The Pavers Foundation is the charitable organisation of the family-owned-and-run footwear retailer, Pavers, and has donated £15,000 to Framework, a charity that offers a number of critical support services across Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and Sheffield. The donation was made of behalf of Graham Paver who nominated the organisation to receive the funding.
Framework has a bold vison to end homelessness and believe that people experiencing homelessness should be treated with dignity, compassion and respect. There are around 75 different services available through Framework for people who may be in need of help and facing complex needs, including, those in housing crisis, are teenage parenting, who suffer from substance abuse as well as refugee and employment support. Framework are driven to understand the causes of homelessness and aim to help service users get back on track and to enable them to feel safe and valued within their communities.
The donation from the Pavers Foundation is helping to fund a vital and desperately needed additional team member of the Sheffield Street Outreach Team. Who every single day of the year at 6am have two members of the team that go out to walk the streets of Sheffield to conduct headcounts and to try and support those sleeping rough in the city, many of whom have struggled with homelessness for a number of years and well known to the team.
On a walk of the city with Steph Hains, the Manager of the Sheffield Outreach Team, she told us how sometimes unfortunate or difficult circumstances, a chain of events or complex needs of their service users can lead to them becoming homeless, and while despite their best efforts there are an increasing number of people having to resort to sleeping on the street.
Harriet Wise, Trust and Grants Fundraiser at Framework, said: “Thank you to Graham Paver and the Pavers Foundation for this exceptionally kind and generous donation. The Street Outreach Team and the new position the Pavers Foundation is helping to fund is essential to our ability to respond quickly and effectively to the city’s increasing number of rough sleepers.”
Trustee of the Pavers Foundation, Graham Paver, first became aware of Framework through a TV news segment and said: “I was already impressed with the depth and breadth of the services available through Framework. After speaking with the team here, I am even more impressed, it’s clear that this organisation is dedicated to carefully and consciously helping anyone in need”. Speaking of supporting the new role Graham added: “I am delighted to be able to contribute to this additional outreach role. It will mean the outreach team can be better supported and they can continue to deliver the important care and support to those in need in Sheffield”.