Hull Women’s Network used the Cost of Living Fund to sustain services and introduce new ones.
Hull Women’s Network is an organisation that supports women and children in the community in Hull, most of whom have fled domestic abuse. The organisation has grown and expanded since its inception in 2004 and, alongside its sister organisation, Preston Road Women’s Centre, is one of the largest service providers in the area for women and children, offering a range of different services including safe accommodation, to legal services, registered childcare, and accredited training in a variety of different subjects. Hull Women’s Network have been long-standing partners of Social Investment Business with them being recipients of our products dating back to 2007.
In 2018, Preston Road Women’s Centre opened the UK’s first purpose-built women’s centre and enhanced its work to support thousands of families in need. This new Women’s Centre where Hull Women’s Network is based, has now been a staple for services in Hull and a safe space for women and children in need for 6 years. The centre is a bustling hub that adopts a one-stop-shop mentality. A charity shop, a training centre, a low-cost law firm and a volunteering project are just a few services that call this big purple building home. “Even though it’s mainly purple, it’s also green and white which we took inspiration from the Suffragette movements colours, it’s to reflect the feminist ethos of our organisation” treasurer Lisa Hilder states whilst reflecting on all of the positive opportunities the building has been able to provide to women and families in need.
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The Cost of Living Fund grant will be used to continue our Girlz-only youth club, typically used by girls between the ages of ten and 16/17 that runs twice a week and we do various activities. We feed them because most of them come from around the centre and they come from low-income families who are really feeling the pinch in terms of cost of living. The loan has been used for a women-only repairs and maintenance service. We've been wanting to do it for quite some time and because we've stripped out the profit, we can drastically reduce the charges to women who use the service.”
Lisa Hilder
Treasurer, Hull Women's Network
Preston Road Women’s Centre supports on average around 2500-3000 women and families a year, from housing to training to wellbeing support services – the organisation offers an avenue for almost everything. The partnership between Hull Women’s Network and Winner Trading, the specialist housing association also based at Preston Road Women’s Centre, is able to offer emergency accommodation to those in need and provide young women with their first home and support them in maintaining a tenancy.
Owning and managing 190 properties has been beneficial for the community, but it’s a mammoth task to be able to manage everything in house. Hull Women’s Network has been wanting to create a women-only trades service which could support and manage their properties across Hull. Using inspiration from organisations such as Stopcocks, the all women plumbing service, Hull Women’s Network wanted to create their own women led and managed housing maintenance service to support their housing and the women and families who call their houses a home.
They have also inspired other women’s services within the UK to build up a portfolio of their own properties. Treasurer Lisa Hilder describes their involvement with this as ‘midwife support’, allowing services to give birth to housing portfolios designed for vulnerable women.
With the support of the Cost of Living Fund, the organisation was able to set up their own in-house women led repairs and maintenance service and have currently recruited two tradeswomen. The service will act as the main point of call for any issues related to the homes with the care of the Hull Women’s Network and support women in being able to access opportunities to join the service. The fund has also allowed the organisation to enhance an existing service they run that supplies young women and girls with weekly sessions to interact with peers and access support services. The funding has opened-up a world of opportunities for women and families who use the service and is creating a positive change for those who need it.
To find out more about the Cost of Living Fund click here.
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We’ve had Futurebuilders England investment since 2007 and that helped us buy our first ten properties out of our 190 properties. We did exactly what Futurebuilders England was designed to do, which was to enable third sector organisations to become familiar with loan investment and be resilient enough to use it.”
Lisa Hilder
Treasurer, Hull Women's Network
