So I’ve ended up doing exactly what I set out not to do. Spending my Sunday evenings writing funding bids or funder reports.
It was always my aim for Your Own Place to be 75% traded. We’re currently around 20%. The truth is when you’re starting up that getting funding is relatively easy, especially with my background. Taking something new to market when you don’t consider yourself a salesperson, is not.
Having said that, I’m proud of this year’s profit and true to our constitution, it is going back into our mission to prevent youth homelessness. We’re self-financing the Your Own Place Advisory Board (YOPAB) as well as supporting individual young people.
Moving away from funding is going to be hard, but I believe that to be sustainable it is vital. And in a world of receding horizons, it’ll feel like a significant achievement.
