One Strawberry Lane ‘VCSE Hub’ and new home for Connected Voice
As Home Group receives the keys to their new head office at One Strawberry Lane, we’re delighted to share that Connected Voice will be their first tenant and partner organisation, supporting the development of their new ‘VCSE Hub’. The Hub will offer a range of facilities such as hot-desking, meeting rooms, and event and innovation spaces, available to organisations of all shapes and sizes from across Newcastle and Gateshead. The idea is to create a flexible space that adds to and complements the array of community venues that already exist in the city.
We are really pleased to have a more accessible, welcoming and inclusive space for our Support and Development services which help VCSE organisations to grow and thrive. Home Group have provided support for local community projects for many years. Once we move to One Strawberry Lane, we’ll work collaboratively with Home Group staff to ensure they have ways to share their expertise with our member organisations.
Connected Voice has supported Home Group with their extensive consultation for One Strawberry Lane and the VCSE Hub since 2019. After the new offices open in December of this year, we’ll continue to bring ideas from local voluntary and community organisations about how best to achieve our shared vision for creating a vibrant and interactive space which encourages collaboration and innovation. We’ll keep you informed about how you can get involved as this exciting development progresses.
‘A building like no other in the city’
One Strawberry Lane is one of the first offices in the UK to be designed specifically around new hybrid ways of working. It is also one of just 80 buildings in the world working towards SmartScore accreditation, which promotes wellbeing, collaboration, communities and sustainability alongside the latest technology.
Mark Henderson, Chief Executive of Home Group, said: “This is a building like no other presently in the city. We are proud to be leading the way for things like SmartScore certification and to deliver the first purpose built workspace for hybrid working.
“But, for me, what sets One Strawberry Lane apart above all else is the fact it will be integrated into its environment, working to support and interact with the city’s organisations, businesses and communities.
“Home Group has been rooted in the North-East for close to 90 years. We know this region, we know this city and we know its communities. Having a building that works for all was vitally important to us.”
Home Group, one of the UK’s largest housing organisations, will move around 700 of its 3,200 staff from its two sites in North Tyneside to its new head office late autumn. One Strawberry Lane was developed by Ask Real Estate and built by BAM Construction.
Our Chief Executive Lisa Goodwin said “We are delighted that Home Group have put a strategic focus on supporting small, local organisations in our community. We are feeling positive about our future at One Strawberry Lane, and about collaborating with the Home Group team on new ways to support the VCSE sector. We love the whole ethos of the building, and are looking forward to being part of the community there.”
