Seven golden points that underpin communities coming together at SkyWaves
5 September 2025
What’s miraculous is what this ethos of working collaboratively as a community has achieved beyond the building itself.
SkyWaves House has been the object of my fascination for the last year and one that PlaceShapers has been following for its PlaceShaping in Action series.
It's been a partnership between Worthing Homes. the local authority and my own organisation Turning Tides to create new accommodation to support people out of homelessness.
In August we officially opened SkyWaves House, and are now preparing to welcome our first residents, which helped me reflect upon the long list of dedicated individuals and organisations that helped make SkyWaves a reality.
At the centre of this, I realise the generosity of our community and our donors is in the very DNA of this project and it has made me aware of 7 points which shape where we are now.
1.As a charity, we rely on the good nature of our community for funds, goods and services.
A key piece of the puzzle was securing the site – when FEBA Radio executives saw people rough sleeping from their office window, they knew this land had a higher purpose, so favoured a partnership that supported their ethos over buy-to-let speculators.
2.We were lucky to be supported by our well-established Donations Hub, through which thousands of items are distributed to those in need every year.
Thanks to furniture donations from the community, our hub staff have been able to curate a collection of items that would make a mid-century afficionado jealous! What may appear a happy accident is actually a labour of love to avoid a hand-me-down mix of aesthetics – providing an intentional space that feels like home.
3 I was once advised to look after anything that keeps you off the ground. For us and our residents, this means beds.
To those rough sleeping, beds aren’t necessarily the place of safety they are for others. At SkyWaves, we wanted the beds to be a place where our residents could relax and sleep soundly, a symbol of security. We worked hard to identify a supplier that offered robustness without an institutionalised feel. But items at this price point would have eaten up 25% of the total budget, if not for a sizable donation from a grant making trust, that allowed us to fulfil our mission to ‘buy once, buy well’.
4. Don’t be fooled into thinking only asset-based or trust making entities have made our joint success possible.
Local schools and companies found creative ways to raise funds and acquire goods that would have otherwise been supplied second hand. Local heating engineering company Kindred Heating raised over £600 through donating £15 for every boiler serviced in January. Tanbridge House School used our Amazon wish list to allocate items to each year group. Together we were able to supply all flats with two sets of brand-new bedding, towels, pillows and duvets.
Official opening of Turning Tides
5. While beds and linens are vital to the service, it’s the finishing touches that demonstrate our care and attention to detail.
Coming off the streets is often a relief, but it can also be an overwhelming experience. Many residents need time to decompress and adjust to a new way of life. We wanted to ensure our residents had that time by providing hygiene and food packs in every flat, in addition to the standard furnishings and kitchen equipment. New residents are able to make an evening meal followed by breakfast and a hot drink without having to leave their flat. Kitchen suppliers Paul Rosa Manhattan provided the cherry on top by making up welcome packs that include a reusable shopping bag and coffee cup, notebook, pen and biscuits.
6. Numbers add up! 95 volunteers. 475 hours. 1800 items. 1.9 million steps.
During the first six days of the set-up period, our Community Development Team secured corporate volunteer groups from over ten companies and organisations, from global financial institutions to local care providers. These groups chose to spend their hard-earned volunteer days supporting our cause, efforts that would have otherwise been undertaken by the project team. The volunteers not only travelled to Worthing (one from as far as Sweden!) but turned their hands to cleaning, carrying, building flat pack furniture, making beds and even making a trip to the local supermarket for flat supplies. I’m certain we would still be setting up if it wasn’t for such an immense effort at the community scale.
7. The mobilisation of SkyWaves and our attention to detail is our attempt to do right by our residents, our community and our donors.
To deliver a service of hope and opportunity, a nurturing home. What’s obvious is that partnership working was the enabling factor in terms of bricks and mortar. What’s miraculous is what this ethos of working collaboratively as a community has achieved beyond the building itself.