Hope

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The Hope Community project supports people in need in Wolverhampton through youth intervention, family support, women’s empowerment, engagement with older people and volunteering programmes.

Its strength lies in outreach work. Every activity undertaken at Hope comes from door-knocking and listening to the community’s needs.

The support offered by Hope includes:

Outreach for older people and telephone support for older people who are isolated;
Support and opportunities to promote independent living;
Youth groups, workshops and structured information sessions for children and young people;
Support for young people at risk of exclusion, and activities for children outside school hours and during school holidays;
Gang-prevention work, supporting young people to make positive life choices and break the cycle of gang involvement;
Support group for families experiencing difficulties;
One-to-one and group support for women experiencing relationship difficulties and isolation;
Door-knocking and home visiting service;
Individual session and classes in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL);
Volunteering opportunities for people from the local community.

Ines’s story

My name is Ines and I’m 17. I come from Lisbon, Portugal, with my mom and my two sisters.
Back in Portugal I have a big family of friends and I’m used to have a lot of friends around me. I was social, but not really popular. And when I moved here, it was so different and so hard to make friends. It made me feel bad about myself, as if I was different.
Then I heard about “Hope Family” and decided to sign up with my sister. It had gave me hope to make friends and realise that there wasn’t nothing wrong with me. It was a place where I could socialize and meet great people.
But it also helped my mom a lot. She came here with a minimum English, and then she started to have some classes on the “Hope Family” and now she talks and writes very good. She feels a lot more confident about her English.
We are so grateful for all the help “Hope Family” gave to our family.
Thank you.

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History

Hope began in 1985 when the Infant Jesus Sisters moved into the Heath Town estate in Wolverhampton and started visiting people in their homes. Heath Town suffered from the stigma of being a no-go area. Gradually, by building relationships, the Sisters identified the needs of people living there.

In 1994, Father Hudson’s Care entered into a partnership with the Sisters, and for nearly 12 years Hope operated as one of Father Hudson’s projects.

In 1999, Hope Family Centre opened in empty shop units, following a successful grant application. Hope workers continued to knock on doors and visit people in the area and gradually the Sisters moved from the estate. In 2017, the Centre moved to its current home in Ling House.

Hope now has a team of eight staff supported by many more volunteers, based in Heath Town, who provide support to the most vulnerable and isolated families, children, young people and older people by encouraging family life, confidence, cohesion and integration.

/media/community-projects/library/hope-quote-nawal.jpg Hope became an independent charity in 2010 and its Board determines its visions and services. Father Hudson’s continues to support Hope in several ways. As a foundation partner with the Sisters and the Parish of St Patrick’s, we have representatives on the Board of Trustees. The staff at Hope are employed by Father Hudson’s and the Project Manager receives support and supervision from our Head of Community Projects.

For many years, Father Hudson’s has assisted with securing external grants for the project and this has continued even after Hope became an independent charity. Father Hudson’s Head of Community Projects and Trust Fundraiser support Hope’s Project Manager with preparing and writing funding bids. Father Hudson’s provides both financial support for the project and in-kind support from its HR Department. The Finance Manager of Father Hudson’s supports the Board.

Visit www.hopecommunityproject.org.uk, email enquiries@hope-cp.org.uk or call 01902 556645 for more about Hope.