Nottingham festival raises £89,500 in vital funding for the charity Framework

DHP Family announces charity festival Beat the Streets has raised £89,500 for Framework. Framework helps to turn around the lives of rough sleepers providing housing, health, employment, support and care services to people with a diverse range of needs.

The award-winning festival has raised £400,00 thanks to a combination of ticket sales, bar takings and donations. The artists who performed included Ferocious Dog, Divorce and Future Sound of Nottingham winners, Alt Blk Era who all generously give their time for free.

More than 300 separate individuals have benefited directly from interventions wholly or partly funded through Beat the Streets. Last year saw the January event which has been running since 2018 managed to raise £76,000. Framework will put the funds raised towards the creation of eight self-contained flats on Birkin Avenue in Nottingham for rough sleepers, some of whom have been on the streets for 20 years.

Claire Wellington, Team Leader at Framework told Nottingham World what this will mean for the service users, especially amid a cost of living crisis. “Times are tough and we have seen the impact of the cost of living crisis and the numbers of rough sleepers are not going down. The options available out there that are available to them are slim so it's very difficult at the moment,” she explained.

“This funding will make a huge difference which we have seen in previous years where it provides, not just a roof over someone’s head or home but good quality accommodation which is self-contained. It gets people out of the hostel environment or off the streets.”

The charity has already been granted permission to start building the Housing First flats. The flats will give rough sleepers permanent housing along with programmes of unlimited person-centred support towards independence. They can also access drug and alcohol, mental health and employment support to avoid them falling into a repeat cycle of homelessness.

Danny Deval is a service user with Framework who has worked hard to turn his life around. He is excited about the prospect of the difference this will make in his life. “This will make a big difference but you have to be willing to put the work in and do it for yourself. These people are great but you need to be willing to do the work.”

When it comes to running the event, supporting Nottingham’s vulnerable communities was the obvious choice for DHP Family’s MD George Akins and he is committed to keeping the event going.

“When I first looked at this a few years ago, I went to see various people in the city such as the council to find out who the people were that looked after the most difficult situations in Nottingham. At that time, we figured the right point was Framework,” he told Nottingham World.

“It was clear that Framework was underfunded and it was a huge shortfall. So rather than splitting it out over different areas, we thought the best use of the money would be to find a specific thing each year which would make the most impact. We felt Framework fit the bill better than others.”

He added: “It’s fantastic that we’ve been able to do it for several years now. When we first started, the idea was that we would do it as long as it was needed but that could be the rest of my life and thats the plan. We will keep going as long as people want to keep coming to it.

“Each year it's great that staff give up their time, bands give their time and people come out to support. People want to make this as successful as it is.”