Livv Housing Group has created more than £51m worth of social value for Knowsley communities in the past year.
Through job creation, supporting young people and funding social enterprises, Livv Housing Group has tackled tough issues like employment, poverty, and mental health to make a positive impact in local communities. The details have been released in Livv’s annual Social Accounts which outline how the organisation has recorded a nine per cent rise in social value generated in the communities in the past year (2020/2021), up from £46.8m in 2019/2020.
Through supporting projects with £1.5m worth of social investment, Livv has generated an incredible 87p in social return for every £1 invested in the last year. Throughout the pandemic Livv Housing Group has continuously adapted its community investment to address the issues faced and to support those most in need. This included investing £712,110 in neighbourhood and community projects and initiatives, making more than 2000 wellbeing calls to customers to ensure they were safe and well, delivering 600 food boxes to residents and a £5k donation to a food bank.
Livv listened to customers’ needs and responded by flexing its services, supporting 1,203 residents to make new Universal Credit claims resulting in securing £1.7m of additional benefit income.
Key stats for 2020/2021
- £51,731,124 has been generated in social value
- £712,110 in neighbourhood and community projects and initiatives
- £5m worth of cost savings to the NHS, DWP and local government
- 4,700 residents supported to become financially better off
- For every £1 invested Livv Housing Group has generated 87p in social return
Employment & training:
- 956 young people are supported to achieve higher aspiration and increased wellbeing
- 817 young people engaged with training and support services
- 686 young people are supported to improve their education and skills levels
- 28 young people supported into apprenticeships
Léann Hearne (left), CEO at Livv Housing Group, said: “We’re really proud of our team and how quickly they adapted the community investment activity to support our customers and the wider communities. The past two years have not been easy for many of our customers and we’re proud that we¹ve been able to make a positive difference.
“The Social Accounts that we are publishing relate to our accomplishments in 2020/21. Our investment in communities sits at the heart of our corporate plan. In the past year, we’ve adapted our approach as the needs of our customers and communities changed as a result of the pandemic. We’ve presented the account as a timeline this year to highlight how we made our investment decisions.
“We’ve continued to develop our partnership network to support more local social enterprises and charities, enabling them to grow and become more sustainable. By doing so we¹ve created more than £51m of social value, which has seen us support people and families to heat their homes, feed their families, cope with the health challenges of the pandemic, stay in their homes and continue with their education. This is part of our ongoing commitment to support and create opportunities for our communities that will help them grow, develop, and thrive.”
One project which has benefited from £20k funding is the Sport Nutrition and Active Play (SNAP) scheme. This helped SNAP to put together 1,250 summer activity packs full of hours of creative fun for youngsters.
Livv worked with One Knowsley, Knowsley Council and a range of local organisations to support the programme. A total of 250 packs were delivered directly to Livv customers and the remaining 1000 were delivered by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to voluntary hubs across the borough.
At the time, Station Manager Steve Thomas at Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service, said: “This is a great example of how we can work together on a voluntary basis to help our communities in times of struggle. We’re delighted to be a part of this fantastic initiative to support the volunteering sector within the Knowsley community.”
Header image shows members of the team with food boxes for residents.
