Which would be enough to fill our city’s football stadium 12 times over
🧒 This includes almost 160,000 children
🏚️ And thousands are stuck in unfit temporary accommodation
You can see our window display in Norwich’s Royal Arcade, just outside the offices of Hainstone, who are supporting us in raising money through their epic upcoming hike – 84 miles in 48 hours, along Norfolk’s Coastal Path.
And you can get involved too – share posts on social media with the tags #12Nil and #ChangeTheScore (don’t forget to tag us too!), raise money through a #RunForHopestead challenge, and spread the word. Find out more by following 12-0 at the link in our bio!
Together we can change the score and end homelessness, because everyone deserves a place to call home.
#EndHomelessness #Hopestead
May 15
Introducing the newest addition to the Hopestead team – our new Fundraising Manager Chris Elliott!
But who better to introduce him than the man himself? Take it away, Chris.
💬 “Hi, I`m Chris Elliott, I`m Fundraising Manager at Hopestead and I`ve joined having spent 12 years in the charity sector in East Anglia.
In my career so far, I`ve spent over 20 years at Aviva in various marketing roles.
I then moved into the charity sector and worked for both the Benjamin Foundation and The Feed in marketing and fundraising roles.
So as fundraising manager, most of my energy will be raising money to support our Hope at Home project.
We get referrals from other colleagues within Flagship, and they’ll be telling us about people moving into properties who are coming from, typically, really traumatic circumstances.
But then #HopeAtHome and my colleagues will be chatting to those people about what furnishings they`ve got and what they need, and we can provide all the basics that they need.
I was listening to a call from one of my colleagues just yesterday and someone was moving in literally with no food and only the clothes they were wearing. It can be as extreme as that, so that`s my big motivator for fundraising: I know it`s going to help people.”
Because everyone deserves a place to call home. Welcome to the team Chris, we’re thrilled to have you on board! Learn more via Stories at the link in our bio!
#EndHomelessness #Hopestead #Fundraising
May 15
📺 What if your team lost 12–0?
That’s the kind of defeat we’re talking about — but it’s not football. It’s homelessness.
Tonight on That’s TV (Freeview Channel 7, 6–7pm), our Director of Operations Lucy will be sharing how we’re using the 12–0 campaign to wake people up to the real scale of homelessness.
Our display in Norwich’s Royal Arcade, supported by Hainstone, shows how this crisis affects ordinary families. It’s real, it’s growing, and it’s time we took action.
Join us in saying enough is enough, because everyone deserves a place to call home.
💛 Watch on Freeview Channel 7
📣 Share the message using #12Nil and #ChangeTheScore
🏃♂️ Support the walk or take on your own challenge - find Run for Hopestead at the link in our bio!
#12Nil #ChangeTheScore #Hopestead #HopeAtHome #EndHomelessness
May 7