External Cleaning. Powered by Purpose.

What if the money organisations already spend on external cleaning and environmental services could deliver more?

Cleaner bin stores.

Better-maintained communal areas.

Improved environments for residents.

Professional external cleaning.

And, alongside that service, opportunities for local young people to gain practical workplace experience and develop skills.

That’s the thinking behind Clean Futures.

And on Friday 7 August 2026, that model was put into action at Thornbank Estate in Deane, Bolton.

Clean Futures joined Be One Homes, Squosh IT, Genuine Futures, Backup North West and Bolton Lads & Girls Club as Be One Homes officially launched a targeted 12-month community engagement and safety project for the estate.

While residents and organisations came together to talk about the next 12 months, Clean Futures was already getting to work.

Our starting point was simple:

The bin stores.

Clean Futures Gets to Work at Thornbank Estate

The work didn’t begin on launch day.

Before cleaning started, members of the Clean Futures team visited Thornbank to assess the bin stores, look at existing conditions and identify what equipment and work would be required.

That matters.

Effective external cleaning shouldn’t simply mean arriving with a pressure washer.

We want to understand the site first.

Inspect. Identify. Improve. Maintain.

Once the initial assessment had been completed, the team returned to begin cleaning the bin store areas.

The aim is not simply to make something look better for a photograph.

The bigger question is:

How do we help create and maintain cleaner, better-managed external environments for residents?

Be One Homes Launches 12 Months of Community Engagement

The cleaning work forms part of a much wider initiative being led by Be One Homes at Thornbank Estate.

At the launch, Millie Stanworth, Community Engagement Officer at Be One Homes, explained that this type of targeted project has already been delivered in other Bolton communities, including Great Lever and Farnworth.

Thornbank is the next location.

For the coming 12 months, Be One Homes intends to establish a visible staff presence within the community, aiming to have staff available five days a week.

Residents will be able to raise concerns directly, including repairs and other issues affecting their homes and neighbourhood.

They will also be able to access Be One Homes’ UCAN service.

Importantly, Be One Homes will be listening.

Surveys and conversations throughout the year will be used to understand residents’ concerns, identify priorities and establish what people want to see happen across the estate.

Millie explained:

“By having staff in the area, it keeps us accountable as an organisation as well.”

That principle of accountability matters to Clean Futures too.

Because professional cleaning and environmental services work best when contractors, housing teams and residents communicate.

Residents See What Contractors Sometimes Don’t

Residents use communal areas every day.

They know which bin stores repeatedly overflow.

They know where bulky items are dumped.

They know where fly-tipping occurs.

They know whether access is being obstructed.

They know which environmental problems keep returning.

That local knowledge matters.

The strongest approach combines:

Resident intelligence + site inspection + professional cleaning + reporting + preventative maintenance.

That’s the approach we want to develop through Clean Futures.

Why Bin Stores Matter

Bin stores are easy to overlook.

Until something goes wrong.

Overflowing waste.

Contamination.

Discarded furniture.

Fly-tipping.

Blocked access.

Unpleasant odours.

Poorly maintained surfaces.

Waste being left outside containers.

All of these can affect how residents experience the place they call home.

Poorly managed bin stores may also create potential environmental, accessibility and health and safety concerns.

For housing providers and facilities teams, waiting until conditions become unacceptable can also mean more intensive and expensive remedial work.

We believe there is a better approach.

From Reactive Cleaning to Prevention

Clean Futures wants to help organisations move from:

Problem → Complaint → Emergency Clean → Problem Returns

towards:

Inspect → Identify → Clean → Monitor → Maintain

That is why we have developed our Bin Store Health & Safety Audit approach.

Before simply recommending cleaning, we can inspect the location and record what we find.

Depending on the site, that could include consideration of:

• General cleanliness
• Waste overflow
• Fly-tipping
• Bulky waste
• Access and obstruction
• Floor and surface condition
• Signage
• Container condition
• Potential trip or slip concerns
• Evidence of recurring misuse
• Areas requiring further investigation
• Cleaning requirements
• Maintenance requirements
• Photographic evidence

Where an issue sits outside our remit, it can be identified and referred to the appropriate responsible organisation.

The objective is simple:

Identify problems earlier and help prevent deterioration.

What Is Clean Futures?

Clean Futures is a professional external cleaning service powered by purpose – created by Genuine Futures in partnership with Squosh IT.

We work with organisations that need reliable external cleaning and environmental services, including:

Housing providers

NHS organisations

Local authorities

Facilities management companies

Schools and colleges

Construction companies

Businesses

Community organisations

Our developing services include:

• Bin store cleaning
• Bin Store Health & Safety Audits
• Commercial pressure washing
• External communal-area cleaning
• Housing estate cleaning
• Commercial external cleaning
• Environmental inspections
• Community clean-up services
• Fly-tipping identification and reporting
• Scheduled external cleaning and maintenance

Our commercial proposition is straightforward.

Deliver the service properly first.

Then make that spend work harder.

One Contract. Two Outcomes.

Organisations shouldn’t commission Clean Futures simply because we have a social purpose.

