Self-Help Housing
Giroscope is a housing charity based in west Hull - we have been here since the mid-1980s, and are pioneers in a movement within UK housing providers called Self-Help Housing. This movement has gained momentum and grown significantly in recent years, providing a model that has inspired many others.
Training, Volunteering and Support
Our volunteers come from a wide range of backgrounds - we provide training and on-site experience in most aspects of the building trade, as well as the necessary Health and Safety certification that can lead to a 5 year CSCS card for on-site working.
We support our volunteers in all aspects of their development and many go on to live in Giroscope housing.
With over thirty years' history and experience in the deprived wards of Newington and St. Andrews in west Hull, Giroscope is truly embedded in its local community. Our housing and commercial stock all lie within these wards as we seek to revitalise and regenerate our local area with the community's help.
Embedded in the Local Community
Our Ethos
- Everyone is entitled to somewhere that they can call their home.
- Everyone should have access to meaningful work, and be fairly rewarded for that work.
- No one should feel isolated from their community for reasons of poverty, homelessness or prejudice.
Our Housing Pledge
So long as the conditions of the tenancy are met, you have the right to remain in your home for as long as you wish.
Giroscope will not sell your house, or transfer ownership to another landlord so long as you are a tenant of that house.
Giroscope will not borrow money against its property in a way that endangers the financial stability of the organisation and puts your home at risk.
So long as the conditions of the tenancy are met, you have the right to remain in your home for as long as you wish.
Giroscope will not sell your house, or transfer ownership to another landlord so long as you are a tenant of that house.
Giroscope will not borrow money against its property in a way that endangers the financial stability of the organisation and puts your home at risk.
The Bigger Picture
Although based in our neighbourhood here in west Hull, Giroscope networks with other housing projects, policy makers and politicians, and other relevant organisations from all around the UK and Europe. We are part of a network of community based housing projects under the umbrella of Self-Help Housing.org. Together we share ideas amongst ourselves and with other people and organisations looking to start new projects – this gives us a collective, and thus stronger, voice on current issues around housing and regeneration.
We also work with the local authority to help find solutions to the problem of empty homes. As public sector spending gets ever tighter the Giroscope model becomes more attractive as regards delivering sustainable regeneration, housing and employment.