31 July 2024
Summary:Molly Huggins Foundation launched to increase community investment as Geeta Nanda warns that the cost-of-living crisis risks becoming the ‘new normal’.
As she prepares to step down after 16 years as Chief Executive of MTVH, Geeta Nanda, OBE, warned that the cost-of-living crisis risks becoming the ‘new normal’ in many communities if urgent action isn’t taken.
In response Geeta announced the launch of MTVH’s charity the Molly Huggins Foundation, named after MTVH’s founder, that will invest £75m in community impact projects over the next decade. The Foundation, working with local partners, will tackle food insecurity, debt issues, skills gaps, educational needs, health and wellbeing to break down barriers that hold communities back.
Geeta said: “Of all the challenges I have seen in my 35 years in the housing sector, the breadth of the hardship and poverty we now see across our society is truly unique. We see an appalling increase in food insecurity which saw 7.2m people face this terrible affliction in 2022/23, up from 2.5m in 2021/22 and almost two-thirds of children and working age adults in poverty live in families where at least one adult is working. The cost-of-living crisis is not a short-term challenge but rather a permanent fixture in the lives of millions across our nation.
We will never give up on our residents or our communities until this is fixed. The Molly Huggins Foundation will help to ramp up this impact, giving us greater access to funds and partnerships which will strengthen our operations and help secure the resources we need.”
The Molly Huggins Foundation will have full charitable status which will provide access to a wider range of donors and funding sources allowing MTVH to achieve more positive outcomes for residents and communities.
The impact of MTVH’s community impact teams in 2023/24 has been outlined in MTVH’s inaugural Community Impact Report, also launched today.
The report reveals that in the year to March 2024 MTVH:
- Spent £50 on community investment for every MTVH household.
- Supported 3,675 residents with money advice resulting in a £3 million total financial gain to residents.
- Provided £729,000 to residents in rent adjustments, food, fuel and other essential items via its Tenant Welfare Fund.
- Made 618 rent adjustments saving residents £336,000 compared to 571 in 2022/23.
- Delivered £96,966 of social value through supply chain partnerships.
- Helped 219 Londoners secure work after attending Love London Working programme, with the majority sustaining employment for over 6 months.
MTVH targets its community investment based on detailed socio-economic research that shows not only areas of need, but also the type of project that will have greatest impact.
By targeting investment in this way MTVH works to break the cycle of poverty by providing people with the support to develop skills, improve mindset, find employment and live well.
Underpinning these projects is MTVH’s core role as a provider of safe, warm and secure homes on which people can build their lives. In 2023/24 MTVH built 892 homes with partners across its areas of operation in London, the East Midlands and South and East of England and is targeting 1000 further homes in 2024/25.