Chi Byghan Project

Aim

To build an innovative Chi Byghan housing unit as emergency homelessness provision & employ a new staff member to help deliver vital support

“No one should have to use the pavement as a bed. Help us give people a safe, dignified place to sleep tonight.”

We are fundraising to build an innovative Chi Byghan housing unit (£7,604), and to employ a part-time operations co-ordinator to help deliver this and our wider work effectively to our community  (£13,820).

Chi Byghan means Little House in Cornish. This is a local project offering sanctuary and hope to those most in need in our community.

Across our town, increasing numbers of people are sleeping rough, forced to use the pavement as a bed. This is not just uncomfortable — it is inhumane. At Growing Links CIC, we believe everyone deserves safety, dignity, and the chance to rebuild their lives.  

Every week, we bring the community together through shared meals, volunteering, gardening, and workshops. For many, these activities are more than just social events — they are lifelines, offering support, friendship, and a sense of belonging.

But for those experiencing homelessness or financial hardship, these activities alone are not enough. They need immediate, safe shelter.

We are raising £20,883 to build a Chi Byghan, a single-person mobile crisis accommodation unit. And to fund an Operations Coordinator to help manage and grow this project, as well as providing wider organisational support, ensuring our sustainability, impact, and the wellbeing of our staff and community.

Chi Byghan is the first pilot project of its kind. An eco-friendly short term housing solution that will immediately connect people in crisis to support services. This is a rare and precious chance to get themselves back on their feet  - and off the streets as quickly as possible. Which benefits the whole community.

The Chi Byghan: Safe, dignified emergency shelter

What is a Chi Byghan? It is a small, self-contained unit designed to give someone in crisis a secure, private space to sleep. Our unit will be:

• Mobile, so it can be placed where it is most needed
  
  
• Solar-powered, providing sustainable, off-grid energy
  
  
• Insulated with hemp, keeping it warm and environmentally friendly
  
  

This unit will provide a safe, comfortable and private place to sleep. Along with a compost toilet, a small sink for washing, hot drinks and a meal.  Rather than staying in one location, the unit will travel to areas where it is needed.

But more than that, the Chi Byghan is a lifeline that also connects the user to a wider community and wraparound support services. 

After a good night's sleep in safety and warmth, we'll bring them to the Street Food project at the John Daniel Centre (Safe and Well Hub), where they can access showers and a laundry service, community and hot food.

Here, they'll also be able to connect with vital services offered by The Safe and Well Hub, including agencies that can support them to find permanent or longer term housing.

Each person might use the unit for 1-5 days until their housing and other needs are met elsewhere. Then they move on, making room for another person to benefit from the unit - and transform their lives for the better.

For someone sleeping rough, even one night in a Chi Byghan can be life-changing. It offers safety, security, warmth, and the space to access support services — a real step toward rebuilding their life.

Building the unit - community involvement, learning and impact

The Chi Byghan unit will be built on a mobile trailer and refurbished to provide a safe, comfortable, and private single-occupancy living space. 

The funds raised in this Crowdfunder will cover the unit, materials and project oversight, as well as volunteer training and learning materials. 

The build of the unit will be overseen by a paid professional who will supervise Growing Links beneficiaries and volunteers, to learn and contribute hands-on construction skills. 

This approach keeps the unit costs down, while also offering meaningful training and skill-building opportunities, fostering pride and ownership among participants.

Widening the benefits

This first Chi Byghan also serves as a proof of concept for a wider vision. Our long term intention is to create a series of units that can meet the needs of the current homelessness crisis. We want to ensure that people are smoothly supported from living on the streets into finding community support, and rebuilding their lives.

This first trial gives us an opportunity to refine the creation and delivery of this unit so that it becomes as effective as possible.

In the longer term, these units provide Growing Links with a way to generate income and build long term sustainability for the organisation. This means that we can continue to do our vital work, with reliable funding streams. We get to continue providing people with food, safety, dignity and opportunity - as our local community experiences increasingly challenging times.

To make this all happen, we need to expand our support team...

Operations Coordinator

As Growing Links has grown - along with the need for our services - the work of coordinating volunteers, community meals, workshops and projects has become increasingly complex. 

Our small team of staff are amazing, and do everything they can to support our community, but the need is ever-increasing. We urgently need more staff support.

We regularly apply for grants to cover our work wherever possible, but administrative staff support is often excluded from grant funding. Your donations are vital - they are what will allow us to build a strong staff team with wellbeing at its core. 

And the stronger and more resilient our team, the more we are able to support the community around us.

Adding an Operations Coordinator to our team will create space for our existing staff to focus more time on raising funds, training, and ensuring the organisation's resilience; and allow us to create more opportunities for the incredible volunteers that play such a vital part in all that we offer.

The Coordinator will also embed sustainability across Growing Links’ wider activities, bringing staff and volunteers into local environmental initiatives, encouraging community participation in climate action, and ensuring responsible use of resources.

Employing an Operations Coordinator will ensure that our programmes run smoothly, and reach more of the people who need them. It will also allow us to develop the Chi Byghan project beyond this first 'little house', to ensure its long-term success for the benefit of all.

Why this matters

Communities thrive when people look out for one another. 

With your help, we can provide a safe space, shelter and support for vulnerable people in West Cornwall at a pivotal moment in their lives. 

We can ensure that rough sleepers aren't abandoned to sleep on the streets.

We can also build the resilience of our organisation, so that we can continue delivering our wider programmes that tackle isolation, hunger, and hardship. And which are needed now more than ever.

Every donation helps us restore dignity, hope, and stability to someone who currently has nowhere to turn.

Together, we can overcome homelessness, and make sure no one in our town has to sleep on the streets.

Header image credit: Max via Unsplash

This project closed unsuccessfully on 23rd June 2026