Broadland Housing Association

A promising future available for homeless people as Herring House Hostel opens its doors

A £3 million project to design and build a custom made homeless hostel in Great Yarmouth is nearly complete, when Herring House Trust opens the doors to their new hostel on 3rd February, giving hope and a new start to thirty one homeless men and women over the age of 18.

The hostel which was designed by Norwich based architects Ingleton Wood, built by Youngs Homes and project managed by Davis Langdon LLP on behalf of Broadland Housing Association began when the original Grade II listed building needed significant repair and maintenance to ensure the accommodation was of a decent standard.  A project group formed in 2006 to look at re-provisioning the facility.

The major capital funding for the project came from Garfield Weston Foundation, the Homes and Communities Agency, LandAid, Norfolk Community Foundation, N-DAP (Norfolk Drug & Alcohol Partnership), The Trusthouse Charitable Foundation and The Tudor Trust, along with support and donations from local groups.

304 people approached Herring House Trust last year for support who were homeless or in housing need (Dec 2010 – Dec 2011).  112 of these were under the age of 35 and 162 were living with mental health problems.

“This can be a new start for everyone living in the hostel” Said Gaynor Collin, Business Manager at Herring House Trust.  “People can stay with us at the hostel for up to two years where we are able to offer support to address the issues that have resulted in them being homeless and help to find a more permanent place to live.”

The new hostel will offer a range of support systems to people who are homeless or in need of emergency housing. 

Lady Balfour of Burleigh, Grants Chairman of the Trusthouse Charitable Foundation said, “The grant of £100,000 from Trusthouse recognises the outstanding success of the work of Herring House Trust. We are very pleased to have been able to support this project, an opportunity to create a building and an environment that will help many people at times of crisis in their lives.”

John Dixon, Partner at Ingleton Wood, architects for the Herring House project, said “Ingleton Wood are really delighted with the finished project, the extensions to the original building have been carefully designed to be sensitive to the context but also contemporary in their approach.  The new shared spaces should provide an excellent environment to allow the operators of Herring House to better provide their high quality of support for the residents.  The 31 individual bedrooms are a massive improvement on the previous scheme and now feature light spacious rooms with en-suite facilities to allow more dignity for all. The building also features a number of sustainability features which will ensure the running costs of the building are kept to a minimum.”

Great Yarmouth Borough continues to support and enable the Herring House Trust and praises the new project.

Councillor Bob Peck, Cabinet Member for Communites said “The hostel does not only provide a home and shelter but ongoing support which can transform people’s lives.  Reliable support is of vital importance to those who have previously lived on the streets or have no home of their own.”

“We will be better equipped than ever to support clients in a safe and secure environment – offering training and employment skills, access to specialist services and a full resettlement package to help people move towards living independently in the community.” Continued Gaynor.

When they are ready, residents can move on to a halfway house, which is a shared house in the community with ongoing support from a dedicated resettlement team.

If a person is in emergency housing need, under threat of losing their accommodation or concerned for their future housing then they can come directly to the hostel and will be seen by a Hostel Support Worker who will be able to offer a range of support to best suit that person.

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