What is the challenge?
The West Midlands region faces significant challenges in terms of housing, employment, and health for vulnerable individuals. Key groups such as care leavers, ex-armed forces personnel, and people recovering from crises are disproportionately affected.
- Unemployment: The West Midlands has one of the highest unemployment rates in the UK at 6.4% (2023, ONS), significantly higher than the national average of 4.2%.
- Youth care leavers: A report by the Department for Education (DfE) in 2023 showed that 40% of care leavers aged 19-21 in the West Midlands were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) and 40% were at risk of deprivation.
- Veterans Research from the Royal British Legion (2021) highlighted that 1 in 5 veterans have trouble transitioning to civilian life, leading to mental health challenges, unemployment, and homelessness. Help for Heroes (2022) report 65% of veterans face severe mental health challenges after transitioning to civilian life
- Homelessness According to Shelter (2023), the West Midlands has over 20,000 people without stable homes.
Current services are oversubscribed with long waiting lists for those in need. Many services are delivered by different agencies which require multiple separate referrals. After-care is inconsistent increasing the risk of people requiring those services again in the near future.
What we intend to do now?
Ignis Lodge is at the discovery phase of development and is building the case for funding, evaluating delivery mechanisms and identifying partners. It is the intention, within 6 months, to create a physical campus capable of supporting up to 40 people with transitional support for 6-12 months. Ideally the campus would be large enough to offer a commercially operated venue to fund much of the work undertaken by the Lodge. This will require a combination of capital and operating funding which is the priority for the organisation. There is already a prospectus and draft business case prepared. Stakeholder engagement and consultation is underway to support this objective.
How your support helps us?
Every penny brings us a step closer to the goal of opening Ignis Lodge in a little over 6 months time - sooner if we can make it happen! Many of our grant applications and potential funding sources are more likely to support our bids where we are able to offer match funding. This is where we match any offer made by raising funds ourselves through loans and sponsorship. Your support could be the difference.