Donated tiles help create welcoming spaces for people experiencing homelessness

Donated tiles help create welcoming spaces for people experiencing homelessness

The team at Trinity Winchester was delighted when they saw Global Ceramic Tiling’s offer of brand-new tiles – it couldn’t have come at a better time, as the team was designing new rooms for the vulnerable people they support.

10m2 of tiles

Global Ceramic Tiling is a family-run tiling business founded in 2000. The business provides ceramic wall and floor tiling for the construction industry, from one-off housing projects to larger-scale housing developments, commercial projects, and leisure projects.

The Global Ceramics team is a keen supporter of local charities, and in 2020, they raised over £11,000 for the Piam Brown Ward, the Children’s Cancer ward, at University Hospital Southampton. A large amount of the money raised is through the recycling of pallets, which the business sells to be reused or recycled rather than placed in the on-site skips. With a focus on helping charities and sustainability, the Global Ceramic Tiling team turned to A Good Thing when they found themselves with 10m2 of spare tiles.

Addressing the effects of homelessness and vulnerability

Trinity Winchester is a charity that aims to address the effects of homelessness and vulnerability through specialist practical and emotional support, as well as proactive prevention. The charity has helped people who are vulnerable to the effects of homelessness, addiction, physical and mental ill health, poverty, social isolation, and domestic abuse since the original drop-in centre opened in 1986.

In 2024, Trinity Winchester will offer a range of support services, including counselling, dental check-ups, life skill classes, and supported accommodation.

Trinity Winchester has two accommodation services for people experiencing homelessness. In 2019, the charity welcomed its first residents into supported accommodation provision at Alleyne House. Since opening, it has successfully housed 24 residents, four of whom have moved on to their own long-term accommodation.

In 2021, Trinity opened Bradbury View, the charity's second accommodation provision, a residential extension to their Bradbury House drop-in centre. Bradbury View is home to 12 flatlets for people who have complex needs and histories of repeated homelessness, helping them transition away from sleeping rough.

“This is not just somewhere to live; it’s a place to get better,” says Bradbury View Resident.

A renovation plan

The tiles donated by Global Ceramics were matched with Trinity Winchester and will be a great help to the charity as they are designing three new rooms for 2024. We are delighted to see how the ‘A Good Thing’ platform has prevented tiles from being wasted and instead allowed them to be donated to Trinity Winchester to be used in a project that will transform lives.

The items your business has lying around could be exactly what a charity needs: