Affordable homes provider invests in Back To School equipment for children in Crawley

With many children living in homes across the Abode Living portfolio starting school for the first time, or returning, in September, Aprirose wanted to help support the cost of equipment by donating the goods, all in bright colours which the children could choose from.

This follows an earlier initiative where residents (and online followers of social channels) voted for their favourite children’s books for International Book Lovers Day with the winning three determined as ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’ by Judith Kerr, ‘A Bear Called Paddington’ by Michael Bond and ‘Room on the Broom’ by Julia Donaldson. Several copies of each set of books were added to the libraries at both developments by Aprirose.

During the summer holidays, Aprirose also supported families by running various creative classes to keep kids entertained and busy whilst school was out and offering parents the chance to join in too.

These initiatives form part of a larger campaign to ‘make lives better’ for people living in social housing. The Abode Living portfolio is unique as it houses over 1,000 tenants each year in 840 homes ranging from studios to one and two bedrooms all of which have fully fitted kitchens, together with amenities and services that are provided at no extra charge.

Richard Hughes, Director of Affordable Housing at Aprirose, said: “We believe that affordable housing doesn’t need to compromise on quality whether that’s the design of the development, the amenities available or the services we provide. We also don’t believe they should come at an extra cost. We want to invest in long term communities that flourish, where people are happy and supported by a great, on-the-ground team, whilst also representing a successful asset portfolio at the same time. That’s why we provide mental health support, community events and giveaways, such as this, to help out communities in many different ways.”

In recent months the teams working within the Abode Living portfolio have been trained in a range of skills including mental health and other programmes, working hand in hand with local authorities to deliver support to its people. Aprirose has also invested a significant sum into new interior design of the buildings, with the aim of showcasing a more ‘build-to-rent’ feel in the common areas in particular, whilst its scheme in Bristol now has three gyms, coworking spaces, a state-of-the-art indoor play area and multi-purpose all-weather outdoor play centre.