Northern Enterprise Awards 2025/ 20 Most Dedicated Community Housing Organisation 2025 – North West Everyone deserves a place to call their home. Adequate housing is a fundamental human right, ensuring dignity, safety, and security. Yet, countless families and individuals across the country are lacking access to this basic right, leaving them increasingly vulnerable to isolation, poor health and wellbeing, and damage to their education and career pathways. Enter Bedspace, a community housing organisation that had dedicated almost three decades to ensuring safe and secure accommodation for all. We spoke with Nick Thornhill below, Co-Owner and Managing Director of Bedspace, as the organisation is named in the Northern Enterprise Awards 2025. The story of Bedspace began in 1999, when the organisation was founded with the aim of providing a solution to the social housing crisis. Since then, it has grown exponentially, guided by core values of community, empowerment, passion, and going above and beyond for the people it serves. Today, Bedspace stands as an award-winning supported accommodation provider, helping children, young people, adults, and families across the North of England build the foundation they need for long-term independence. “Our mission is to transform lives by offering safe homes, meaningful support, and genuine opportunities,” stated Nick. “Our core values have guided us from the beginning and continue to shape the way we work today. While our organisation has grown significantly, our values have remained constant. What has evolved is the depth of what we can offer, the professional development of our staff, and our commitment to quality through continuous improvement and regulatory alignment.” Working in close collaboration with local authorities, social care commissioners, and community providers, Bedspace is renowned for delivering safe accommodation, consistent support, and measurable progress to the individuals it serves. The organisation has built a structured Pathway of Homes that spans across emergency accommodation, children’s residential homes, group living services, hybrid and standard trainer flats, supported tenancies, and 18+ tenancy support delivered by Bedspace Trust , its charitable arm. In a saturated market, Bedspace stands out due to the breadth and structure of its Pathway of Homes. The capacity to transition a young person from their regulated services which include children’s residential homes and supported accommodation through to sustainable independent community-based living is unique in both scale and consistency. While there are certainly other providers within the sector, few offer the same combination of range, stability, and long-term focus as Bedspace does across both its Under 18 and 18+ pathways. Such exceptional offerings are delivered by a dedicated team, operating in a culture grounded in development, collaboration, and shared purpose. Bedspace prioritises a staffing team demonstrating compassion and resilience, capable of thriving in highly dynamic environments. The organisation invests heavily in the training, internal progression, and wellbeing of its teams through learning and development programmes that support employee growth – from induction through to Level 3 and Level 5 qualifications, leadership accreditation, and specialist training in trauma-informed practice. As a result, Bedspace has built a standout team of exceptional individuals, united by their shared mission. “Bedspace would not be where it is today without the dedication and professionalism of our staff; they are the reason we are an award-winning organisation,” Nick shared. “Their commitment to the young people and adults we support underpins every aspect of our work. Any awards or external recognition we receive are a direct result of their hard work, resilience, and unwavering focus on delivering high quality, compassionate support.” The team will continue to drive Bedspace forward, as the organisation enters another year of development. Rather than focusing on rapid growth, the top priority is maintaining and enhancing the standards of existing services, ensuring that each new home and placement offers the safety, stability, and support that young people need to achieve long-term independence. Enhancing its evidence-based outcomes is a central objective for the team, supported by stronger reporting systems, improved digital infrastructure, and continued investment in staff training and professional development. What’s more, Bedspace plans to refine its Pathway of Homes throughout 2026, with an emphasis on sustainability, quality assurance, and community development. Further investment into the pathway will see the organisation paying close attention to local community integration, the accessibility of its services, and the long-term sustainability of each property it oversees. The organisation will also strengthen its 18+ offer and expand its creative and skills-based programmes, aiming to better support young people as they transition into adulthood, employment, and sustained independent living. “We remain committed to deepening partnerships with local authorities, community organisations, charities, and employers,” Nick concluded. “These relationships are essential to advancing community development, improving access to opportunities and delivering consistent, highquality support across the North. This is a new era for Supported Accommodation due to recent regulation from Oftsed, and we are proud and excited to be a part of it. Our strategic priority remains clear: to provide safe homes, evidence-based support, and measurable progress for every person we work with.” Contact: Nick Thornhill Company: Bedspace Web Address: www.bedspace.co.uk
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