New garden space for families to enjoy

Thanks to a generous donation and contribution from a local contractor, children at one of our domestic abuse refuges now have a beautiful outside play space to enjoy this summer.

When families arrive at our domestic abuse refuges, they often arrive with nothing but the clothes on their back. This is hard on everyone, but can be particularly traumatic to children who have left their homes, their friends and their toys.

A new outside play space

Thanks to the generous donation of £6,000 from Efficiency East Midlands (EEM)’s Community Donation Scheme, the children at one of our refuges in Derbyshire have a great space to play, make new friends and begin to heal from past trauma.

The communal garden is now home to a new playhouse, mud kitchen, sheltered seating area, storage space and planters; all designed and installed by local company The Shed Brothers.

The new structures have completely transformed the shared garden and with the summer in full swing, the children are making the most of the space.

The assistant manager at the service comments: “We’re so thankful for the incredible donation from EEM, and The Shed Brothers have done a beautiful job of creating the space. We’ve added some new planting and it’s all looking fantastic.

"To bring extra magic to the transformation, The Shed Brothers constructed the new play areas. They painted the structures free of charge and even donated raised beds, colourful buckets and bunting.

"Now the summer’s here, the kids are absolutely loving the space. Thanks so much to everyone who’s helped make this happen, you really have impacted these young lives for the better.”

Supporting people affected by abuse

Part of our Derbyshire WISH service, this collection of flats offers a safe space, with support and nurture, to women and children fleeing violent and abusive situations.

At NCHA we offer a range of domestic abuse services, as well as support for existing customers and colleagues.

Our vision is to: “be an active partner in the coordinated community response to ending domestic abuse and gender-based violence across the East Midlands.” Find out more in our five year domestic abuse plan.

Creating social value

At NCHA, we work with a number of trusted partners to ensure best value, compliance and service delivery across our projects; EEM is one of these providers.

EEM are a not-for-profit procurement consortium who have supported us in delivering a number of different procurements, demonstrating flexibility and a strong understanding of our objectives. Their approach aligns well with NCHA’s wider strategic goals, particularly around innovation, sustainability, cost efficiency and social value.

This collaborative approach supports our long-term plans to enhance value for money.