For those escaping difficult backgrounds, involving mental health problems, homelessness and substance abuse, Sidwell Studios is the YMCA's supported living accommodation which offers the highest level of independence.
After a planning application for another supported living block had been blocked, the current residents have urged locals and the council to "keep an open mind," saying that this type of accommodation "saves lives."
The YMCA's Sidwell studios was a former warehouse that had been converted into a block of 26 modern studio flats, welcoming its first residents in August 2022. The charity's other housing options in Exeter lacked the independence that these were designed for.
People who are housed by the YMCA typically work their way up through four different 'stages', which offer increasing amounts of independence, starting off at stage 1 residential centre on St David's Hill, stage 2 and 3 shared houses in Newcourt and Exwick and then stage 4 Sidwell Studios. Some residents may bypass certain stages.
The YMCA applied to build affordable studio apartments in the place of two buildings in Alphington Road which they would demolish last year in the hopes that it would become a stage 5 accommodation block. This February, the application was rejected by Exeter City Council saying they were "overbearing" and "out of character" and saying that the size of the flats was "substandard".
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