When you think of Calico, what pops into your head? For many of us, it may be social housing. Yes, of course, this is a key part of their operations and at Burnley.co.uk, we’ll admit we weren’t fully aware of just how large (and incredibly important) this not-for-profit’s operations are.
So, when Phil Jones, director of new services at The Calico Group, invited us on a three-hour tour of some of the key parts of their service, we agreed, but also wondered why we’d need such a long slot to go through everything.
How wrong we were.
We started our afternoon at the Calico HQ close to Burnley bus station and were immediately surprised by the size of the building. Yes, we go past it several times a day, but sometimes you don’t fully appreciate the sheer scale of something until you step inside.
“We want to change the perception that Calico just provides social housing. We’ve been operating in Burnley since 2000 and provide health, care and wellbeing, skills and employability, construction and housing. It may surprise some people to learn just what we do,” Phil told us.
Project Search
The first point of call on our whistle-stop tour was Project Search. This programme gives individuals aged 18-24 with autism and learning difficulties the opportunity to gain meaningful employment and provide them with the skills and confidence to thrive in the workplace.
It’s delivered in partnership between Burnley College and Lancashire County Council and participants are given a work placement through The Calico Group, as well as three external placements. As we entered the room, Sarah Moorhouse was wiping away tears after one of the Project Search candidates, Tegan, had just secured an apprenticeship with Positive Footprints.
“Sorry, it’s just so rewarding when you see young people be given these opportunities after you’ve worked closely with them for three years. Education and work can be really daunting for someone with learning difficulties or autism and Project Search bridges that gap in a more nurturing environment,” Sarah explained.
Skills and employability
Staying in skills and employability, we then met Lindsey Danson, who manages this provision. Just like Sarah, it is clear how passionate Lindsey is about her work.
“I get goosebumps when I talk through the results of what we do. Three-quarters of our Kickstart participants who have already completed the scheme have progressed into work, either in internal roles or with external companies,” she told us.
They also run the Age of Opportunity project, which is for those aged 50 and above who would like to work but are unable to do so without additional support or skills. This could be for reasons such as being full-time carers, digital barriers or mental or physical health difficulties. Individuals within this programme are given support with budgeting, emotional wellbeing, training and improving digital skills, amongst other things.
In fact, The Calico Group run ten projects and programmes in total across our borough and beyond to open as many doors as possible for people.
Housing
Next it was around the corner to speak to Lisa Bell, head of development at The Calico Group. Infront of Lisa were several plans, including for the new £14 million health, wellbeing and community development on unused land at Burnley General Hospital.
It’s an ambitious project and a first for Burnley, providing 93 specialist assisted-living apartments in a neighbourhood setting, reducing social isolation and improving quality of life.
“Work will commence in September and complete in October 2024. We also have another project commencing in September, Kinross Street, with that expected to complete in October 2023,” Lisa explained.
Kinross Street will see 61 affordable homes built off Melrose Avenue, in between Airdrie Crescent and Kinross Street and will be a mix of affordable rent and rent to buy. That’s on top of the incredible empty homes initiative which has seen some impressive transformations (more of that and photos to follow in a separate article!). So far, 140 empty homes have been renovated and there are plans for a further 60 over the next two years.
“The empty homes programme not only lifts up the areas we work in, but the project spend is a huge boost for the BB postcode. Of the £2.26 million project spend, 80.8 per cent is retained within BB postcodes, the rest is within the Northwest and zero goes outside of the Northwest. Over £750,000 is spent on directly employed site staff and over £1 million is within the supply chain”, Lisa said.
Between 2021, 221 units of housing were created by The Calico Group, with 533 targeted for between 2022-26, providing a much-needed mix of attainable housing for the community.
Ring Stones – Tay Street
To bring this to life, we were taken to the Ring Stones (the construction arm of The Calico Group) Tay Street project. Driving through the estate, it was difficult to tell which were Ring Stones properties and which were private construction companies’ homes. In fact, we asked if Ring Stones were behind all of the new builds, such was the quality and aesthetics of the housing.
“It’s exactly that, you cannot see the difference and it really has provided a boost to the area. The waiting list for the Tay Street development is in its hundreds and we do get people coming up to our staff, thinking we’re a private construction company and asking to have a look inside,” James Macaree, director of Ring Stones, explained.
In just ten years, Ring Stones has expanded from reactive maintenance to newbuilds. They have delivered seven newbuild schemes, of the 70 staff 44 are directly employed and 82 per cent of the workforce live within Burnley. In addition, 40 per cent of the workforce are currently apprentices, Kickstarters or from Project Search. Training up current staff for career progression is important and Ring Stones would rather bring in inexperienced staff and train them up than use external talent.
