Woodleaze is open!

We are delighted to welcome the first residents to Woodleaze, a new supported housing scheme providing homes for 18 young people in Yate.

Dom Wood, our CEO, says: “It is amazing to see Woodleaze opening after a long period of development. The scheme sees a great vision from South Gloucestershire Council become a reality thanks to the fantastic redevelopment work undertaken by Solon South West Housing Association.

We are very much looking forward to delivering an excellent service for, and with, young people. We want to engage a whole host of local community organisations in making a real difference in young people’s lives. 

A stable place to call home is the starting point young people need to become the best they can be, and Woodleaze will provide the opportunity for young people in South Gloucestershire to become the adults that they aspire to be.”

1625 Independent People has worked with Solon South West Housing Association, South Gloucestershire Council and young people to design and build the new facility.

The former aged care home at Woodleaze has been converted to provide 18 self-contained studio flats for young people, with shared spaces and facilities to allow a range of support services to be delivered on-site.

The young residents are all aged between 16 and 25. The project will help meet a need in South Gloucestershire to provide additional support for care leavers, making up half of the residents. The other half will come from a range of other backgrounds, including young people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

1625 Independent People will be delivering support for the young people living at Woodleaze alongside a number of community partners. We will continue to actively involve young people in designing the services provided at Woodleaze.

Council Leader Toby Savage and Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, Sam Bromiley, joined representatives of the partners who have helped to make this project a reality for a socially-distanced tour of the new homes, before the first young people move in this month.

“This project has been something we have worked on for a long time now, and I am delighted to see it to completion. This is a great example of how we can work with partners and the local community to provide better outcomes for young people and value for money the whole district. This is a wonderful way for the council to invest an unused old building into the future of those who need it most.”

Councillor Bromiley, said: “We want all of our young people to get the best possible start in life, and for some young people, including those leaving the care system, they need additional support. These wonderful homes at Woodleaze and the support they will get here will give residents the start in life they deserve.

“It is great that the young people who live here in the years to come will be able to move into their own homes, with the support they need around them and get better outcomes than they may get in placements that can be very costly and a long way away from where they grew up.

“Woodleaze will provide a springboard to independent living for vulnerable young people in South Gloucestershire, and the success of this project will, we hope, be a springboard for further projects with our partners to increase our ability to provide this sort of housing and support to young people here in South Gloucestershire in the future.”

Anna Klimczak, Chie Executive of Solon South West,  said: “We are driven by the goal of providing excellent homes and housing services for all and so the opening of the new Woodleaze facility is important to us because it will directly help care leavers and young people at risk of homelessness.

“We are really proud to have been involved in the transformation of an old fashioned and unloved care home into high-quality modern accommodation that will provide much needed support for 18 young people. 

“We have enjoyed working closely with 1625, South Gloucestershire, Homes England and young people over the last two years to make the scheme a reality. We would also like to thank both NKS Contract Ltd and Kendall Kingscott Ltd who have help us to provide such a well-designed and quality end-product.”