Member Article

Cyrenians celebrate £1.8m grant award

The Cyrenians and Esh Group are celebrating today, after they were awarded a grant of £1.8 million to renovate a facility housing vulnerable and at risk individuals in County Durham.

The money, which was awarded by the Homes and Communities Agency will fund the remodelling of The Fells, a 4.2 hectare site near Plawsworth, 5 miles north of Durham.

The Cyrenians have already invested £1.1million into the site since they acquired it in 2009, but the accommodation is now in need of serious attention. With this recent funding boost, they will now be able to begin phase 2 of their remodelling plans.

Stephen Bell, chief executive of The Cyrenians explained: “As the sole provider of emergency accommodation for County Durham – and with up to date and worrying statistics which demonstrate a growing need – we understand how essential it is that The Fells continues to become an effective ‘place of change’.

“We aim to replicate the success of our other projects; places, which are demonstrably successful in tackling addictions and dependency, providing practical life and employability skills training and getting people into work wherever possible.

“We are very much looking forward to progressing this project with our partners, Esh Group, and together really making a difference for County Durham and beyond.”

The Cyrenians deliver a three tiered integrated programme to help individuals develop the necessary skills for independent living, and have an excellent track record of delivering effective and responsive services throughout the North East.

Brian Manning, Chief Executive of Esh Group, The Cyrenians construction partner in the scheme, continued: “It is really encouraging to see central Government investing in the North East in this way; placing confidence and responsibility in organisations from the region which have ability to tackle issues and challenges within the region and come up with solutions.”

“We have contributed our extensive experience via Esh Property Services, our social and affordable housing construction experts, at the design stage.

“We believe that the new style of accommodation will be significantly better for both residents and managers alike and that these new surroundings will give The Cyrenians’ clients real personal pride and motivation to progress.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .