Ashton's Yorkshire Building society raise £3k towards ending youth homelessness

Yorkshire Building Society are saying “thank you” to the community of Ashton for helping them raise £1million towards ending youth homelessness.

The society’s branch on Old Street in the town raised just over £3,000 for End Youth Homelessness (EHY) partnership in three and a half years.

The money helped over 455 young people and 95 dependant children into their own rented homes.

An estimated 110,000 young people across the UK were at risk of homelessness last year, including 232 in Tameside.

By funding a Rent Deposit Scheme, providing rent deposit guarantees and initial rent payments, the partnership were able to help people aged between 16 and 25 to live independently.

The money was raised through a wide range of activities such as public donations, innovative savings accounts and colleague fundraising.

Amanda Allwood, manager of the Ashton branch of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “I want to thank everyone in the community here in Ashton and across Tameside that has supported our partnership with End Youth Homelessness. This has enabled us to help hundreds of homeless young people move into their own homes and provide them with the support they need to rebuild their future. Through our partnership, we’ve helped young people to overcome some of the enormous financial barriers to living independently like rental deposits, the first month’s rent, or household essentials and furniture.”

Nicholas Connolly, Managing Director for End Youth Homelessness, said: “The partnership between Yorkshire Building Society and End Youth Homelessness was about housing homeless young people, plain and simple. We have created a brilliant service that really works for homeless young people and a blue print for scaling other great local services.

“We are incredibly proud of this partnership and its legacy is hardwired into our future with the End Youth Homelessness Housing Fund, which builds on the partnership’s Rent Deposit Scheme. The hugely successful fundraising by Yorkshire Building Society will fund its first year of operation. We want to say a huge thank you to colleagues and customers at the Society for their support, which has helped change the lives of homeless young people.”