The Cambridge Building Society has partnered with It Takes A City to help homeless and vulnerable people in the Cambridge area.
It Takes A City joins Emmaus and Jimmy’s as The Cambridge’s three community partners for 2025, with all three organisations receiving a grant and volunteer hours from The Cambridge team to support their work.
The charity plans to use the grant from The Cambridge towards a new project that will provide a safe place that homeless people can store and secure their belongings.
It Takes A City provides a range of services that support people experiencing homelessness, particularly those who are rough sleeping.
These include Crossways – an emergency accommodation programme for some of the city’s most vulnerable people who find themselves sleeping rough.
It is open from 1st November to 31st March, providing safety and dignity for 20 people in ensuite bedrooms.
The charity also runs The Haven – an overnight drop-in space for homeless and vulnerable women.
Staffed by an experienced support worker, security guard, and experienced volunteers, the Haven ensures a safe, welcoming environment.
The Haven provides hot food and drinks, shower and laundry facilities, fresh clothes, emotional support, and tailored advice.
Matt Nelson (pictured right), coordinator at It Takes A City, said: “We see The Cambridge as being at the very heart of our community and it’s lovely to see a commercial organisation looking at homelessness and how they can support our work, and that of our partners, to help vulnerable people.
“We’re excited about The Cambridge’s staff volunteering programme and we look forward to having them work with us to show how even the smallest amount of time given to volunteering can make a huge difference to vulnerable people.”
Carole Charter, chief commercial officer at The Cambridge, said: “We know how challenging it is for charities and other organisations to find financial support, and so we’re delighted to partner with It Takes A City – a charity which shares our core values of helping people have a home.
“Our team is looking forward to volunteering their time to support It Takes A City’s vital work of helping some of the most vulnerable people in the Cambridge area, and we encourage everyone to find out more about the great work they do in our community.”
