Changing Lives

As part of our #BuildBackBetter campaign, Novus have committed to be a force for good. In December, we launched a National Food Bank Appeal to support local food banks in overcoming hunger and helping some of the most vulnerable members in our communities.

This campaign saw an overwhelming response, with colleagues, clients, subcontractors, and suppliers keen to donate and lend a hand to the cause.

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As part of the CIH Housing 2020 conference in September, Novus offered to donate £2 for every visitor passport stamped on the Novus stand to the homeless charity Crisis.

Many of the speeches and speaker sessions at the Housing 2020 conference were centred around the issue of tackling homelessness and as such, our social value team thought that this charity would be a fitting recipient of the donation.

At the end of the conference, we were delighted to top up our donation to £1000. 

Horton Lodge Special School in Rudyard were in need of materials to redecorate 3 bedrooms. Novus and supply partner Dulux were happy to donate materials to the cause.

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Whilst working on a recent contract in Birmingham, Novus colleague Jason has struck up a friendship with a local man with cerebral palsy.

After a recent bereavement, Jason became concerned for the well-being of the man.

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As December is traditionally the season for giving, Novus were spreading a little Christmas cheer to the homeless and less fortunate.

Throughout the festive season, Novus were donating time, money, and gifts to charities up and down the countr with our “Give a Gift” campaign. Read More Here.

As part of our 5th birthday celebrations, we created the ‘Big 5’ campaign with a mission to complete 5 unique community projects across the country in 2018. We asked people to nominate a community building in desperate need of repair for a £20,000 building refurbishment which Novus would then deliver.

Leeds Action to Create Homes (LATCH) was our first winner. LATCH provide supported housing for homeless and vulnerable people. The building refurbishment would have taken Latch a few months, but we were able to transform the property in two weeks for the tenant to start a fresh. Read more here.

For our second of the ‘Big 5’ projects, we transformed an area to create a bereavement suite at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton in June.

The new suite gives parents who lose a child during pregnancy or delivery the space, time and facilities they need during the grieving process.

The team helped to transform a separate area of the maternity ward, creating a flat alongside the delivery room with a cold cot, so families get more time with their babies to create memories and a private place for them to grieve. Read more about the project here.

Bromley Pensnett Primary in Dudley, West Midlands was our third ‘Big 5’ project voted for by people local to the area. We helped to transform a derelict building that had been closed for the past five years.

Our team installed a new roof, repaired and redecorated the interior and exterior, installed new steps, replaced doors and flooring, and installed a new kitchen. The hub now offers a space that parents and carers can visit for support and advice. Read more about the school refurbishments here.

The community hub in Livingston was our next Big 5 winner. The team in Scotland in partnership with its suppliers, helped to replace the kitchen, refurbish the foyer and IT suite and carry out a complete redecoration. The facilities are used predominantly by West Lothian Youth Action Project who offer training workshops, summer activities and music projects in the building, as well as providing mentoring to vulnerable youngsters and distributing surplus food to people in the community.

The fifth and final project was Tom Harrison House which is an addiction recovery centre for military veterans. It is the only one of its kind in the UK. Our Liverpool Team refreshed the front of the building and created a cabin for additional support space in the previously overgrown garden. The Outpost provides a space for people who have completed their 12-week recovery programme to return to, and for them to help other people who are starting their journey of recovery.

Novus apprentices helped us revitalise a homeless shelter in Stoke-on-Trent as part of our annual Apprentice Week. The Macari Centre was founded by football legend Lou Macari as a place of safety for those forced to sleep on the streets. The Macari Centre provided the perfect place to host our annual Apprentice Challenge, where a team of 26 apprentice hopefuls were joined by other volunteers to refresh the centre’s tired interior. The apprentices repainted two of the centre’s dorm rooms, a corridor and communal room as well as tidying up the exterior including the walkway which leads up to the centre. They also carried out minor repairs and constructed a new purpose-built smoking shelter.