Hopestead, 31 King Street, Norwich (2026)

21/08/2026

Do you fancy a run through gorgeous Blickling estate in North Norfolk? You're in luck...entries are now open for the Spring 2027 Half Marathon.

Snag your spot now! Sign up here: https://epicnorfolk.com/spring-blickling-half-marathon/. Pick to run for Hopestead, and we will give you one of our snazzy running tops as a thank you for your fundraising!

Set yourself a challenge, or just soak up the scenery and support us. Every bit of help makes a difference for some of the 26,000 people experiencing homelessness in the East of England. They need our help, and we need yours!

19/08/2026

In just six months, Hope Funds Round 5 has already helped 1,412 people across the East of England through a £200k investment in 11 charities working to prevent homelessness and support people into safe, stable housing.

Together, our funded partners have helped people access accommodation, sustain tenancies, improve financial security and build brighter futures.

18/08/2026

At Hopestead, we believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home.

In 2024, we partnered with Leeway, BFL's Domestic Abuse and Housing teams, and Breckland Council to create three safe accommodation homes for women and children fleeing domestic abuse. The project was driven by a simple but important reality: too many survivors face barriers to accessing safe, suitable housing when they need it most.

Together, we transformed vacant homes into places of refuge, recovery and hope. Taking a housing-led approach, we helped create safe, stable accommodation where women and children could begin rebuilding their lives and look ahead to a brighter future.

Through our Hope at Home programme, we fully furnished the properties and went beyond the essentials by providing soft furnishings, children's toys, decorations and other personal touches. We wanted each property to feel like more than just a place to stay. We wanted it to feel like home.
Every detail was chosen with care, recognising that children who have experienced domestic abuse deserve spaces where they can play, feel safe and simply be children, while adults deserve an environment that promotes dignity, healing and stability.

The homes were handed over in late 2024 and residents have settled in well. Ongoing support from Leeway and Breckland Council continues to help families maintain their safety, build confidence and move towards independent futures.

This project shows what can happen when organisations come together with a shared purpose: helping women and children leave abuse safely, access a secure home quickly, and create the foundations they need to recover, rebuild and thrive

17/08/2026

What does 'home' mean?

Home is more than four walls. It's opening the curtains in the morning and feeling at peace. Making plans for the future with confidence. Knowing you can close the door at the end of the day and feel safe.

It's the little things, the everyday moments, and the freedom to live life on your own terms.
This is what home means now for someone who has experienced homelessness.

Home means something different to everyone. We'd love to hear what home means to you. Leave a 💙 or share your thoughts in the comments.

14/08/2026

What causes homelessness?

One of the biggest drivers is often overlooked: the growing gap between housing costs and the support available to cover them.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the housing support paid through Housing Benefit and Universal Credit to help people pay their rent. It was designed to make homes affordable for people on low incomes.

But while rents have continued to rise, support has struggled to keep pace. Today, just 1.9% of private rental properties are affordable for people relying on housing benefit, leaving many households facing impossible choices.

The average shortfall between housing support and the cheapest local rents is now around £403 every month for a typical two-bedroom home. That's £403 people must somehow find from benefits intended to cover food, heating, transport, childcare and other essentials
When people cannot meet their rent, they can fall into arrears. Arrears can lead to eviction. Eviction can lead to homelessness.

This is why homelessness is rarely about individual choices. More often, it reflects wider pressures: a lack of affordable housing, rising living costs, insecure employment, health challenges, relationship breakdown, and support systems that don't always match the reality of what people need to survive.

We know homelessness can affect anyone. It is often the result of ordinary people facing extraordinary pressures without the safety net they need.

If we're serious about preventing homelessness, we need to address the growing gap between housing costs and housing support, improve access to genuinely affordable homes, and ensure people can get help before they reach crisis point.

Because everyone deserves a safe and secure place to call home.

13/08/2026

We're proud to be part of the Bromford Flagship Livewest (BFL) group and to work together towards a shared ambition: helping people and communities thrive.

From supporting survivors of domestic abuse, to helping people moving on from homelessness furnish and settle into their new homes, our partnership enables us to create opportunities and tackle challenges that go beyond housing alone.

Together, we're not just building homes. We're creating stronger communities and helping people build brighter futures.

Read more about the power of partnership between Hopestead and BFL: 🔗 https://www.hopestead.org/news/building-more-than-homes-the-power-of-partnership-between-hopestead-and-bromford-flagship-livewest/

12/08/2026

We're delighted to announce that our recent golf day raised £7,461.

These funds will help us to continue our homelessness work in the East of England. In our region alone, there are over 26,000 people currently without a home including more than 11,000 children.

