Helping the homeless and Christmas shopping – #OnwardStories

Here at Onward, we really do have some of the best customers and staff who continuously inspire us by going above & beyond, and we wanted to share some of their stories with you below.

Helping homeless people in Manchester

Our teams have been working together to pull together much needed support for homeless people in Manchester.

We’ve been supporting the charity SPIN (Supporting People in Need) by collecting donations, and also by volunteering our spare time.

SPIN have now opened a homeless hostel in Manchester, and with the help from volunteers they provide hot meals, shelter and support for those in need. For more information about the charity, head to the SPIN website.

 

Tackling hoarding issues

We were due to replace a customer’s boiler in Trafford but were initially having trouble gaining access to the home.

When we finally gained access to the property, we noticed that the customer had issues with hoarding so we got in touch with our Health & Wellbeing and Neighbourhood team to ask for further help.

Our teams worked together to organise temporary storage of the customer’s valuables and furniture to allow the works to be undertaken and also provide an opportunity to offer support for the customer.

We also installed a new gas oven for the customer and she was delighted to be able to bake cakes with her new oven. We also offer supported for her problems with hoarding.

For help with hoarding, head here.

 
Giving customers a helping hand with their Christmas shopping

We put on a Christmas fair for our customers at our Merlin Court sheltered scheme in Oswaldtwistle.

There was lots of stalls available giving residents the opportunity the purchase lovely Christmas gifts for family and friends. This gave customers who usually struggle to get out of their homes the chance to do some shopping!

There was also a tombola stall and raffle, and residents had hot drinks and mince pies.

If you have a positive story to share, visit us on Facebook or Twitter and let us know your story using the hashtag #OnwardStories.