Blackburn

Summary

Alongside Blackburn Cathedral, though not in the curtilage of the Cathedral, there is a large and under-used building that was previously used as office space for the Diocese. Locally Blackburn is part of the Home Office dispersal scheme and, as a result, people seeking asylum are a core part of the community there. Seeing the distinct challenges faced by those who have recently received ‘leave to remain’ status and then find themselves struggling to secure safe, decent and affordable accommodation, the conversion of this building into a residential space has been identified as an opportunity to respond to this need. Working with the leadership of the church, members and partner organisations, the next steps have been identified and action is being taken to see this vision into fruition.   

With the support of LivShare Housing and Consultancy, as part of the Innovative Built Solutions for Churches programme, the church developed a Communications Strategy and was provided with a Development Options Report to guide the next steps required.

Vision for the change

This is a church-led opportunity, that would likely involve a development/housing provider partner at a later stage. It is motivated by the call to love our neighbour – in this case, for the benefit of single people who have recently received leave to remain and others in housing need as well as the church and wider community.

Actioned by a task group, Dean, Chapter and local partner organisations, the vision is to convert the office building into supported residential accommodation. Potential obstacles include its proximity to  the Cathedral and the lack of readily available funding.

Background

In previous years, the Diocesan office was based in the building. When they moved out,  it remained largely vacant with some sporadic use by the church but without a specific long-term use. The current plans were identified as a result of witnessing the experiences and challenges of people locally who have received ‘leave to remain’ status and find themselves in a particularly difficult situation in terms of housing and other elements of their lives. The cathedral, in wanting to identify a positive use for the building, linked this local need to the possible solution.

Impact

The task group and some partners came together to consider both the vision and the theory of change in undertaking this project. Through this process, a range of desirable outcomes were identified. These focused on both the impact on the individuals that will ultimately make use of the accommodation created, those that help facilitate that and others in the wider community – both church and neighbours. For the individuals that will reside in the new homes, this is about providing somewhere that is safe and gives the support needed for them to take their next steps independently. For those involved in making this happen, there are the benefits of creating a template to empower others, improving the understanding of the work of the church and securing a positive use of a facility that is currently not used to its full potential. And for the wider community, the benefits are expected to include improved community cohesion, a safer space in the vicinity, an energised space and the broader sustainability of the church community.

What do you need?

Personnel and time

There are human resources required to make this project happen.

Currently this has been provided through both church leadership, members and key stakeholders – local partner organisations who support the concept, many of whom work with the target beneficiaries.

Finances

The main financial focus at this stage of the project is on the cost of converting the building into residential accommodation.

The project may be able to access grant funding if the church can source a suitable development partner to lease the building and manage the scheme.

Partnerships

The cathedral is aware that the scheme is not something that they are planning to manage directly day-to-day. So partnership working is vital.

Some scoping of potential partners was required, as was determining what is required from a development partner in this situation.

In order to build relationship with potential partners, the church needed to reach out and knock on doors to establish where synergies may lie in any potential relationship.

Tips

Tap into your imagination, and don’t be afraid to get creative when thinking about solutions.

Trust your gut feelings – if something feels like a good idea, it probably is.

Have the courage and faith to try different avenues to make your idea happen.

Realise early on that to make something happen, you need to be in it for the long haul.

If something doesn’t go as planned, then dust yourself off and try something else – new solutions, new partners; just don’t give up – sometimes this is the route to a much better solution ultimately.

Often partnership working is needed – so be bold and ask for what you need. Much of the time, individuals and organisations are happy to hear you out and consider what you have in mind. If you don’t ask, you aren’t giving people the opportunity to say ‘yes’.

Be confident in reaching out and asking for advice – people may be able to help directly or point to you others who can.