Apartments for the homeless filling up at Fred Winter Centre in Stratford
IT’S been a busy few months at the Fred Winter Centre (FWC) and the vibes are positive as more projects to help homeless and vulnerable people were recently revealed.
FWC management confirmed to the Herald that nine of the 15 apartments are now occupied by local people, an IT hub will help with CV writing and employability enabling people to look for work, there’s a gardening project planned, arts projects, a series of skills and wellbeing sessions hosted by Crisis and there’s also a breakfast club.
Jonathan Ruane, assistant head of housing with Spring Housing and service manager of FWC has worked in the housing sector for ten years, he told the Herald: “Fred Winter Centre is fully operational now, so we move into the next phase of community engagement. People know the Fred Winter Centre and we thought it important to keep the name in respect to the family who do come and visit us. It’s a beautiful place to work, a hive of activity and a great atmosphere. Most days it’s just buzzing. This design is popular in Scandinavia where there are two or three organisations on site to help residents.”
The centre is not a hostel. A resident can stay there for up to two years until they’re tenancy ready and will then hopefully get their own long-term accommodation but it’s the action of putting building blocks in place that will help people start to rebuild their lives.
Key partners include Spring Housing, Orbit, CGL, Springfield Mind, Cork & Tile, Foodbank in addition, P3, Parenting Project, Crisis and Samaritans.
Jonathan said: “Everyone who is housed is referred by Stratford District Council who are very heavily involved in supporting the project.
Budgeting and money advice is offered so eventually the resident can move on from the FWC successfully and sustain their own tenancy and their bills and have a normal life.”
The centre has received a lot of interest and support from Stratford groups and organisations.
Street Pastors have had a special interface with the homeless for the last 10 to 12 years and in the autumn of 2019 it was decided to hold a concert for the homeless at United Reformed Church in Stratford.
Barry Juckes and his wife Ros are Street Pastors and were instrumental in putting the concert which featured South Warwickshire choir Tarantara. The event raised £1,400 but then Covid struck and everything was put on hold but Barry and Ros were very keen the money would be donated to something that could be identified and would benefit the town and not as they say “frittered away.”
“Almost three years on we have at long last found the “identifiable” cause we were looking for and it’s the residents at the Fred Winter Centre, we also had a lots of donations from local businesses and a raffle,” Barry Juckes said.
The money was used to help kit the apartments with toasters, microwaves, crockery and cups.
Recently 50 people attended a free awareness evening hosted by Stratford Rotary Club at the Fred Winter Centre.
Guests were greeted by Rotary’s newly appointed vice president David Taylor who introduced Paul Spooner the centre manager and Zoe Ballinger the Foodbank manager.
The evening involved tours of the facilities with a view to creating a better understanding of the centre and its work and of the Foodbank and its needs. Rotary also highlighted its involvement with the centre.
The award-winning non-profit Cork and Tile restaurant and café within the centre provided a buffet and offered a competition prize of a £50 voucher to spend at the restaurant and a fundraiser on the evening raised £365 for the Foodbank.
Since Covid started the Rotary Club – who were no longer able to meet at their lunch and evening meeting instead donated their meal cost to the Foodbank and £13,700 has been donated so far plus the club donated £6,600 for equipment to support the Foodbank warehouse.
FWC continues to develop and is also well-used by the public who enjoy the café as a place to meet friends and catch up.
Jonathan Ruane takes pride in the place where he works.
“The apartments are fantastic, the rooms have a lot of character, the work is of a high standard finished with amenities for individual living space like bedding, ensuite shower and bathroom and kitchen. It’s a fantastic place to work and great to see collaborative working amongst partner agencies. I am from Birmingham and have been very welcomed into Stratford by partners,” Jonathan said.
A formal opening for the FWC is planned at the end of summer.
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