A new short-term family accommodation facility has been officially opened in Caerphilly town centre.
Acorn House – or Ty’r Fesen – aims to provide short term accommodation for families who find themselves homeless and supports them into more permanent housing. The building has 13 family rooms, including two units which have been specifically designed to accommodate wheelchair users.
The facility, located on the site of the former Encon engineering works in Caerphilly town centre, forms part of a wider development consisting of 16 new homes.
Acorn House will also offer life skills classes such as budgeting and cooking and has been developed in partnership between Caerphilly County Borough Council and United Welsh.
Speaking at the official unveiling, council leader Harry Andrews said: “I was delighted to be invited to officially unveil this outstanding new facility in the heart of Caerphilly. Homelessness can unfortunately affect people of all ages and from all backgrounds for a variety of reasons, so it is pleasing that through partnership working with our colleagues at United Welsh, we are able to provide support services such as at this facility which will help those affected by homelessness to work towards more permanent housing solutions.”
Chair of United Welsh Ian Gilbert said: “As a result of successful partnership working with Caerphilly County Borough Council since 2007 our organisations have delivered nearly 400 new affordable homes to the borough helping hundreds of families in housing need as part of our commitment in helping reach Welsh Government targets.”
The housing scheme was part-funded by a social housing grant of £2.7m from the Welsh Government.
Cllr Gerald Jones, deputy council leader and cabinet member for housing, said: “As a council, we are committed to ensuring that our residents avoid homelessness wherever possible, and dedicate significant resources to offering housing advice and a range of housing options. In any given week, the council can be approached by between 80 to 100 households who find themselves potentially homeless; therefore it is vital that we have services such as this available to us to help cater for this demand.
“This project is the latest in a number of successful projects where we have worked closely with United Welsh – long may this relationship continue.”
Acorn House replaces a short-term accommodation facility based at Ty Croeso in Newbridge which has been emptied for refurbishment.