A NEW children’s home has opened in Leicester.
Hillview, located in the west of the city, is the council’s first purpose-built children’s home to be constructed for more than 40 years.
The new £1.8m children’s home includes a contribution of £800,000 from the Department for Education, and will provide accommodation for five young people between the ages of seven and 17.
Hillview has five bedrooms with ensuite facilities, as well as two semi-independent living flats, to help young people leaving care learn to live independently. There is also a kitchen, lounge, sleeping quarters for staff and a games room with 'street art' wall.
The city council has been expanding its in-house provision of places for children and young people who can’t live with their birth families. Work was completed last year to convert two council-owned houses in the south of the city into Holly House children’s home, providing residential care for five young people.
In total, Hillview and Holly House increase the number of council children’s homes from six to eight, caring for up to 48 children and young people.
Assistant city mayor for children and young people, Cllr Elaine Pantling, said: “I’m delighted to see Hillview open its doors. We’re very proud of the investment we’ve made into these new council-run children’s homes, as it means we are able to care for more children and young people in-house, within the city, rather than moving them away to other locations.
“We have excellent, experienced staff and a great track record of running our children’s homes in-house. Now we also have these wonderful new facilities to provide dedicated support for those children and young people in the city who need it most.”
The new home features a range of energy-efficient measures, including roof-mounted photo-voltaic panels and air source heat pumps. It will also serve as a hub for training for social care staff, foster carers and other professionals.
Leicester City Council worked with Loughborough-based Scope Construction to deliver the project. Maz Patel, managing director of Scope Construction, said: “We are delighted to have worked with Leicester City Council to deliver their first new-build children’s home for many years.
“Scope takes pride in helping people and communities to flourish through the built environment, and our project team has delivered another first-class project for the council and the local community. We look forward to seeing young people thrive in what is a place that has a much more homely feel to it.
“During the last two years we have built a strong working relationship with the council and the care team and, as a trusted construction partner, we hope to deliver more schemes like this in the future.”
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