Shining light on The Ferry Project

About Ferry Project

Ferry Project now has 76 units of accommodation and also provides support for an additional 10 units. Their accommodation is located in Wisbech and March, however support services extend to Whittlesey and Chatteris.

Their main base of operations is at Octavia View, a Grade II listed building along Wisbech’s South Brink. This also houses their main homelessness hostel with various accommodation types from off-the-street accommodation, a gender sensitive haven, and accommodation for longer-term clients that include a kitchenette and bed / living space. All clients have their own room and every room has its own ensuite facilities.

Ferry Project provides tailored trauma-informed support that is available 24-hours a day, seven days a week, for those residing in the main hostel.

Alongside this, training, education and volunteering opportunities are provided. Recently Ferry Project gained some funding that enabled them to run an internship programme that has been very successful.

Clients also have access to a wide variety of healthcare, most of which is provided on-site as various healthcare providers come to the hostel for appointments. Ferry Project also has it’s own in-house smoking cessation service as well as a Health Keyworker who supports clients with their healthcare and wellbeing needs.

Ferry Project Cookery School is one of the social enterprises set up by the charity. The primary aim being to help give life skills to the clients as well as help build self-esteem, teamwork and increase socialisation and wellbeing. However, the Cookery School not only works with clients, but also offers classes, pop-up restaurants, cookbook clubs, food festivals, cookery demonstrations and more to the general public. Money raised from these endeavors is then re-invested back into the charitable work of helping the homeless.

Another social enterprise is the running of the Queen Mary Centre, a community centre in the heart of Wisbech. This houses the Citizens Advice Bureau, an osteopath, a counsellor and a physiotherapist. The center is also used for activities such as Slimming World, Sniffer Dog Training, and a base where digital support is offered to the community. It is also the base of operations for Wisbech Donations Hub that is run in partnership between Ferry Project and The King’s Church , Wisbech, where essential household items and furniture are donated and then redistributed to those in need in the local community.

Recent highlights, achievements, and upcoming projects

Since Ferry Project began it has supported well over 3,000 people away from homelessness and continues to help on average 300 people a year.

Recently, Ferry Project was very successful in the Fenland Citizen’s Business Awards 2026, winning three awards. The Cookery School won ‘Best Social Enterprise 2026’ and ‘The Whitings Group Prestige Award’ and their outgoing CEO, Keith Smith, won ‘Business Leader of the Year 2026’.

They have also just held a very successful fashion show event at the end of March that saw the Queen Mary Centre transformed into a glamorous fashion venue and Wisbech became the fashion capital of the Fens for a night. 20 community volunteer models raised money to participate and did a fantastic job on the catwalk, alongside an additional 15 models from College of West Anglia who modelled clothing and accessories designed by CWA students. The College of West Anglia also had a variety of students helping with the event and gaining valuable work experience in areas such as hospitality, photography and film, and hair and beauty. This was a very enjoyable and successful fundraising event.

Ferry Project have also recently been featured on ITV East Anglia News, talking about the Cookery School’s latest cookery booklet, ‘Bish, Bash, Bosh!’ that contains recipes for those without fully equipped kitchens.

Coming up on 5^th September 2026, is the Fenland Food Festival – a vibrant celebration of Fenland food producers and suppliers. This takes place at the Queen Mary Centre and is free to enter. Come along and enjoy the food and the live music and entertainment.