A Harrogate homeless charity has celebrated rehousing its 100th resident in nearly 10 years.

Lifeline, which is based on East Parade, works in partnership with the Harrogate Homeless Project to help those who used to be homeless.

The charity was founded in 2013 and has since gone on to rehouse 100 people as part of its supported housing programme.

Speaking after the achievement, Carl Good, CEO of Lifeline Harrogate, said:

“This is such a special moment.”

“We have seen so many amazing changes in people’s lives and have supported many people into their own accommodation, many leaving Lifeline with jobs and hence a sustainable lifestyle.”

Lifeline residents out on a day trip

Mr. Good started the company with his wife Georgie because they wanted to help the homeless.

They recall meeting a man in the winter of 2011 who was sleeping in a tunnel on Bower Road.

He said:

“It really moved us both to think that we were going to a nice warm house and here was a man sat out in the cold.”

“It made us think much more deeply about the issue of homelessness.”

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Lifeline has six three-bedroom houses where they re-home their residents.

The houses are owned by Green Pastures, a national Christian housing social enterprise, and leased to the charity.

Residents will usually stay in the three-bedroom houses provided by Lifeline for up to a year.

However, Mr. Good told The Stray Ferret:

“There is no fixed time, we want to support them for independent living.”

This year’s Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal is for Resurrected Bites in Harrogate and Knaresborough. Today, Vicky meets a local man who is both a community grocery member and a café volunteer. Please give generously to support local people who are struggling this Christmas. They need your help. 

The people who rely on Resurrected Bites are no different to anyone else. They have experiences, careers, aspirations and needs just as the rest of us do. 

Sometimes, though, circumstances lead even the most conventional person down a road they never expected. 

Justin Hardcastle tells his story. 

“I worked in IT security recruitment as an account manager and lived in Harrogate most of my life. I’ve also lived in Leeds, London and Majorca, and in Austria for five years. 

“In 2005, I found my mum hanging. I cut her down and gave her mouth-to-mouth and saved her life. Unfortunately, the oxygen deprivation left her with brain damage.  

“In 2017, I found my brother dead in his flat. I couldn’t revive him.  

“In 2019, I lost my grandma, who was a second mum to me. My mum worked two jobs and me and my brother lived with our grandparents. 

“It was three bad experiences. If you look at cricket, you’ve got three stumps: the first was my mum, my brother was the second and the third was my grandma. It just all collapsed.” 

Justin struggled on for a while, but his mental health declined. He had to stop working and he lost his home. 

Friends helped out, including paying for hotel rooms to give him somewhere to stay. Justin said he was enormously grateful, but he needed long-term stability. 

He was put in touch with Lifeline, a Christian charity providing secure places to live and support for people in crisis. It gave Justin a flat shared with two other men.  

Read more:

• Stray Ferret Christmas Appeal: ‘It’s our privilege to care for each other’
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With somewhere safe to stay, Justin was pointed towards Resurrected Bites and became a member of the community grocery. 

It took months for his benefit payments to start being made, but he was still able to access food supplies. 

Gracious Street grocery manager Carolyn said: 

“When the system goes wrong, it can leave you with literally nothing. 

“We try to tell people if you’ve got nothing, don’t feel you can’t come. If you go from work onto universal credit, there’s a minimum five weeks’ wait.  

“We always say we will do you voucher shops until your money’s back on course. 

“That’s why we need more people to know about us. People need to know and not to be ashamed. There’s no judgement.”  

Settled in at home and getting to know the team at Resurrected Bites, Justin decided six months ago to become more involved. 

He volunteers every Thursday in the community grocery, as well as doing alternate Fridays in the kitchen of the pay-as-you-feel café.  

His interest in food stems from his childhood, cooking with his grandmother and his brother, who went on to work in hospitality. 

Some of the meals created for the Resurrected Bites cafe, created from ingredients that would otherwise be thrown away

He said:  

“I love coming here. It gives me a purpose. Everyone is so friendly and I feel like I’m giving something back.

It’s heart-warming and beneficial for me, just to be part of a team and know I’m appreciated. I’m never late. I’m always early.