They should commission us because they need a professional external cleaning service.

That’s important.

The quality of the service must stand on its own.

But where a contract is suitable, the investment can create an additional outcome.

Outcome One: Professional External Cleaning

Cleaner bin stores.

Better-maintained communal areas.

Improved external environments.

Professional service delivery.

Site inspections and reporting.

Outcome Two: Meaningful Social Value

Practical workplace experience.

Essential skills development.

Employer engagement.

Progression opportunities.

Routes towards employment.

Local community benefit.

That’s what we mean by:

External Cleaning. Powered by Purpose.

What Does Social Value Actually Look Like?

The phrase social value is used regularly across procurement, housing and public-sector commissioning.

But what does it look like on the ground?

At Thornbank, one example is Cameron Hughes.

Cameron is a Be One Homes tenant.

Eight months ago, after spending more than two years feeling lost and unsure about his future, Cameron was referred by the Be One Homes Employment Team to Boss Your Future, the flagship programme from Genuine Futures.

Today, Cameron volunteers one day every week with Squosh IT.

He’s developing practical workplace skills.

He’s building routine.

He’s taking responsibility.

He’s gaining experience.

And he’s now helping Clean Futures carry out Bin Store Health & Safety Audits and external cleaning activity.

The housing provider that originally referred Cameron for support is now seeing him contribute towards improving local communities.

That is social value becoming visible.

From Referral to Community Impact

Cameron’s progression demonstrates what can happen when organisations connect their strengths.

Be One Homes referral

↓

Boss Your Future

↓

Trusted support from Genuine Futures

↓

Workplace experience with Squosh IT

↓

Bin Store Health & Safety Audits

↓

Clean Futures delivery

↓

Community impact

↓

Progression towards paid opportunity

No single organisation needed to do everything.

The value came from connecting the pathway.

Why Squosh IT Matters

Clean Futures is delivered through the partnership between Genuine Futures and Squosh IT.

Squosh IT brings commercial experience and practical workplace opportunities into the model.

Eric McBean, Founder of Squosh IT, said:

“Young people need businesses that are prepared to open that first door. Sometimes somebody just needs the opportunity to show you what they can do.”

Cameron’s weekly volunteering with Squosh IT gives him experience of the everyday behaviours employers expect.

Turning up.

Communicating.

Taking responsibility.

Working safely.

Understanding customers.

Completing tasks properly.

Working as part of a team.

Those are transferable skills that matter across almost every industry.

Eric added:

“Cameron is becoming part of the team, and we’re proud to work alongside Genuine Futures and Clean Futures to help create that pathway.”

Social Value Should Be Measurable

We don’t want Clean Futures’ social purpose to exist only in marketing.

As the service grows, our aim is to provide commissioners with clear evidence of both service delivery and social impact.

Depending on the size and nature of a contract, measures could include:

Environmental and Service Outcomes

• Sites inspected
• Bin stores audited
• Bin stores cleaned
• External areas cleaned
• Cleaning hours delivered
• Issues identified
• Issues referred
• Before-and-after evidence
• Repeat issues recorded
• Scheduled maintenance completed

Social Value Outcomes

• Young people gaining practical experience
• Supported work-experience hours created
• Skills developed
• Employer engagement
• Training completed
• Qualifications achieved where applicable
• Progression into employment
• Progression into education or training
• Entry-level opportunities created
• Local residents engaged

This matters because procurement teams increasingly need to understand not just what was promised, but what was actually delivered.

Social Value That Residents Can See

Social value shouldn’t only appear in a tender response or annual report.

Residents should be able to see the difference.

A cleaner communal environment is visible.

A local young person gaining experience is tangible.

Someone progressing into paid employment is measurable.

A resident being listened to is meaningful.

An environmental problem being identified before it escalates is preventative.

Those are outcomes people can understand.

Could Housing Procurement Work Harder?

The Thornbank project raises an important question for housing providers.

Housing organisations already spend money on:

Cleaning.

Grounds maintenance.

Waste management.

Repairs.

Construction.

Facilities management.

Estate services.

Environmental services.

At the same time, many housing providers have employment teams working with residents who need their first opportunity.

Could those two priorities be better connected?

For example:

Employment Team identifies resident

↓

Community partner provides trusted support

↓

Business creates practical workplace experience

↓

Commissioned service creates further opportunity

↓

Resident develops transferable skills

↓

Progression towards paid employment

The cleaning still needs to happen.

The commercial standard still needs to be met.

But the spend potentially creates more value.

That’s where Clean Futures can help.

Housing Provider Social Value in Practice

For housing providers, a Clean Futures partnership could potentially connect several priorities:

Estate management

Environmental standards

Resident satisfaction

Community engagement

Employment and skills

Social value

Prevention

Local economic impact

Instead of treating these priorities as completely separate workstreams, there may be opportunities to connect them.

Thornbank gives us an opportunity to learn what that looks like in practice.

Prevention Can Apply to Places Too

At Genuine Futures, prevention usually starts with people.

But the same principle can be applied to physical environments.

