About Cliik
What started as a small ‘friends group’ volunteering in the area for over ten years, connecting residents, making changes to local parks and creating safe spaces for people to meet has transformed into a sustainable community-owned business providing:
Residents have repeatedly told us that they want cleaner, safer streets. Parents want green spaces where their children can play safely, facilities for families to meet, well-maintained parks, a community centre, and a youth club. People tell us that they want to see an end to the street drug dealing and users; they want the streets to be free from fly-tipping and overflowing bins.
We see a lot of social isolation; people living on their own in small flats and bedsits. People struggling with the cost-of-living, struggling in poor quality homes, all of which exacerbates poor mental and physical health. We run a safe space called The Talk Shop. A friendly community hub where people can meet up, have a chat over a hot drink and meet a friendly face. Visit The Talk Shop page for more details of what is on offer and how it is making a difference in North Stonehouse.
We have a longer term ambition to explore and develop environmentally and ecologically sustainable approaches to urban regeneration which will both help address local poverty and unemployment and create a sustainable future. This includes regeneration of old properties to provide affordable, sustainable housing for local people and support and training to help people into employment.
High on the list of priorities is housing; we meet local people with stories of how they are being forced to move out of the area because of a lack of affordable family housing; they want an alternative to the model where property is no more than a source of income for private landlords; where tenants are afraid to raise concerns for fear of being evicted; where repeatedly tenants are forced to move on because the landlord has raised the rent to an unaffordable level or has decided to sell up the building.
Residents have told us that they want a variety of housing that is well-maintained available for single people, couples and families to rent at an affordable price unlike so much of what is currently being developed by landlords who invest in the area, converting properties for maximum occupancy and maximum profit.
This is the gap that Cliik intends to fill!