“You never know what you’re going to get. There was a week when we had crates of apples or strawberries or a ton of spring onions. You just never know and that’s what’s good. I’m not a chef, I just like cooking. 

“From quite easily going to Sainsbury’s or Morrison’s and looking round and buying what you want to coming here, it makes you think more about food. You adapt to the situation and what you are going to get. 

“It’s good for my mental health, I think, ‘what can I use, what can I make?’ it’s making me think and want to produce things differently that I wouldn’t have made. 

“I feel like I contribute – I give as much as I can. Thinking about where I was, if it wasn’t for Resurrected Bites, Lifeline and my network of friends, I don’t know where I would be now.” 

Having felt the benefit of Resurrected Bites in so many ways, Justin is determined to use his experience to help others. 

He recognises just how easily things can change for anyone, as they did for him. 

“When I worked in Leeds, I would quite happily go and have a coffee and a croissant for breakfast. Lunchtime, I’d go for a meal deal, and on an evening I might cook or have a take-away.

“That’s £15 a day. To go from that to having £3 for your weekly shop…

“I’ve changed my life and, going forward, I’m going to change my life. I want to feel I can support and help other people. 

“I would like to share my experiences and possibly do something, whether it’s in volunteering or paid. I’ve got a lot to give and once I’m rehabilitated, I can show people what can happen. 

“I can’t thank the organisations I’ve found and I’m part of enough. I’ve got a purpose. It’s a new start.”

Nobody in the Harrogate district should go hungry this Christmas. 

It costs £300 to run the community grocery for one day. Please help to keep it open for everyone who relies on it. 

Click here to contribute now. Thank you. 

Lifeline is a Harrogate-based charity that houses people who have been homeless, acting as a crucial stepping stone between sleeping rough and independent living.

It was set up by Carl Good and his wife Georgie in 2012 after they met a homeless man in need of help in Bower Road’s tunnel.

They partnered with a Christian social enterprise called Green Pastures that buys properties and leases them to Lifeline. The charity’s volunteers also help residents learn new skills and overcome issues that led them to sleep rough in the first place, whether that be an addiction, mental health problems or debt.

They now have five three-bedroom homes across Harrogate, four for men and one for women, and they are looking for a sixth.

80 people have been housed over the past eight years and 60% of its residents have gone on to live independently with paid work.

The Stray Ferret visited one of Lifeline’s five properties in Harrogate to meet Mr Good and a former homeless man who is living there. Lifeline prefers to keep the location of their properties private.

Stability

Liam has been living in a Lifeline home in Harrogate for four months after moving from Harrogate Homeless Project’s hostel on Bower Road.

He said he enjoys the privacy and freedom it offers.

“It’s given me stability and hope to push myself more.”

Liam hopes to stay there for a year while he continues to build his confidence and learn new skills.

“I’m learning gardening skills. I’d like to learn a language, perhaps Polish or Spanish”.

He said he particularly enjoys looking after the home which he shares with two other people.

“I like taking pride in it”.

Read more:

• Charity Corner: Two clothes charities provide lifeline for Harrogate families
• Charity Corner: Harrogate charity says ‘it’s all about inclusivity’

County lines

Mr Good says homelessness has increased in Harrogate since the charity was formed due to a range of factors including drugs, housing and the benefits system.

He said hard drugs have become much more prevalent over the past ten years with county lines drug dealers specifically targetting vulnerable people living in Lifeline homes.

He said:

“Drugs are used much more in Harrogate than they used to be”.

Another issue is many people moving into the homes have a low level of financial resilience. Mr Good had a 20-year career as a financial advisor before setting up Lifeline and said navigating the Universal Credit system is as complicated as inheritance tax or capitals gains tax.

Sky’s the limit

Lifeline hopes to give its residents some dignity back after they’ve experienced often chaotic and traumatic experiences living on the streets.

Mr Good added:

“It’s brilliant because they have their own front door key. It gives them that dignity.

“A change of mindset is sometimes what is needed, then the sky’s the limit. They first have to feel safe and have a roof over their head.

“They need someone to believe in them. We all need support and it doesn’t mean they can’t succeed in life. We all need that leg up.”