Customers at Meadow Lodge, our specialist homeless supported housing project in Trafford, now have a new space to relax and socialise, thanks to the transformation of a former storage space into a communal lounge.
Thanks to funding from Great Places’ residents’ well-being fund, the Meadow Lodge team has been able to convert a former storage room into a welcoming communal space where customers can relax. The new space has been newly carpeted and decorated and also features a pool table, which can be converted into a meeting table for the space to double up as a group room and meeting room.
The new room is a welcome addition at Meadow Lodge, in addition to the communal garden that was given a much-needed update last year.
The team also recently invited partners from Trafford Council, ACHIEVE and other agencies to see the improvements for themselves with a view to using the space to run sessions to benefit of customers at the scheme.
Commenting on the project Suzi Beaumont, Housing and Wellbeing Manager at Meadow Lodge, said:
When I took over managing Meadow Lodge the space was a store room with a concrete floor. I worked with internal teams such as fire safety to ensure we were meeting regulations to change the use of it into a much-needed group room.
It was an underutilised space and felt we could add great value to the scheme for very little financial cost. As well as providing a place where customers can relax and socialise, we are also hoping that other agencies will be able to use the room to run support sessions and interventions which will assist the customers in their recovery journeys. Our housing & wellbeing assistants Bart Delfosse and Donna Clegg will also be using the space to run sessions for customers to provide them with support on a range of topics from budgeting sessions to independent living skills.
It’s a welcome addition and we’re sure this will only benefit customers of Meadow Lodge as valuable extra resource at the scheme.
Caroline Siddall, Housing Strategy & Growth Manager at Trafford Council, added:
The new room looks fantastic and will be a huge asset to the customers at Meadow Lodge as well as agencies working in Trafford. Thanks to Great Places for initiating the refurbishment and enabling a former store room to be used in a much better way.
Geoff Hall from Achieve, said:
A lovely new space with seating and a pool table! I can see that this room will be well utilised to support customers and the local community in a 1-1 or a group capacity.
