Why Hammersley Homes is needed: from our founder, Louise Hallett
On day three of our Big Give campaign, we spoke to our founder, Louise Hallett, about why she formed Hammersley Homes:
What led you to set up Hammersley Homes?
For so many years, I’ve watched the same thing happen over and over again with people who live with severe mental illness: anxiety, leads to months of psychosis, and eventually a long stay in a mental health ward, where medication re-establishes stability for a while, then home where inadequate aftercare and support results in anxiety and the whole cycle starts again. Over and over again. I decided I had to do something to interrupt this endless repetitive cycle and I set up Hammersley Homes to provide long-term support for this vulnerable group.
And how has it gone so far?
It’s gone amazingly well and we have developed our project fast over the last few years – but entirely thanks to all our amazing supporters, donors, volunteers, staff, and Trustees – without whom this could never have happened. We have our successful Outreach Programme now fully established in the New Forest and surrounding areas, and waiting lists are growing fast. We have been getting such encouraging and rewarding feedback both from our clients and their families, and from the Community Mental Health Teams who refer our clients to us.
Where do you see the project going from here?
We need to grow and develop our outreach programme, and that’s all about raising the necessary funds to enable us to do this. There are so many more of the vulnerable people our service is aimed at, who we’d like to be able to support. We recently welcomed our new CEO to our team, and we are excited about all she will be able to bring to the growth and development of our project.
Where do you see Hammersley Homes in two years?
Well, we want to continue to expand our outreach programme nationwide – it’s already grown amazingly fast over the past year. And our long-term goal is to establish a UK-wide network of supported homes for life for this vulnerable sector, where staff will be on-site 24/7 – an ambitious goal! We would hope to have our first two homes fully established in the next two years, probably in Hampshire. We are so grateful for all the support we have had so far to get to this point – tthank you to everyone who has supported us so far!
To get involved and support this year’s Big Give Christmas Challenge, where every donation will be match-funded and doubled,
