The history of Whitworth House begins in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when, just as we find today, there was a great pressure on the housing market in Cambridge. Young single people in particular were affected by this pressure, facing high rents in the private sector, and treated as a low priority for social housing by The City Council, who did not have a statutory duty to find accommodation for them.
An even smaller sub-section of this vulnerable group of young people, however – namely homeless women aged between 16 and 18 – were left without proper support from the voluntary and charitable sectors. This was the conclusion of local research, organised and conducted by Sheila Bly – the Field Secretary for the YWCA London & Southern Region. The only hostel for women in Cambridge in the late 1980s catered for a more mature age group, meaning that teenagers without a fixed or stable abode were at an acute risk of abuse, prostitution, drugs and violence. The YWCA therefore gave its backing for a hostel project in Cambridge to meet the needs of such young women.
It was agreed that this hostel should provide accommodation for young women between 16 and 25. They would be local young people on low wages, or who were unemployed or on government programmes for the unemployed. The target group would also include those who were leaving permanent care or foster care. The hostel itself, meanwhile, would need to provide a fruitful environment able to help these residents to recover their confidence and independence. It would provide help with life skills, as well as encouragement for its residents to make the transition to work through education and training. In November 1989, the Board of Governors of the YWCA formally backed the Cambridge project, making a commitment to ‘build a hostel in Cambridge if at all possible’.
A major fundraising appeal was launched in July 1993, and supported by the Lord Lieutenant, the Mayor, senior representatives of local councils and local MPs, among many others. The target of the appeal was £1.5 million, and it is testament to the enthusiasm and the fundraising ability of the committee that they had already raised almost half of this amount from local councils, charitable trusts, companies, community groups and private individuals in the form of promises and pledges. The local Mother's Union was a valuable source of help to the appeal and to the project committee.
After a great search, a large property on Chesterton Road was secured for the purpose, and building work commenced. The Grand Opening took place on Friday 15th May 1998 on a lovely hot day. It was then that the project was publicly named Whitworth House, after one of the original committee members, Ann Whitworth. The Opening was attended by the Mayor, the High Sheriff, the Lord Lieutenant, and Ann Campbell, MP for Cambridge, as well as nearly 100 guests. The ribbon was cut by Katrina of ‘Katrina and the Waves’(!). Katrina had been brought up locally, and had just won the Eurovision Song Contest.
In April 2000, the National YWCA decided to sell all of its hostels. Anxious to make sure that the original aims of Whitworth House would be respected, and that the client base and level of staff support would remain the same for the hostel, the committee took care to judge all of the bids made on the property by competing Housing Associations. The group chosen to take the house on – The Orwell Housing Association – had an impressive record of managing supported housing projects. Orwell acquired the house later in 2000, and continues to manage it today.
An even smaller sub-section of this vulnerable group of young people, however – namely homeless women aged between 16 and 18 – were left without proper support from the voluntary and charitable sectors. This was the conclusion of local research, organised and conducted by Sheila Bly – the Field Secretary for the YWCA London & Southern Region. The only hostel for women in Cambridge in the late 1980s catered for a more mature age group, meaning that teenagers without a fixed or stable abode were at an acute risk of abuse, prostitution, drugs and violence. The YWCA therefore gave its backing for a hostel project in Cambridge to meet the needs of such young women.
It was agreed that this hostel should provide accommodation for young women between 16 and 25. They would be local young people on low wages, or who were unemployed or on government programmes for the unemployed. The target group would also include those who were leaving permanent care or foster care. The hostel itself, meanwhile, would need to provide a fruitful environment able to help these residents to recover their confidence and independence. It would provide help with life skills, as well as encouragement for its residents to make the transition to work through education and training. In November 1989, the Board of Governors of the YWCA formally backed the Cambridge project, making a commitment to ‘build a hostel in Cambridge if at all possible’.
A major fundraising appeal was launched in July 1993, and supported by the Lord Lieutenant, the Mayor, senior representatives of local councils and local MPs, among many others. The target of the appeal was £1.5 million, and it is testament to the enthusiasm and the fundraising ability of the committee that they had already raised almost half of this amount from local councils, charitable trusts, companies, community groups and private individuals in the form of promises and pledges. The local Mother's Union was a valuable source of help to the appeal and to the project committee.
After a great search, a large property on Chesterton Road was secured for the purpose, and building work commenced. The Grand Opening took place on Friday 15th May 1998 on a lovely hot day. It was then that the project was publicly named Whitworth House, after one of the original committee members, Ann Whitworth. The Opening was attended by the Mayor, the High Sheriff, the Lord Lieutenant, and Ann Campbell, MP for Cambridge, as well as nearly 100 guests. The ribbon was cut by Katrina of ‘Katrina and the Waves’(!). Katrina had been brought up locally, and had just won the Eurovision Song Contest.
In April 2000, the National YWCA decided to sell all of its hostels. Anxious to make sure that the original aims of Whitworth House would be respected, and that the client base and level of staff support would remain the same for the hostel, the committee took care to judge all of the bids made on the property by competing Housing Associations. The group chosen to take the house on – The Orwell Housing Association – had an impressive record of managing supported housing projects. Orwell acquired the house later in 2000, and continues to manage it today.