The event was a real team effort from colleagues and friends in Bromford Flagship LiveWest including Flagship Services, Flagship Homes and many businesses partners who joined us on the day. Thank you to all those who donated prizes for our silent auction and raffle.

Congratulations to the winning team from Aspect Group Services who are pictured.

If you would like to partner with Hopestead to tackle homelessness, please email [email protected]

11/08/2026

A home can be the start of healing.

For Connie, moving into her own home was more than a fresh start. It was a chance to rebuild her life.

In December 2024, Connie fled domestic abuse with only a few bags of clothes. For months, she sofa surfed between family members' homes until she was finally offered a place of her own. While it was a huge step forward, the prospect of starting again with so little felt overwhelming.
Through Hopestead's Hope at Home project, we worked alongside BFL to ensure Connie could move into a home that was safe, comfortable and ready to live in. A full furniture package was provided, including a bed, sofa and dining table, along with essential appliances such as a cooker, washing machine and fridge freezer. Carpets were fitted throughout the property, and a voucher enabled Connie to choose everyday essentials including bedding, curtains, blinds and a vacuum cleaner.

Reflecting on the impact of the support, Connie said:
"It is my safe space. I can heal here."

She went on to explain how much life has changed since moving in:
"Massively, my life has changed. I am starting to rejoin the world again, albeit slowly, but I now see light at the end of a very dark tunnel."

Stories like Connie's remind us that ending homelessness and housing insecurity is about more than providing accommodation. For people rebuilding their lives after trauma, an empty property can feel overwhelming rather than hopeful.

Through Hope at Home, we help ensure people have the essentials, comfort and dignity they need to settle in, feel safe and begin looking forward again.

Because a house becomes a home when it offers more than shelter. It offers the foundations for recovery, stability and a brighter future.

07/08/2026

For several years, Hopestead has proudly supported The Horticulture Industry Scheme (THIS), and we're delighted to be continuing that partnership and supporting their award-winning Social Gardening Project.

Recently, we visited THIS to see the impact of this funding first-hand.

We met a customer who had recently moved into her new Flagship home. Excited for a fresh start but unable to manage her overgrown garden due to mobility issues, she faced a challenge that could have made settling in more difficult. Thanks to Hopestead funding, the THIS team transformed the space into a safe, welcoming and manageable garden, helping her feel at home from the very start. 🏠

The project's impact goes far beyond gardening. THIS provides paid employment, training and support for people who have experienced homelessness, previous convictions and mental health challenges, helping them build confidence, skills and experience while making a positive difference in their communities.

Our funding helps keep this vital service free for residents, ensuring support reaches those who need it most. During our visit, we saw not only transformed outdoor spaces, but also the pride and confidence of the people behind the work.

As team member Elliot told us:

"I really love making a difference to people's lives."

This is what community investment looks like: creating safer, more welcoming homes while supporting people to rebuild their futures.

You can read more about our impact for organisations like THIS in our impact report:https://www.hopestead.org/media/gsaj4034/impact-report-final-25-26-36pp.pdf

06/08/2026

Before moving into his own flat, Tim had been living in a caravan and temporary accommodation. Living with diabetes and prone to falls, the move into permanent housing should have brought relief but instead, it became another challenge to navigate.

While Tim is independent and outwardly resilient, the reality of his situation quickly began to affect his mental health. His new home was almost bare, containing only a few second hand items he had been able to buy himself. He described the space as “sparse” and “like living in an abandoned home.”
“I try to take each day at a time,” he told us, “but it’s hard when the place doesn’t feel like yours.”
What Tim wanted was simple: a place that truly felt like his home. He spoke about needing warmth, comfort and a sense of ownership, grateful to have a roof over his head, but struggling with the reality of living in a space that didn’t yet feel like it belonged to him.

Through Hope at Home, we worked to fill the practical gaps that were having the biggest impact on Tim’s safety and wellbeing. Given his history of falls and the cold, bare concrete floors, carpeting was a priority both to improve comfort and to reduce risk.

We were also able to provide essential white goods and bedroom storage, along with a voucher to purchase curtains and a vacuum cleaner so Tim could care for his new carpets and space.
These changes transformed the flat from an empty property into somewhere warm, safer, and more liveable.

Today, Tim describes his home very differently. He told us that the support has “made this feel like a home,” and that the carpets in particular had a profound impact.
“The cold concrete floors were not nice,” he said. “This makes me feel like I have something to live for.”

With a warmer, safer and more comfortable space around him, Tim is beginning to feel more hopeful about the future, taking things one day at a time, but doing so from a place that finally feels like his own.

You can read more about our impact for people like Tim in our impact report:https://www.hopestead.org/media/gsaj4034/impact-report-final-25-26-36pp.pdf

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