Dear Friend
Thank you very much for the interest you have shown in our co-housing project. We thought you would like an update on our progress so far.
We decided that converting the limited company we set up in February into a Community Interest Company would make our status as a not-for-profit social enterprise clearer, not only to the public but also to funding bodies. As of last month, Hope Cohousing is now a Community Interest Company.
In the summer we realised that our project would benefit from help with fundraising and project co-ordination. Sacha Woolham joined the team and her energy and experience are proving transformational.
Our feasibility study funded by the Scottish Government Rural Housing Fund is completed and we can now work towards applying to them for funding for building the houses. The common house and linked walkway cannot receive grants intended for housing so we are applying to other funding bodies including the Tudor Trust and the Fore Trust.
Sacha led a recent bid to the ‘Healthy Ageing’ initiative managed by the Industrial Challenge Fund set up by the UK Government. Our existing collaboration with Robert Gordon University and the support given to Hope Cohousing by Orkney Islands Council positioned us to apply as a consortium – as required by the Fund.
We are also working with Sacha to set up a Facebook page and hope you will like and follow us!
From the start of our project we have wanted to set up the Friends of Hope Cohousing to maintain links with people interested in sharing ideas about cohousing in general and Hope Cohousing in particular. We would like to send out occasional newsletters to everyone who is interested, whether a Friend or not. Your details will only be used to communicate with you about Hope Cohousing and will not be shared with any third party.
With best wishes from us all at Hope Cohousing.