Causeway Coast charity Vineyard Compassion receives funding from Nationwide to tackle homelessness

The funding will enable Vineyard Compassion to support people facing homelessness through provision of temporary accommodation and wrap around support all seeking to support beneficiaries to secure their own accommodation.

Vineyard Compassion provide short to medium term accommodation for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness or needing support while transitioning to longer term independent living. The team is passionate about providing support that empowers residents to find stability while working towards their goal of secured tenancy.

Vineyard Compassion provides people with practical, emotional and financial support at their crisis point of need while empowering them to tackle the underlying root causes of poverty. All the projects are a response to needs encountered in Coleraine and along the Causeway Coast.

In 2023 Vineyard Compassion housed 33 residents in temporary accommodation. In addition to this they provided 2100 counselling sessions, supported 247 people through the Social Supermarket, supported 47 families through the debt centre, provided 441 households with clothes and provided 21,227 Support Sessions to 3,624 beneficiaries.

Melissa McMullan, Housing Manager Vineyard Compassion said: “This funding is an invaluable resource that enables us to bring stability and hope to the beneficiaries of our housing project. We are grateful for all that this funding resources us to do and the impact that is has on lowering homelessness and increasing stability and hope.”

Britain’s biggest building society has run its Community Grants programme since 2017 – offering grants of up to £60,000 to local charities and projects, particularly those focussed on housing. This year, it hass awarded a total of £5.1 million to 105 housing related projects across the UK.

Kirsty Hall, Social Investment Manager at Nationwide Building Society, said: “Helping local communities and charities is at the heart of what it means to be a building society for Nationwide. We are pleased our Community Grants programme is going to make a difference through this £60,000 grant to Vineyard Compassion, helping them make a difference to the lives of those who rely on their services.”