Making a difference in our communities

We do more than provide and manage homes. We invest heavily in our communities to support our residents and other local people to meet their aspirations and fulfil their potential.

This year, we raised over £7,800 through fundraising events for our charity of the year, London Air Ambulance, and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance. The partnership has not only helped us raise funds, but also awareness of the charity’s life-saving work. We’ve also continued to support smaller local charities, community initiatives and events, especially when they can benefit residents in our communities.

Over

£7,800

raised for London Air Ambulance, and Essex and Herts Air Ambulance by staff who took part in fundraising activities.

Over

530

volunteering hours spent by staff taking part in Giving Something Extra projects that directly impacted our residents.

Provided

6

safe houses to be run by Hestia, the largest provider of modern slavery support in London.

Supporting our communities in London

This year we joined up with the charity Hestia which is the largest provider of support to modern slavery victims in the capital, to provide a new safe house in Brent for female victims of modern slavery.

Hestia’s new safe house contains six units of accommodation for women, provided by Network Homes. This is a safe space for them to begin to recover with 24-hour security and a dedicated office for support staff. Women who use the accommodation are also supported by Hestia with their emotional and practical needs.

This is a great example of partnership working to protect very vulnerable members of our society and delivering on our social purpose.

Supporting our communities in East Hertfordshire

In 2019/20 we:

  • Supported school holiday activities across Hertfordshire.
  • Provided funding for Future Living, Hertford, an award-winning registered charity and an independent service for people recovering from addiction and domestic abuse.
  • Sponsored Ware Joggers annual fun run which raised £10,000 for Essex & Herts Air Ambulance and other local charities.
  • Welcomed residents to our new Ridgeway development with seeds and planters for their new homes.
  • Delivered a new secure cycle and toy store in consultation with residents in Bentley Road, Hertford.
  • Provided funding to Broxbourne & East Herts Community Voluntary Service to support local community groups and provide low cost training and skills programmes.

Giving Something Extra

Throughout the year as part of our Giving Something Extra initiative our staff got involved in volunteering activities that directly impacted residents or the local community.

Community Orchard Project in Rectory Park

280

volunteering hours used to create a community orchard in Rectory Park.

Gardening /DIY

224

volunteering hours used to improve community gardens on our estates.

Digital Training

30

volunteering hours used to help improve residents’ confidence online.

Budgeting support

Helped residents save more than.

10%

from household bills and supported people who were struggling to meet their daily needs.

New community orchard planted in Rectory Park

In November 2019, local volunteers and staff from Network Homes joined forces to plant 70 trees and 5,000 bulbs creating a new community orchard in Rectory Park, Northolt, to mark National Tree Week. We also donated £5,000 to purchase an additional 20 trees as part of a sustainability initiative.

Tim Goodwin, Regeneration Manager at Network Homes said: “In tackling any regeneration project, there are always wider neighbourhood needs. This project has been a great opportunity to enhance local amenities for residents, promote our partnership with the new football centre, and enhance the new homes we have provided at Rectory Park.”