TA ENGINEERS GET LIVERPOOL HOUSING CHARITY BACK ON THE ROAD TO SUCCESS

THE British Army has come to the rescue of a Liverpool housing charity and will help set it on the road to completing 23 more homes for low-income families.

Territorial Army soldiers from 75 Engineer Regiment have begun preparatory work before digging drains and building a road, which will service the remaining homes at Liverpool Habitat for Humanity’s site off Kingsley Road, in Granby-Toxteth.

Materials for the project are being donated by construction giant Balfour Beatty and subsidiary Birse Civils, the company behind the £200m Edge Lane regeneration project.

But it is members of 75 Engineer Regiment, which has its headquarters in Warrington and detachments in Wirral and Manchester, who are providing the manpower and plant machinery as part of a Military Aid to the Civilian Community (MACC) project, which will double up as a training exercise for the part-time volunteer soldiers. 

The project will bring together TA soldiers from across Merseyside and Cheshire with a variety of different skills, including electricians, joiners, fitters, construction workers, tool makers and even bankers.
 

The first two weeks will consist of enabling work, including the removal of 1,600 cubic metres of subsoil. Later stages will include labour for the installation of drainage and building up the road to ground level and installing kerbs.

Rev Shannon Ledbetter, chair of Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, said: “Having completed our first nine homes and housed eight families, work on site ground to a halt over a year ago. This was largely due to the fact that we faced a bill of around £200,000 to install the drainage and build a road to service the remaining 23 homes for which we have planning consent. It just wasn’t economically viable at the time.

“Now, with 75 Engineer Regiment providing the manpower and machinery and Balfour Beatty and Birse Civils donating a substantial amount of the materials we can get ready to build much-needed affordable homes again.”

LHFH is unique in that homes are built by volunteers who come from all over the world; and the home owners themselves must spend at least 500 hours physically working on site, known as “sweat equity”, in lieu of a £10,000 cash deposit.

“It’s a fantastic scheme which has helped a variety of low-income families, including key workers, single mothers and asylum seekers to own their own home, which would normally have been out of their reach,” Shannon added.

Whilst the MACC project is providing a lifeline to Liverpool Habitat for Humanity, for the Territorial Army it presents a low-cost training opportunity for soldiers to use and develop the skills which one day might be needed to carry out similar work in conflict zones.

Commanding officer of 75 Engineer Regiment, Lt Col Al Veitch said: “We are delighted that the skills of our local soldiers can be put to good use to support such a worthy local cause.  The Liverpool Habitat for Humanity project offers an excellent opportunity for the Army to give something tangible back to the community from which it comes - and what could be better than helping in the construction of badly-needed homes whilst helping to develop our own expertise?”
 
Liverpool City Council is supporting this project and has provided assistance with the clearance of the site.

LHFH is currently identifying potential home owners for the next phase of homes. For more information telephone the charity on 0151 707 9440 or contact Liza Parry on:  liza@liverpoolhfh.org.uk