Celebrating 15 Years of Our Place Support
16th July 2026
Fifteen years ago, Our Place Support began as ‘Friends of Farthing Lane’ with a vision to create somewhere local people could come when they needed support. We didn’t set out with ambitions of becoming a large organisation or delivering services across Birmingham. As a passionate group of local people and professionals we just wanted to make a difference within our own community by creating a welcoming place where people could access help, build relationships and feel that they belonged.
In July 2011, the organisation was established and, a few months later, the doors of Our Place Community Hub opened. At that point we had one member of staff, an incredible group of volunteers and a building that we hoped would become a valuable community asset. Looking back now, it is amazing to think how much has changed whilst also recognising how much has stayed the same.
The Hub remains at the heart of everything we do.
Over the years, the building has become much more than somewhere to base and deliver services. It has been a place where partnerships have developed, volunteers have found purpose, individuals, groups, adults, children and young people have been able to access support close to home.
Hundreds of conversations have taken place over a cup of tea, new ideas have grown into projects, and organisations have worked alongside one another because we all shared the same goal of supporting our community.
One of the things I am most proud of is that Our Place has never stood still. We’ve always listened to what our communities are telling us and respond accordingly where we can and if we can’t, we make it our mission to find someone who can.
As both local and national needs have changed, we’ve adapted our services to meet them. We offered youth work, family activities and parent mentoring in our early days whilst developing our Specialist Mentoring service for children and young people. We took lead of the established Advice Service in 2017 as founders and volunteers Mike and Barry took the decision to step-back and enjoy retirement and we created training opportunities which developed into an Accredited Training Service, and have nurtured and built networks and partnerships that have enabled us to reach far more people than we ever could have done alone.
Whilst we have always had a vision and strategic plan, this has never mapped every step of our journey. Instead, each new service has grown from conversations with local people, partners and funders who recognised emerging needs within the community. This approach has helped us to be responsive to community needs over the last fifteen years and continues to shape the decisions we make today.
Like every organisation, we’ve also experienced challenges along the way. Funding has changed, communities have changed and for many people, their circumstances have become increasingly complex.
The COVID-19 pandemic was undoubtedly one of the biggest challenges we have faced. Almost overnight we had to rethink how we delivered support, moving services online whilst prioritising safety and safeguarding and finding new ways to stay available and connected with people who were feeling isolated and uncertain. Although our building had to close temporarily, our commitment to supporting people never did, and that period reinforced something we’ve always believed: community is about people, not just buildings. One project that really highlighted this for us was our ‘Colour for the Community’ project where we invited people to create a piece of artwork for us to display in our Hub windows and across our social media channels to bring hope and light to what was a difficult time.
As we emerged from the pandemic, it became increasingly clear that the challenges facing our communities were continuing to evolve.
The cost-of-living crisis, increasing mental health concerns, greater pressure on families and changes within public services have all influenced the way we work. Rather than stepping back, we have continued to develop new partnerships, strengthen our mentoring and advice service offer, expand our work across Birmingham and invest in our team so that we can continue responding to these changing needs. One thing we are very aware of is that the impact of the pandemic is not behind us, we continue to see children, young people and adults weekly who continue to struggle with loss, social isolation and navigating social relationships.
In our annual team days and our recent vision meeting we spend time reflecting and what often comes to mind first is not the services we’ve introduced or the milestones we’ve reached but the individuals and families we have met, supported and had the privilege to see reach their own positive change. This includes seeing children who were mentored now confident young adults, volunteers who have gone on to employment, individuals that came to us homeless now thriving in their own home and our partners and team members who bring such passion and commitment to Our Place every day. They are the reason we have grown and they are the reason we continue to do what we do.
Celebrating fifteen years isn’t only an opportunity to reflect on our past. We have also been investing in the future and the part we want to play within our communities over the next 30 years, and we are excited to launch our new vision….
Helping people create – One Million Positive Changes.
Our vision won’t change what we do or how we work but gives us an ambitious target to work towards and reflects what has always been at the heart of Our Place. Every mentoring relationship, every person supported with advice and guidance, every volunteer opportunity or networking event has the potential to create a positive change in someone’s life.
Over the next thirty years we will continue to work alongside our staff, volunteers, partners, funders and local communities to create one million of those moments. We know that we cannot achieve that alone, but the last fifteen years have shown us what is possible when people come together with a shared purpose.
As we celebrate this milestone, we would simply like to say thank you to everyone who has been part of Our Place’s journey so far. Whether you have volunteered, worked with us, funded us, partnered with us or accessed our services, you have helped shape the organisation we are today.
The last fifteen years have been an incredible journey, and we are excited to see where the next thirty years take us.
