Established 2005 Registered Charity No. 1110656

Scottish Charity Register No. SC043760

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Green Pastures - a new approach to housing

September 26 2009
Having eradicated homelessness in his neighbourhood, Pastor Pete has his eye on the rest of the UK Pastor Pete Cunningham has eradicated homelessness in his local neighbourhood, and is now planning to spread his solution across the UK. The former stockbroker was finding his own house in Southport too small for the numbers of homeless seeking refuge there. His local council showing little interest in the problem, so he decided to take matters into his own hands - by buying up houses for those without their own. For his first property, 68-year-old Cunningham used his own pension money as a deposit for a house that was a "bit bent", but which provided a home for a young woman and her partner and baby who had previously been living in a garage. Since 1999 his company - Green Pastures - has used equity to fund a total of 68 properties, containing 120 housing units, which have housed hundreds of people. His aim is to have housed 650 families by 2008, and to spread the business into other areas of the country. Using his business experience, Pastor Pete runs Green Pastures as an ethical investment company and is hoping to raise £3.5m this year to expand his vision. The Southern arm of Green Pastures was launched recently and is currently seeking investors. Talking at a London seminar to drum up support in the area Cunningham admitted that the venture has "a scary ride", but said, "God said put your money in it. We put our hands in our pockets and invested." A pastor since the age of 26, Cunningham is minister of Arygle Church in Southport but believes that ministry should be as much about helping those in the community as preaching from the pulpit. With the state perceived as failing to tackling homelessness, particularly the numbers of so-called 'hidden homeless' (those in temporary accommodation often slip through government statistics), Cunningham has set out to apply more than a sticking plaster onto the problem. Once a house has been purchased, Green Pastures repairs it and furnishes it, usually with donated furniture and local tradespeople who work for free. Most clients pay the mortgages using housing benefit, but once a person is housed, they continue to receive support from Green Pastures. Many people find paying bills difficult after spending years on the street; in some cases, housing benefit takes a long time to come through and former homeless often find themselves on the streets again quickly. So Green Pastures staff help and support all those who take up one of their houses. They monitor all benefits claims, and follow up any delays; repairs are taken care of and pastoral care and even bags of groceries are available for those in need. In Southport, homelessness is virtually eradiated, and the company has made moves into Wigan and North Wales. Local councils across the country are now banging at Cunningham's door asking him to turnaround their own problems of homelessness: it is estimated that there are 400,000 'hidden homeless' in the UK - 100,000 in London alone. The high property prices in London and the South East mean that Green Pastures will need extra investment if it is to replicate the success of Southport down south. It plans to use 'podding', whereby the company purchases five properties - four in the north and one in the south - and uses the surplus made on the northern properties to subsidise those in the south, to make a success of Green Pastures South. Cunningham's vision, according to Chris Peacock, who runs ASLAN in London, is to run a £22m company housing the homeless. The key to his vision is its simplicity, and Cunningham's belief that it can eradicate homelessness for good. "He sees a problem and does something about it," Peacock says. For more information, go to: www.greenpastureshousing.co.uk
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