It has now been decided that the project will set up a separate, though linked charitable organisation, with the express purpose of expanding into these new areas of work or individual projects, as well as looking to diversify sources of income and funding.

We are therefore please to announce the birth of the M3 Youth Foundation, a charitable arm of M3 dedicated to fundraising and providing additional services and opportunities to the young people we work with, as well as raising the profile of young homeless people in the area.

Please check back for more developments as we announce them.

M3 have acquired a storage facility based in Stacksteads for the young people and teenage families who have completed their housing training and move into their own independent housing from social landlords.

The facility has been sought in order to store furniture items (beds, wardrobes, drawers as well as soft furnishings such as curtains crockery, cutlery and so on) that will assist our young people to settle into their own homes whilst living off low incomes. We will gladly speak with anyone who is willing to donate suitable good quality items for either young people and teenage families accessing this service

Unfortunately we cannot accept electrical items as they will need to be legally safe (PAT tested) before we can allocate them to any young people, and this will incur further costs for M3.

If you have any suitable items you would like to donate to M3, please contact Hayley Craven to discuss this on: 07783538859, or leave a message on the office line: 01706 216600.

Thank you

It will reopen on Weds 28, Thurs 29 and Friday 30 December between 10am and 3pm.

It will be closed between 31 Dec and 2 Jan, reopening as normal on 3rd January 2012.

On-call will be available round the clock  as normal during this period, for emergencies only.

Seasons greetings and best wishes to all our young people, householders and colleagues from the staff team here at M3.

Our Householders offer a room in their house, along with some level of support for the young person. Householders encourage young people to develop day to day independent living skills, leading to greater independence and helping them to take control of their own lives and move-on to their own accommodation.

The project pays Householders £120 per week whilst they have a young person on placement.

If you wish to enquire about being a Householder for M3, you can use the form on our website, Contact Us or contact the project on 01706 216600.

Prior to April 2011, supported lodgings householders were allowed to choose to claim the same tax free allowances as adult placement providers.

Unfortunately, since April 2011, Inland Revenue have decided to introduce new legislation that puts many supported lodgings housholders outside these arrangements and back under Rent-a –Room Scheme rules. The implication of this is that householders can now earn a smaller amount tax free, before incurring a tax liability on any amount they earn over this figure, as this is considered profit. Thus, from April 2011, householders may be incurring a tax liability on the money they are paid to provide lodgings placements.

It appears that this decision by Inland Revenue has been made without considering the implications for supported lodgings householders outside of the foster care system, irrespective of the valuable service that these householders are giving.

Supported lodgings projects, led by the North West Supported Lodgings Forum (of which M3 is chair) are working together to approach Inland Revenue to ask them to reconsider this decision and look at the case for treating lodgings providers under the same tax arrangements as before.

In the meantime, please contact the project for more details if you wish to discuss what implications this might have for you as an individual householder.

For an M3 Emergency Lodgings referral form, click here EL Referral Form

Additionally, John is working with a group of young people on placement, to seek feedback and shape future service delivery based on the experiences and wishes of young people coming through M3 accommodation.

More on this soon.

Finally, John and Dawn will be extending our Independent Living Skills training to greater effect, ensuring that all our young people on placement receive high quality living skills training, preparing them for future independent accommodation.

We are currently seeking referrals for supported lodgings placements in both the Rossendale and Burnley areas. Please apply using the normal referral form

M3 Supported Lodgings Referral Form