Getting Our Hands Dirty

For the second year in a row we decided to take a day away from our desks to help out with a Habitat for Humanity scheme in London.

Last year we worked on a social housing scheme and you can read about our adventures here. The opportunity this summer was to work on a community housing facility specifically for women and children who have suffered from domestic violence. Because of the nature of the project, I can’t tell you much more than that, but it’s fair to say when completed this will be a fantastic facility, with good clean accommodation, a garden and a smart little play ground for the children.

At Granit we are very proud to support the Habitat for Humanity programme because it is such a worthy cause. Check out their website for more details of what the campaign is all about, but did you know…

• There are over 1.1 billion people living in inadequate housing conditions in urban areas (UN Centre for Human Settlements) and that includes the United Kingdom
• In cities of the developing world, one in four households lives in poverty
• Forty percent of African urban households are living below the locally defined poverty line
• An estimated 21 million new housing units are required each year, in developing countries, to accommodate growth in the number of households between 2000 and 2010. 14 million additional units would be required each year for the next 20 years if the current housing deficit is to be replaced by 2020 (UNHCS)
• About 100 million people worldwide are homeless. (UNHCS)

You can see below a few photos of our team getting their hands dirty.