“I think it’s rare in the construction sector to stay at a company for ten years, but I’ve been at Ring Stones for ten years because the not-for-profit ethos means we’re so much more than just delivering an end product. We take on projects others don’t want to. Tay Street was significantly contaminated, for example. Others stayed away because that wouldn’t have made money for shareholders. We knew how important it was for the community here that the land was brought back to use. If the site was left contaminated and empty, it would have had a huge long-term impact on the surrounding areas,” James told Burnley.co.uk.
Tay Street homes are also fully turfed, which is rare for newbuilds, and customer feedback will be used to design the next newbuild scheme to ensure continual improvements are made. We were given a look around one of the first homes to be completed and were impressed with the size of the rooms.
Burnley Together
Burnley Together was the first hub of its kind to be set up in the country when the pandemic began. This incredible feat is something our borough should be hugely proud of, with partners including Burnley Council, The Calico Group, Burnley Leisure and Burnley FC in the Community coming together to support the community.
We were taken to Valley Street Community Centre where Burnley Together is based and met Nicola Larnach, who manages Calico’s efforts for Burnley Together.
“So much goes on here, and not just food parcels, but also school uniform donations, fuel vouchers, the Read Easy programme. But a key part of what we do is t try and discover and work through the issues to reduce the reliance on food parcels in the first place. There are usually some form of underlying issues which mean a family is in need of extra support and we try and discover what these are and get the real help and support in place that they require,” Nicola explained.
We were amazed at how much is going on inside the relatively compact Valley Street Community Centre. There’s Five Ways Boxing, where a gentleman named Kev helps young people express their frustration in healthier ways and gives them something to focus on and commit to.
Healthy Minds also meet on a Friday, providing a safe and judgement-free space for men to discuss their mental health. And opening in April is the Community Grocery, a partnership between Life Church Lancashire and the Message Trust working in conjunction with Burnley Together. For a small annual fee, people can fill up a basket at a fraction of the cost of a typical supermarket, also reducing food waste at the same time.
SafeNet – the women’s and children’s refuge
It was an absolute privilege to be taken to the women’s refuge which SafeNet, also part of The Calico Group, run. As well as providing an immediate safe environment for victims of violence and abuse, they also provide the tools, training and support to ensure victims feel empowered to eventually move into independent living. The women and children typically stay for between three and six months until they reach their goals.
Next door is Jane’s Place, which houses 15 self-contained flats for up to 12 months and beyond if required, for women and children. It offers an extra level of support for women with complex needs, such as addiction, homelessness, sex trafficking and mental health. These are just two of the refuges that Burnley-based SafeNet operates across the Northwest.
Both facilities are warm and welcoming, with children’s indoor and outdoor play areas. For anyone who has seen Maid on Netflix, Jane’s Place contains a “shop” similar to on the TV series, where women and children can browse through donated items as if they were in a shop. Feedback from the residents is that this was more empowering and enjoyable than picking items from a black bin bag. A large makeup manufacturer has also donated items to help the ladies feel their best.
We noted in reception some donations of nappies and other items, please do reach out to Calico should you wish to donate.
Gateway
The final stop on our tour was Gateway, supporting East Lancashire homelessness. The large building was spotless, and we were shown inside the room of Aidy, who has been homeless for several years but takes great proud in his new room and ensuite.
When we told him how clean and tidy his room was, he responded: “It’s not bad for a man is it, you’ve honestly made my day telling me that, I was so pleased when they chose my room to show you.”
Aidy was learning to make risotto from the Burnley FC in the Community chef when we were on our tour, whilst we also made friends with some of the resident dogs. Despite dogs often being much-loved companions of people unfortunately living on the streets, many homeless facilities do not allow pets. Phil was adamant that Gateway would be a place where pets could be brought, as he understood the bond and that it would increase chances of getting people off the streets and into the help they required.
There are over 80 accommodation units and many of the staff have overcome homelessness and addiction themselves, so can fully empathise and relate to the residents. The staff we spoke to were incredibly passionate about what they do, and it was great to see the rapport they had with residents during the cooking classes and other activities.
There is so much to say about what we learnt that we can’t possibly fit it all into one article, so over the coming weeks we’re going to break down all of the different places we were privileged to be shown, as each deserve their time in the spotlight.
A huge thank you to everyone at Calico who took the time out to speak to us.