Axiom Homeless Action Fund

In partnership with Axiom Housing Association, the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation has opened the Axiom Homeless Action Fund to provide short term emergency support to people who are homeless or who are threatened with homelessness in Peterborough, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.

The Fund enables support for individuals who are in real need of emergency or other temporary accommodation, training, education and advice. For example, awards could be made for rent deposits, furniture, food parcels or training courses.

The support reached those in need through grants made to organisations that offer front line support and advice to people who are homeless or threatened with homelessness. The front line organisations wishing to apply for a grant must be not for profit or statutory bodies based in Peterborough, Fenland, Huntingdonshire, East Cambridgeshire or Lincolnshire. For more information contact CCF on 01223 410535.

A case study on a recent grant beneficiary written by one of the front line organisations that received a AHA Fund Grant.

"One of the long-term volunteers at the centre was walking to her weekly voluntary slot, when she saw a woman on her own, lying down on a park bench. It’s quite unusual to see women sleeping rough alone in this city, so she went to talk to her. She met Grace*, who had recently lost her accommodation and her job, and looked desperately unhappy. The volunteer took her into the drop-in so that she could get some hot food and sit in the warmth for a couple of hours.

Volunteers got talking to Grace to find out more about her and show her some kindness. She didn’t know about the local homeless hostel, so they rang up to see if there were any spaces, and thankfully there were. Grace was able to sleep inside that night and for the next couple of weeks, until the hostel found her some accommodation.

She started to work with other people in the centre. One of her problems was some small-scale debt, which was restricting her ability to live independently. She started working with our money team,who soon were able to adjust her payments to a manageable level. She became a regular visitor to the office, as she started to trust the staff and get to know us better.

However the house she was staying was not very good quality, and the Landlord was well known for being a tricky character. They started to disagree, although Grace was still paying her rent. It came to the point where the landlord threw Grace out without any notice, and did not give her stuff back. She went back to the hostel and was able to be put into more appropriate housing with a reliable social landlord. She also started voluntary work and then found a job.

However Grace struggled to make the adjustments financially, and sometimes she needed extra help. She was able to get food parcels to cover the necessities and support her in her new home, until she got used to the budget and her new way of life. She is still working and living independently at present."

* Name changed to protect identity

Donations to the fund are welcome, whatever the size.