Orbit, one of the UK’s foremost not-for-profit housing groups, recently joined forces with property solutions provider, Fortem, to fund and erect a new roof for St Francis Church in Coventry.
In addition to being a place of worship, the Church is also home to St Francis Employability, which aims to transform its local community and the lives of local people, helping them to move towards social and financial inclusion, meaningful engagement in employment and education and living a fulfilling life. As well as being a registered foodbank and social supermarket, the charity offers job search support, English lessons, skills courses, financial planning advice and friendship groups.
The roof of the Church had experienced disrepair over many years and being flat, had sustained water damage over time both inside and out, which had begun to affect the support that the charity could offer the local community and those in need.
Earlier this year, Orbit, which was founded in Coventry and is now one of the largest providers of affordable housing in the area as well as a major local employer, visited St Francis as part of a Business in the Community “Seeing is believing” visit, to learn about its services to the local community. During the visit, some of the challenges St Francis Employability faces were evident, so Orbit enlisted the support of its partner, Fortem, to see how they could help and ensure that this important support hub wasn't lost for the local community. They worked together to investigate the condition of the roof and identified that it was in urgent need of replacement, before quickly setting about arranging for a new roof to be put in place.
Revd Aggy Palairet, commented: "St Francis seek to provide a welcoming and safe space for all who come through our door regardless of religion, age, race and gender. It's wonderful to have our roof repaired so the people in this community can stay warm and dry and St Francis Employability can carry on delivering community work within the parish. A big thank you to Orbit and Fortem for all their hard work and for making our building safe once more."
Phil Andrew, CEO at Orbit, commented: “As a socially-driven, not-for-profit organisation we are committed to creating a better society, building affordable homes, and to do so in more socially responsible and sustainable ways. We care about the communities we work in and want to make sure we can do all that we can to help that community thrive.
“The work that St Francis does to support the local community is incredibly important to so many people in the local area, including some of our customers, so we were delighted to be able to work with Fortem to provide a new roof and secure space from which they can continue to offer their valuable services.”
Lucy Masters, Customer, Community & Sustainability Partner at Fortem added: “Fortem have an established track record of improving communities and creating better places for people to work and live so we were delighted to work in conjunction with Orbit to replace the flat roof at St Francis Church. As the Church is used for so many different activities across the week, the new roof will benefit so many members of the local area, giving them a dry and warm hub helping St Francis to serve the wider community.”
To learn more about the project, watch our film below: