Next week sees the launch of a new support hub, bringing together over twenty community partner agencies to offer a ‘one stop shop’ for health, wellbeing, housing, cost of living, safety, employment and skills, community and environmental support.
Launching on Monday 16th January, Cobalt Housing’s Lower House Lane reception becomes home to the Good Help Hub Croxteth, which will be open on Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.
The hub brings together a range of partner organisations to offer a new type of support service to local residents, including Merseyside Police, NHS teams, Job Centre staff, Liverpool City Council services, Everton in the Community and many more, alongside a hot drink and a friendly welcome.
Themed days at the hub will focus on:
- Employment and skills (Monday)
- Housing and cost of living (Tuesday)
- Health and wellbeing (Wednesday)
- Keeping safe (Thursday)
- Community and environment (Friday)
with the primary aim of the hub being to empower an already passionate community to live a good life.
Friday also sees ‘Bacon Butty Friday’, offering a safe, warm space for people to come and grab some breakfast and speak to a range of people who can offer support.
The hub aims to make it easier for residents to seek the support they need in one place close to their home, and promotes the concept of a ‘20-minute neighbourhood’, so that residents can access support easily and quickly without travelling across the city.
Developed over the past few months, the initiative has taken a community-led approach to tackling a broad range of issues including increasing opportunities, tackling crime, health disparities, unemployment and poverty.
Rachel Flood, Project Lead, said:
“I am thrilled at the way residents and organisations in Croxteth have approached this project with enthusiasm and support. For the hub to be a success, this had to be developed with, and by the community, and its organic evolution has happened as a result of extensive research and community participation. We would like to say a huge thank you to the any partners and people who have helped us to get to this point, we couldn’t have got to where we are without you.”
Jeanette Green, Cobalt’s Head of Customers and Communities, said:
“Cobalt has spent a long time developing its partnership approach to tenant support, and we’re delighted to be launching this new initiative jointly with so many great organisations in North Liverpool. We are all working together to the same goals and are always looking at innovative ways we can maximise our impact in our communities. This is a completely different approach to support, and we urge anyone in Croxteth to pop in to the hub over the coming weeks to see how we can help.”
Deputy Mayor of Liverpool, Cllr Jane Corbett, Liverpool City Council’s Cabinet Member for Fairness and Tackling Poverty, for said:
“I’m delighted we’re launching the city’s first Help Hub in Croxteth with Cobalt Housing – this facility is going to help transform how essential services are provided and made more accessible for thousands of people.
“I’d like to thank everyone involved in making this happen, in particular Cobalt Housing for providing the Hub itself.
“It is a great example of how collaborating with partners creates a smarter way of working to address the wide range of needs of an entire community.
“The lessons learnt from this project is going to inform how we strengthen our collaborations across the city on how we provide advice and access to support on health and wellbeing matters, as well as economic and welfare issues.”
The Good Help Hub Croxteth has been developed through funding received as part of the government’s levelling up agenda. In 2021, 13 local authorities across the UK were selected to deliver the Partnerships for People and Place (PfPP) initiative backed by £5 million of government funding, including Liverpool City Council.
As the only Housing Association to have been selected to co-lead a PfPP initiative, Cobalt Housing’s leadership of this project could set the blueprint for similar projects across the region, demonstrating the pivotal role community-focused housing could and should have on local residents.
