This partnership has been established under the Society’s ‘Making The Difference’ programme, The Cambridge’s commitment to finding new ways to help people have a home. Through Making The Difference, the Society aims to work differently with a range of community partners, collaborating with charities who share a deep commitment to the community.
The community partnership, which is the first of its kind for the Society, will see The Cambridge investing in a long-term collaboration with YMCA Trinity Group whereby team members from The Cambridge will use their skills and expertise to support the charity’s work to change the lives of vulnerable young people in the community. Throughout the initial one year partnership, The Cambridge will contribute to the specialised projects and solutions YMCA Trinity Group deliver. This includes supporting the charity’s residents with financial education, employment support and wellbeing activities to help transform and build the future of young people in the community.
In September, the protection that renters received from the Government’s temporary ban on evictions ended for the Cambridgeshire area. Alongside reports of rising unemployment due to the on-going impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is expected that the number of young people who need help for homelessness in the Cambridge community will rise throughout the winter months. As a support charity helping young and vulnerable people, it is anticipated that the need for YMCA Trinity Group’s support services which help those experiencing continued financial hardship, homelessness and unemployment will increase. It has never been so important for businesses to go a step further for charitable groups to help support the vulnerable people in their heartland.
Peter Burrows, Chief Executive of The Cambridge comments on the partnership, “I’m delighted to announce this partnership with YMCA Trinity Group. We are deeply committed to our community and to working with groups who offer services for shelter and housing, which is why establishing an important partnership with a charity that shares our enthusiasm and focus for supporting vulnerable people in our heartland was so important to us. YMCA Trinity Group does incredible work to enable young people to reach independence in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Peterborough, and all of us here at The Cambridge are eager to start contributing our skills and experience to these life-changing projects to really make a difference.”
Jonathan Martin Chief Executive of YMCA Trinity Group comments on the prospect of working with The Cambridge, “YMCA Trinity Group are really thrilled to be working with the Cambridge Building Society as their significant community partnership. As two locally based organisations that can both trace their roots back to the 1850s in Cambridge, it feels good that through this collaboration, we can continue to make such a difference to our community.”