How a Pioneering Attitude Sparked a Neighbourhood Revolution
Giroscope’s holistic approach to urban regeneration gives new leases of life not just to properties but to people, products, and place, too. The charity rebuilds confidence through skills training, while transforming neglected spaces and unwanted items.
From housing crisis to a multi-million-pound charity, one Humber organisation’s pioneering ethos is spearheading a sustainable revolution that’s delivering transformative change for people and place.
In the 1980s, priced out of rental properties and unable to secure stable accommodation, a group of students and unemployed young people rallied together to forge a solution of their own. Pooling their benefits and small savings, they scraped enough together for a deposit on a rundown terraced house. They set about restoring the property, teaching themselves everything from plumbing to bricklaying and joinery, bringing the house back into a liveable state.
It was the beginning of Giroscope in Hull’s quiet, yet determined revolution, as Co-Founder Martin Newman explains:
“We felt that we’d found a way to work the system – in a positive way of course! In solving our own housing issue, we’d opened up a way to help others with theirs. We wanted to create long-term, community-owned solutions for housing and employment, not simply exist on state benefit.”
Caption: Giroscope’s early days, restoring rundown properties with self-taught renovation skills. Image credit: Giroscope.
This resourceful, DIY spirit is ingrained throughout the entire organisation, powering its prolific progress. Vacant property restoration combined with a purpose to help others in housing need became the key to the organisation’s growth. They continued buying and renovating empty properties to provide secure and affordable housing.
Martin added: “We secured our next mortgage with the help of friends who were earning, self-renovated another rundown property and let it out at an affordable rate. We learnt more as we went along, from building skills to property management.
“We were inundated with applications for our first let. We didn’t ask for a deposit which removed a barrier for those struggling to secure a home. Now we house a wide range of people including those living in overcrowded or poorly maintained properties, people on low incomes or claiming benefits, young people, single parents, or those living in hostels or other temporary accommodation.
“All our properties are energy efficient and refurbished to a high standard. The high-quality accommodation rallies against the pitfalls that tenants can face in the private rental market. This increases long-term tenure which brings stability to neighbourhoods.”
To date, the charity’s extensive portfolio runs to over 150 houses and flats. Among their many accolades they count a Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service and a UN World Habitat Award: an international prize that recognises innovative and outstanding housing projects around the world.
They’ll celebrate their 40th anniversary next year and, as an organisation that is “deeply rooted in Hull”, they remain, as Martin explains, “committed to the regeneration of our neighbourhood and local community.”
Regenerating Communities, Rebuilding Lives
Giroscope’s holistic approach to urban regeneration gives new leases of life not just to properties but to people, products, and place, too. The charity rebuilds confidence through skills training, while transforming neglected spaces and unwanted items.
Volunteers can develop practical skills and gain work experience through a range of projects across construction, bicycle repair, IT refurbishment, gardening, and catering. Short courses in areas such as health and safety, construction, and emergency first aid run alongside one-to-one support to help people access employment or further training.
Martin said: “Our volunteers come to us from a wide range of backgrounds and with varied aspirations. They include people living with and recovering from mental health challenges, refugees, long-term unemployed individuals, ex-offenders, graduates, college students, and school pupils looking for work experience, We also work in partnership with local charity Matthew’s Hub, supporting volunteers with ADHD or Autism diagnoses.”
Giroscope’s first self-build project transformed a disused site with the construction of three new houses from scratch. The buildings are environmentally conscious, made from sustainable materials such as timber frames and recycled newspapers, and are highly energy efficient with solar-electric and solar-thermal panels. Built with the support of volunteers, they’re now let as social housing. Image credit: Giroscope.
Giroscope’s community garden gives volunteers the chance to practise gardening and cultivate fresh produce, while creating a beautiful, peaceful space in the heart of west Hull that’s accessible to all. Through their bike project, volunteers learn repair and maintenance skills while restoring unused bikes to full working order and returning them to the local community. Their Girotech project tackles digital exclusion while giving volunteers the chance to gain skills in refurbishing donated PCs, laptops and smartphones. These are then provided at low cost to people who need it along with free internet support and phone credit.
Community connections are built in with social activities for volunteers including meals and trips out together. Daily travel costs are covered, and lunch expenses supported via a local shop, ensuring everyone can take part.
Remarkable Renovation
“A bold and risk-tolerant organisation” as Martin describes it, Giroscope has a knack for spotting neglected community assets and bringing them back to life. Repurposing historic buildings, they create thriving spaces that serve and strengthen neighbourhoods.
Their latest achievement is the transformation of the previously derelict St Matthews Church, Hull’s oldest oldest surviving Anglican church that was originally built in the Victorian era, into an aspirational business and events space. Lovingly converted, the property’s original architectural details remain, such as beautiful stained glass, stone carvings, and a pitch pine beamed roof. Marrying these with contemporary interiors, St Matthew’s Enterprise Centre is a dramatic venue hire space for business, arts, and community events. It supports small businesses and social enterprises too, with office space and bespoke business membership options, encouraging growth and stability.
Giroscope have transformed the previously derelict St Matthew’s Church in Hull into an inspiring community enterprise centre. Image credit: Giroscope.
The building adds to their growing collection of spaces that support small enterprises and community businesses which also includes Selby Street Yard, the Coltman Offices, and the Arthur Street Enterprise Park. Giroscope developed the latter after buying and sustainably renovating the old stables and yard in west Hull in the late 1990s, integrating solar thermal and solar electric technologies as part of the restoration.
Next on the list is the transformation of the former West Park Palace on Anlaby Road into a £1.7m community enterprise hub. Originally opened as a cinema in 1914, the building is set to be reimagined with plans to install an internal winter garden where the auditorium once stood. Featuring a glazed roof to flood the space with light, the restored building will serve as a vibrant, multi-purpose community and enterprise space.
Artist’s impression of Giroscope’s plans to turn a former picture house into the Winter Gardens, a new community enterprise centre for Hull. Image credit: Self Architects
For Giroscope, regeneration is about more than renovating buildings. It’s community-led development that places people, potential, and the power of collective effort front and centre. Turning ruin into renewal, and challenge into opportunity, their story demonstrates how creativity, determination, and a vision for positive social change can inspire real growth, pride, and possibility.