Devonshire Homes announces CHAT as its Charity of the Year
31 July 2024Devonshire Homes, has selected the housing, debt and money advice charity, Churches Housing Action Team (CHAT), to be its charity partner 2024/2025.
CHAT was set up in 1995 to provide practical support to local people experiencing housing difficulties. Based in Tiverton, the charity’s services are available to anyone in the Mid Devon area, the team making visits to Crediton, Cullompton and Uffculme every week to provide outreach sessions offering free and impartial advice and support on housing, tenancy, debt and money issues.
In addition, CHAT runs a highly successful foodbank alongside the advice service in Tiverton, which has seen demand increase existentially over the last 18 months, as the cost of living crisis hits local families hard.
In the past five years, Mid Devon has seen a 40% increase in individuals and families asking for help who are facing homelessness. A recent study found that last year rural households had a higher fuel poverty rate (15.9%) than households in towns and cities.
Jane Pearce, Sales & Marketing Director of Devonshire Homes, commented:
“We’re delighted to announce that we have chosen the CHAT as our charity partner for 2024/2025. As an independent house builder, we believe everyone deserves a safe and stable place to call home, and we are committed to doing our part to help make that a reality.”
Devonshire Homes will raise funds for CHAT through a number of fundraising activities at its Tiverton head office and developments across the region. The housebuilder will also donate £50 to the charity for every open-market sale during the partnership period and Devonshire Homes will also show support for CHAT by hosting their biennial charity golf day in 2025 for CHAT.
Holly Sutton, Fundraising and Development Manager for CHAT commented:
“Ongoing food and housing insecurity is a real worry for many people in rural communities. The choices of feeding yourself or your children, or whether to eat or heat, are decisions no one should have to make. Our CHAT foodbank and advice services are a vital lifeline, so we are delighted that the team at Devonshire Homes are making CHAT their charity of the year.
“Without support from the local community we would not be able to provide this vital service and so it is great to see a company so committed to giving back to their community. We look forward to a very successful partnership with them.”