A message from our CEO July 2023

Posted 7th July 2023

A sense of belonging…

When NHP was incorporated as a charity 5 years ago next month we were a merry band of three who had just moved out of our respective kitchens (that were doubling as offices!) with budget for a further 18 months. Next month we celebrate our 5th birthday and we marked the occasion at a party last week at Freight Island in Manchester.  It was a fantastic event in the glorious Mancunian sunshine and was enjoyed by 200 young people, staff, consultants, partners and fundraisers from across the UK.    

Over the course of the five years we have changed our focus from independence to interdependence with a strengthened commitment to community and belonging, believing that this will provide the bedrock of delivering the vision of young people living ‘connected and fulfilling lives’. As a Charity we have made huge strides both as an organisation and in the quality of our offer that is provided to LAs, and whilst we could list the achievements, NHP is more than that and this was evident at our party as relayed to us in feedback via an email later that night:

"Like much else in the House Project, you got it so right.  I can praise the venue and format and eclectic attendance and timing and etc etc, but the real thing that we all felt today was what a privilege it has been to be a part of such a potent and inclusive endeavour.  When I was a student and met the work of Marshall McLuhan he was/is famous for his maxim that “The medium is the message.” It’s hard to make sense of that in the abstract, but today was a great exemplification.  Today was family and community and home and security and acceptance and valuing equally and fun – and lots more that illuminated the tag on the wishing tree that said: “HP has been the best opportunity of my life.”

We look forward to the next five years and as we scale we remain committed to ensuring that the ‘house project spirit’ drives what we do and that each and every young person is given the opportunity to belong to something that supports and enables them to succeed. We all need something to belong to and together we can achieve.