Grab your bikes, grab your helmets and keep your fingers crossed that the weather stays on track – entry to Bike Fest 2012 is open now and we’d love to see YOU there!
This year’s two sponsored cycle rides (a gentle family friendly 10 miler) and a more rigorous 100 miler will take place on Saturday, June 16 in and around Nottingham. Both will start and finish at The Riverbank Bar and Kitchen, Trent Bridge.
An intrepid team of Framework supporters gave up their Thursday evening to walk a healthy 10 kilometres around Nottingham and help vulnerable tenants and homeowners avoid homelessness.
The Legal Walk is organised by The Midlands Legal Support Trust, a registered Charity established to give financial and other support to charities and other agencies in the Midlands that provide free legal advice. More than 150 walkers set off at 5.15pm yesterday from Nottingham Magistrates’ Court and raised thousands of pounds for the cause.
The Framework Legal 10k walkers braved chilly weather on Thursday evening. Most team members are pictured here but some were so eager to get going that they missed the photo-call!
Framework uses MLST money to support its specialist Housing Advice Service, which last year alone helped more than 1,200 people who otherwise would have been homeless to stay in their homes.
Framework has proved the ultimate winner of a recent edition of popular ITV documentary May the Best House Win.
Framework, which provides housing, support, training, care, resettlement and employment for more than 8,000 homeless and vulnerable people a year, benefited from a £1,000 donation after a leading local architect welcomed television cameras to his unique garden home in Southwell.
Allan Joyce, director of Nottingham-based Allan Joyce Architects, was one of four competitors to open his home to public scrutiny. Each secretly scored the others’ home out of ten – with the winner claiming the £1,000 first prize.
Allan Joyce makes his presentation to Framework's Capital Fundraising Director Chris Senior. Allan's unusual and winning home can be seen behind
The long-time supporter and partner of Framework kindly offered to donate the prize after seeing off some stiff competition – including from one homeowner who had converted his basement into an aquarium.
Framework’s Outram Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield played host to a lively question and answer session last week as Ashfield MP Gloria De Piero joined an audience of 11 to 18 year-olds to record a thought-provoking programme for Takeover Radio 106.9.
The Outram Centre contains a popular coffee shop (part of our Barista social enterprise), three incubator business development units and a state-of-the art recording and production studio provided by the Notts-based Confetti Institute of Creative Technologies. The building also contains separate Framework accommodation for up to 17 troubled young people.
A young audience took the chance to question their MP
Takeover, which is celebrating its re-launch, will broadcast a series of panel interviews (all to be held at The Outram Centre) with figures from the worlds of local business and politics in June.
At Framework, opportunity is at the heart of everything we do. Our EVE (Education, Volunteering and Employment) schemes have helped hundreds of people gain new skills, work experience, confidence and employment.
From The Bike Club, our bicycle recycling scheme, to our professional, high quality decorating service Paint It, the range of training programmes and employment opportunities continues to change lives for the better.
This video explains a little about our work.
This video explains what we do to promote employment skills and opportunities
Throughout 2012 we will continue to offer to vulnerable people the kind of opportunities that – for a variety of reasons – have been unavailable to them in the past.
Our new EVE Trades Community Interest Company (CIC) is now running all of our social enterprise businesses – the profits from which are ploughed pack into creating ore training opportunities.
Our EVE Works arm, meanwhile, is working to provide training learning and other employment opportunities to help vulnerable people back into work.
All in all, our Education, Volunteering and Employment work is about avoiding wasted potential.
Learn more about our EVE Works team by visiting this new website
What does the complex issue of homelessness mean to a child? Here, in a moving classroom essay, ten-year-old Ellie gives us a god idea.
Her impassioned and beautifully written plea for support struck such a note with the teacher marking it that she immediately made a donation to Framework.
Here is Ellie’s essay:
Have you ever lived in the freezing snow? Have you ever slept on the street? Have you slept on the rough concrete with children desperate for warmth and health? Nevertheless lots of people have, this is homelessness: it must be stopped.
Framework is a charity helping those needy adults and children find a home. It is a local charity that will hopefully ring love and happiness to the city. Framework has helped many people who sleep in rough conditions find a comfortable home.
Many people would walk on by if they saw a lonely, upset adult lying in a sack crying. Yet Framework would do the opposite to prevent this from happening – they would stop…and help.
The majority of homeless adults have run out of money to pay their bills. So clearly they lost their house, their money, maybe event their children. Consequently this matter can be stopped! All you have to do is donate your cash to Framework! In addition to this you could save lives.
So, appreciate your home, yet at the same time make homes for others. Stop the dreadful matter by just donating. Please – we need you!
Lights, camera…action. A small group of Framework service users demonstrated their creative flair by producing, directing and starring in their own short film.
Bubbles’ Millions, a humorous spoof of the Chanel 4 documentary The Secret Millionaire, is the culmination of an exciting partnership with Nottingham-based production company Donkey Stone Films, which ran a series or creative media workshops with homeless and vulnerable people.
I arrived at work this morning having walked the couple of miles from home listening to Radio 4’sToday Programme, in particular the story of Newham Borough Council asking 1,100 housing providers around the UK whether they would be willing to offer housing to families on their housing list.
Included in the 1,100 was Brighter Futures Housing Association which provides housing in Stoke-On-Trent – a town that has become the focus of today’s media attention.
Sir Robin Wales the elected Mayor of Newham was on first. On his web site Sir Robin states: “I have an ambitious vision for this borough, and that’s because Newham’s people are ambitious and forward-looking too”. So is this strategy to house the “forward-looking” people of Newham around the UK, including Stoke, part of an “ambitious” master plan? I have my doubts.
Housing Minister Grant Shapps
So too did the The Rt Hon. Grant Shapps MP, Minister for Housing & Local Govt, who accused Sir Robin of playing political games ahead of upcoming local elections. He went on to claim that (according to Rightmove) more than 1,000 properties were already available in Newham within the new housing benefit cap of just under £21,000 a year.
A simple bit of research (more on that shortly) proves this to be monstrously optimistic at best; and since when has it been appropriate to back up potentially life-changing political decisions with figures obtained from Right Move?
Forty-six-year-old Ashley Baldwin is taking a well earned rest after raising a staggering £5,000 for Framework at yesterday’s Virgin London Marathon. The gutsy taxman, who described yesterday’s race as “one of the greatest experiences of my life” was inspired to run after a series of personal crises pushed him to the brink of homelessness, financial and personal ruin.
Marathon man Ashley Baldwin came close to losing everything. He wanted to raise money for Framework because he realised that homelessness really can happen to anybody.
He explained: “Just two years ago my life basically fell to pieces. My mother died and my relationship of 20 years broke down in quick succession. I lost my home and was very depressed. I was drinking too much and was so unhappy I wanted to quit my job and walk away from everything. I realise now how easy it is to lose everything.
A school-run record label, supported by a generous group of Nottinghamshire musicians, will launch a new compilation album tomorrow (Saturday, April 20) in support of Framework - so please do your best to support them on World Record Store Day!
Frame Work - a record in aid of....Framework. huge thanks go to all those who made the project a reality
Nu-Start Records, the first school label to release tracks world-wide, is run entirely by students of The Nottingham University Samworth Academy. It has teamed up with top local acts including The Injured Birds, Marc Reeves and We Show Up on Radar to record, produce and promote Frame Work – a ten track vinyl release.
Registered Charity No. 1060941, Company Limited by Guarantee No. 3318404,
Registered Social Landlord No. LH4 184