Goodwin Development Trust is a locally controlled and accountable organisation, committed to improving the Quality of Life within communities through identifying and addressing the needs of local people and by working in partnership with them and with statutory, voluntary and professional organisations.”

In 1994, 14 residents of the Thornton Estate in the heart of Hull decided to band together and tackle the social ills that plagued their community. They decided that enough was enough and through a blend of hard work, hope, help, goodwill, compassion and ambition they changed their community for the better and for good.

Twenty years later, that small band of 14 determined and committed people has become the Goodwin Development Trust – a Social Enterprise employing 200 local people, whose success stems from community pride, entrepreneurial spirit, organisational flexibility and a business approach to attracting funding.

That 200-strong workforce, along with 140 volunteers, is dedicated to improving the Quality of Life within the city’s communities by identifying and addressing the needs of local people and by working in partnership with public, private and third sector organisations.

The sustainability of Goodwin and its Family of Services provision are at the forefront of the minds and they have ensured its future sustainability by investing in an asset-driven portfolio in the very heart of the community where the Trust began – to the extent that they are now operating 20 services from 15 different sites throughout Hull.

That portfolio includes Children’s Centres and Nurseries, a state-of-the-art Conference Centre, a Community College, Disability Care Facilities, Sports pitches, a Youth & Arts Centre, Performance Space, and Meeting Rooms, – with further investment planned for the coming year around the construction of the city’s first Code 5 Social Eco-housing and an ambitious Empty Homes Programme of redevelopment of abandoned housing. The offices and conference facilities are leased to local businesses, thereby generating income and further sustaining the charitable objectives of the Trust. Goodwin also donates working spaces free-of-charge to local third-sector organisations, where this aligns with the Charity’s objectives.