Five Awesome Things You Might Not Know About Backup North West

Five Awesome Things You Might Not Know About Backup North West

Boo Happiness Ambassador Amy took a tour of Backup North West’s supported housing projects, hoping to get a deeper understanding of the day-to-day workings of this charity that Boo have been guardians of for years. Beyond the strategy, beyond the fundraising and the events and the networking, to the humans who make up this organisation and the young people they serve.

 

Last Friday I bundled myself into Ed’s car and took a tour of the Backup North West’s projects. Ed Hamer joined the charity as Executive Assistant 5 months ago; as we drove through Bolton’s back streets, I asked him what had been the biggest surprise to him since he started working at Backup, having been familiar with the charity for many years beforehand.

“I thought I knew.” He said.

“I think of myself as a liberal, open-minded person and I thought I understood. Turns out I’d been holding onto a lot of misunderstanding, stigma, internalised prejudice about what homelessness is, what causes homelessness and what kind of people become homeless. Only now do I truly understand. There’s a lot of eye-openers at Backup.”

Backup provide accommodation and support to young people (16-25) who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

As Ed put it,

“The buildings provide the shelter but it’s the support that provides the home.”

Here are 5 of the things that stuck with me the most from that day.

1. Small things, high impact

 A couple of the projects have had pool tables donated, a small thing that’s had an extraordinary impact on bringing the young people together as a community and helping to facilitate meaningful conversations.

“It’s the simple things that make the magic. I’ve seen how this pool table has brought people out of their shell and brought people together.”

This from Elaine, who currently has a running tally on the wall of her games with one of her resident young people.

2. Birthday cakes

Backup is a beneficiary of the awesome charity Free Cakes for Kids UK, another charity with a simple remit: they believe every child deserves a birthday cake and their team of volunteer bakers are committed to providing that.

“We used to just do it for their 18^th and 21^st birthdays,” says Diane Eckersley, Chances Manager at Backup Northwest. “But then we realised some of them never got one, and they could have been in a family where they’ve never had a birthday cake. Everyone gets one now and each cake has a theme which is whatever they’re into – whether that’s make up, or Xbox…they can’t believe it.”

3. The homely touches

One thing that really stuck out for me was the obvious effort that goes into making these projects feel comfortable, welcoming and safe. The ‘home sweet home’ plaques, the murals, the inspirational quotes. The kind of things you might find in your mum’s kitchen. In one project there’s a seating area on a landing, with plants and lamps and cushions. These things do not say ‘temporary, emergency accommodation’ to me.

“It feels like home and that’s what they deserve.”

4. How deeply the staff care

I asked every member of staff to tell me what they’ve been most proud to do or witness in recent months. At Backup they call these ‘sparkly moments.’ A variety of anecdotes poured forth, but what struck me was how they lit up when they spoke to me. It was as if they were talking about their own children – the pride, and humour and acceptance in their words, as much as the words themselves, told me all I needed to know about how these young people are cared for.

5. What we take for granted

Alongside birthday cakes, nothing quite hammers home your own privilege as hearing that for some residents, the Christmas gifts they get through Backup are the first they’ve ever had. Christmas is still a tricky time for them but it’s also the time of year when public generosity surges and they get to feel the tangible love and support of their local community through a small sack of presents and a selection box. For the rest of the year, it’s luxuries like clean pyjamas, bedding on the bed… an actual bed to put bedding on. This one in particular breaks my heart; I find it almost unbearable to think of children and young people with no safe place to sleep.

Driving it all is the indomitable Maura Jackson, their Chief Exec who understands that a charity must also be a business, and alongside fundraising and providing compassionate services to plug gaps in society, there must also be strategy and growth.

I’m proud that Boo are guardians of this charity that’s stands between the at-risk young people of Bolton and an uncertain future. You can be a guardian too – click here to find out more.

I’ll leave you with one more quote from Ed, who said about the young people in Backup’s care

“They’re not just here to escape their lives, they’re here to grow. To dispel everything they’ve been told before about their worth and their abilities.” 

Because, as one former resident apparently said

“The extra mile is a well-trodden path at Backup!”

Amy X