Councillor Daniel Fitzhenry, Leader of Southampton City Council, met residents in Mansbridge on Thursday 7 October, hosted by one of the city’s largest housing providers, Abri.
Cllr Fitzhenry was joined by Cabinet Member for Communities, Culture and Heritage, Cllr Spiros Vassiliou and the council’s Executive Director Communities, Culture and Homes, Mary D’Arcy. Together, they joined representatives from Abri and met with Mansbridge residents as they visited different areas in the community including the Queen’s Award-winning Round About Café.
“Mansbridge is a vibrant community, and it was a pleasure to meet local residents this week, all of whom feel passionately about where they live. It was comforting to hear from Abri too, who are committed to working with those residents and the wider community to enhance equality of opportunity in the area.” – Cllr Dan Fitzhenry
Mansbridge is one of eight community investment zones that will benefit from bespoke support from Abri. Between 2020 and 2025, Abri is investing £15m across the south of England to increase employment, improve health and wellbeing and empower people to take the lead where they live.
During their visit, Cllr Fitzhenry and his colleagues met with residents tending to allotments to support their health and wellbeing, as well as Nigel, Supervisor at the Round About Café. Stephen Lodge and Ralph Facey, both Executive Directors at Abri, shared insight into their aims for the community, which includes the completion of Herbert Collins House, an affordable development of 14 new homes. The group also visited eco houses on Stoneham Cemetery Road, one of the UK’s first truly zero carbon developments.
Ralph Facey, Abri’s Executive Director – Operations, said:
“Mansbridge is where our story began in 1925 and remains an area of importance to us in terms of building more affordable housing and investing in the community. We are supporting Southampton City Council, and the wider government, to help communities to level up and everything we do is guided by the people who live in these areas, who know their neighbourhoods the best. It’s this insight that will guide us as we continue to invest in communities.”
Find out more at www.abri.co.uk.