A surprise £100,000 donation has revived plans to build modular homes for the homeless in Southend – one of the UK’s worst homeless hotspots.

The Salvation Army was facing an £80,000 funding shortfall for the plans before a last minute donation was received from a housing association that was set to close.

Captain Tracey Bale of the Southend Citadel, who has led efforts to secure the funding, said: “We were asked to raise £5,000, which we did through people’s generosity. I spoke to Southend Council to ask for help and it was looking unlikely. But within a couple of days, we received a letter from a housing association that was closing who wanted to give us £100,000.

“As I read the letter I stood there in shock. But this was confirmation from God that he had the situation in hand and wanted the project to go ahead.

“The letter was from Andrew Conway at St Saviour’s Housing Association, a Christian organisation which had two houses to accommodate young people. They have the same values and same aims as The Salvation Army. He was really excited and emotional, as this was confirmation their work would be continuing.”

Attention is now turning to securing planning permission for the scheme and it is hoped the modular homes will be ready for the first residents to move in towards the end of this year.

A modular home is a dwelling that is built as separate parts in a factory that are then transported to the site and assembled.

Tracey believes the project will make a big difference in Southend where, according to the Salvation Army, there are currently about 70 people experiencing homeless with the town ranking eighth on the list of the UK’s 10 worst homeless hotspots.

She added: “That alone shows this is a big problem. Although people experiencing homelessness were accommodated at the time of the pandemic, the churches who used to work with the night shelter won’t be able to operate in the same way, so they’ll be put back out on the streets.

“There is plenty of advice for them but Southend Council don’t have any spare accommodation so this will make a big difference.”

The new units will provide homes for people who have been housed by Southend homeless charity, HARP.

Tracey added: “We want to help them improve their lives, move on and better themselves. What is frustrating is because of the reputation The Salvation Army has as a charity which helps people experiencing homelessness, some expect us to just have homes we can put people into. But our nearest Lifehouse is in Braintree and the others are in London. Some people don’t want to move away.”