As the cost-of-living crisis continues despite the warmer weather, PETER BARRON finds out how a leading North-East housing association is making a difference – and appealing to businesses to play their part…

AFTER a career spanning more than 30 years in social housing, Angela Lockwood is well used to seeing the impact of poverty across the North-East – and yet she is visibly shocked to discover that even charity shops are now out of reach for many.

Angela is chief executive of not-for-profit housing association North Star, which is on the frontline of the cost-of-living crisis, supporting some of the region’s most vulnerable people with a range of accommodation and support services.

And today she’s visiting North Star’s community hub in Havelock Street, Thornaby, where the Sprouts Community Food Charity has been given the space and support it needs to be a lifeline to local people who are struggling to make ends meet.

‘Sprouts’ manager, Debbie Fixter, is giving Angela an update on what’s happening in the local community, and she reveals that it’s become so bad that she’s coming across people who can no longer afford to buy their clothes in charity shops.

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“You can’t blame the charity shops – it’s not their fault – but that’s the reality now. People can no longer afford to go there because of the spiral of debt they’re facing,” explains Debbie.

It’s a revelation that has Angela shaking her head in disbelief: “It’s shocking to hear that even charity shops are out of reach of people – it underlines the depth of the problem,” she replies.

Thankfully, Sprouts sell coats and shoes for just £1, as well as distributing vital food supplies, including shop donations that would otherwise go to waste.

The launch of the charity goes back to a worrying time in Debbie’s life. The joy of starting a family coincided with the traumatic news that she had skin cancer. Her treatment was successful, but the health scare led to her studying for a degree in nutrition and health science at Teesside University.

In 2011, after graduating with a first, Debbie and business partner, Neta Kaur-Brown, launched a company that was originally called Little Sprouts, supplying fresh, nutritious food to private nurseries.

“It took off like crazy – we were running round like idiots in no time,” Debbie smiles.

As well as supplying meals, they started being asked to teach mums and carers how to cook nutritious food. That led to Stockton Borough Council commissioning them to arrange training for other nurseries, and they ended up at Stockton Learning and Skills, in Billingham, running a café for two days a week.

The business became a community interest company, and it continued to grow, delivering cooking workshops, and lunch clubs for older people, and evolving into a fully-fledged charity.

North Star, which had bought the former offices in Havelock Street more than 20 years earlier and turned it into a fully funded community space, saw the potential in allowing Sprouts to use the building, and it became a regular base for after-school cooking workshops.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, in March 2020, Debbie asked North Star if the charity could make more use of the building, and the immediate answer was: “Do whatever needs to be done.”

“In crisis situations, the best response sometimes is to support other organisations which are already doing great things in the community,” says Angela.

The Thornaby hub became the focus of community support: a collection point for free school meals; giving out bags of food that residents and shops had donated; and providing advice on a range of social problems.

“We couldn’t have coped and done what we’ve done without the support of North Star – they are a masterclass in how to deal with people and make a difference,” declares Debbie.

“A lot of people were already struggling after Covid, and that was followed more or less immediately by the cost-of-living crisis, leaving people with not enough money to pay for basics like food and heating. That had a big impact on mental health because people didn’t have the strength to fight it.”

The Thornaby hub is just one of many examples of how North Star is making life that bit easier. People of all nationalities, including asylum-seekers, come to the hub on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, have a cuppa, and socialise. They build relationships, discuss their problems, and share advice. Cooking workshops are held on Tuesdays, lunch clubs on Wednesdays, and the hub also features sewing and book swap groups.

“The place is an oasis – I honestly don’t know where these people would be without this kind of help,” says Debbie.

North Star has a 12-strong team of community housing officers, who are embedded in the community, and supported by a specialist team of welfare rights officers and ‘community-connectors’. The local community housing officer for Thornaby is Jayne McDonald, and Debbie is quick to pay tribute to her efforts: “You hear people mentioning Jayne’s name all the time, because everyone knows and trusts her.”

Angela is well aware of the value frontline staff like Jayne bring: “We need to know the communities inside out, and you can only do that if you have very skilled people on the ground, building relationships. We can then focus attention where it’s needed most,” she says.

Last year, North Star increased its ‘emergency fund’ from £20,000 to £200,000, so it could provide direct grant support for people in dire circumstances.

“We expected that to be a one-off but it’s clear that level of support will have to continue for the foreseeable future because the demand is so intense,” says Angela.

“My concern is that now that the summer’s here, and it’s lighter and warmer, there’s a danger that complacency will creep in.

“Inflation may be slowly coming down, but food inflation is still incredibly high. And even with the price cap on energy, the reduced price remains two-thirds higher than at the start of the energy crisis. Two million more households are trapped in food poverty that when the crisis began, and the problem hasn’t gone away.”

What’s abundantly clear is that the work of North Star Housing, alongside valued partners like Sprouts Community Food Charity, remains as vital as ever in the communities of Teesside and the wider region.

Another winter will be here all too soon – and the £1 coats will be in big demand again.

In the business of making a difference

NOTHING would make Angela Lockwood happier than for North Star’s services to no longer be in such demand – but the need in North-East communities continues to grow.

“We’re in it for the long-term,” she says. “We will continue to invest in communities and properties across the region, with a big decarbonisation programme to make them greener, alongside a wider range of efficient services.”

Last year, North Star supported more than 1,000 households with welfare advice; maximised income for individuals by more than £600,000; and dealt with a 150 per cent increase in referrals to the welfare rights team, with an additional officer being recruited to cope with demand.

And that support will continue, with a five-year business plan that includes:

  • £66.9m being spent on new-build housing.
  • An investment in existing housing stock of £27.1m.
  • £6.9m of environmental improvements being made to stock, such as fencing and boundary walls.
  • Community support forecast to be £1.23m (£246,000) per year.

In Thornaby, the investment includes 10 properties being brought back into community use – but Angela is appealing for help from the business community, saying: “We can make a bigger difference if we work together.”

She sits on the North East Advisory Board of Business In The Community, described as “the UK’s largest and most influential responsible business network, dedicated to building a fairer and greener world together”.

“Through Business In The Community, we are constantly seeking out what’s needed in the community, and how it can be supported with voluntary donations or skills,” says Angela.

“We then try to match the need to businesses, and the more companies that step up in terms of social responsibility, the bigger impact we can make.

“Most companies want to do something, but don’t always know what to do. Business In The Community gives them that mechanism to support the community.”