Don’t wait until a bin store becomes completely overwhelmed.

Inspect it.

Identify problems.

Clean it.

Understand why problems are occurring.

Monitor it.

Maintain it.

Where appropriate, engage residents.

Record recurring issues.

Refer problems to the responsible organisation.

Prevention can be cheaper, safer and more effective than repeatedly responding once a problem has escalated.

That’s the thinking behind our approach.

FREE Bin Store Health Check

One of the ways we’re helping housing providers and organisations start that process is through our:

FREE BIN STORE HEALTH CHECK

The health check provides an initial opportunity to look at a bin store or communal waste area and identify whether further action may be needed.

Where appropriate, we can then discuss:

Bin Store Health & Safety Audit

Deep cleaning

Pressure washing

External communal-area cleaning

Scheduled cleaning

Ongoing maintenance

Site reporting

This creates a simple pathway:

CHECK → AUDIT → CLEAN → MAINTAIN → REPORT

Rather than waiting for complaints or serious deterioration, organisations can start with a clearer understanding of current conditions.

From One-Off Cleaning to Planned Maintenance

One-off deep cleans have their place.

Sometimes a site needs immediate intervention.

But where a location experiences recurring issues, repeated emergency cleaning may not represent the best long-term value.

Clean Futures wants to work with organisations to explore planned external cleaning and maintenance programmes.

Depending on site requirements, this could involve:

Regular inspections.

Scheduled bin store cleaning.

Pressure washing.

Condition reporting.

Before-and-after photography.

Identification of recurring problems.

Escalation of issues outside the cleaning remit.

Social-value reporting.

This creates consistency and provides organisations with better visibility of what is happening across their sites.

Why This Matters Commercially

Clean Futures isn’t designed to rely indefinitely on grants to deliver cleaning services.

We are developing a sustainable external cleaning business powered by purpose.

That distinction matters.

Commercial contracts generate income.

Income supports service delivery.

Delivery creates practical opportunities.

Opportunities develop skills.

Skills support progression.

Progression creates social and economic impact.

And successful delivery creates the potential for further contracts.

That creates a cycle:

Contracts → Delivery → Opportunity → Skills → Impact → Evidence → More Contracts

That’s how social enterprise can become sustainable.

Our Ambition for Thornbank

The launch on 7 August is only the beginning.

Be One Homes will be present in the community for the next 12 months, listening to residents and identifying priorities.

For Clean Futures, this creates an opportunity to demonstrate what a more joined-up approach to external cleaning and social value could look like.

We want to track the journey.

Where possible, we want to understand:

What were conditions like at the start?

What issues were identified?

What work was completed?

What keeps recurring?

What improved?

What did residents tell us?

How many practical opportunities were created?

What skills were developed?

What happened next for the people involved?

The aim isn’t simply to produce impressive before-and-after photographs.

The aim is to demonstrate sustained improvement.

Building a Model That Can Be Replicated

Thornbank is one community.

But the challenges we’re addressing aren’t unique to Deane.

Housing providers across Bolton, Greater Manchester and the UK manage thousands of bin stores, communal areas and external spaces.

Many are simultaneously working to improve resident engagement, create employment opportunities and deliver measurable social value.

Clean Futures offers a simple proposition:

Purchase a professional service you already need – and where appropriate, use that contract to create additional social value.

If we can demonstrate the model effectively at Thornbank and through our other contracts, there is no reason the approach couldn’t be replicated elsewhere.

Cleaner Communities. Real Opportunities.

Clean Futures brings together two needs.

Organisations need professional external cleaning.

And:

People need opportunities.

Rather than treating those needs separately, we’re building a service that can connect them.

Not every young person involved with Clean Futures will build a career in cleaning.

That’s not the objective.

The objective is to provide accessible opportunities where people can develop the essential skills that transfer into countless industries.

Punctuality.

Communication.

Teamwork.

Responsibility.

Customer service.

Problem-solving.

Health and safety.

Confidence.

Work ethic.

Those foundations can help somebody take their next step – wherever that step leads.

Commission Clean Futures

If your organisation already spends money on external cleaning, bin store cleaning, estate cleaning, pressure washing or environmental services, talk to us about how that spend could deliver more.

We want to work with:

Housing providers

NHS organisations

Local authorities

Facilities management companies

Schools and colleges

Construction companies

Commercial property managers

Businesses

Community organisations

Our External Cleaning Services

Clean Futures can support organisations with:

Bin Store Cleaning

Professional cleaning of communal bin stores and waste areas.

Bin Store Health & Safety Audits

Structured inspection and reporting to identify cleanliness, environmental, access and potential health and safety concerns.

Pressure Washing

Professional pressure washing for suitable external hard surfaces.

Communal Area Cleaning

External communal spaces around housing, community and commercial sites.

Estate Cleaning

Planned environmental cleaning across housing estates and managed locations.

Environmental Inspections

Site visits to identify conditions, recurring problems and potential cleaning requirements.

Scheduled Maintenance

Regular cleaning and inspection programmes designed to help prevent deterioration.

Request Your FREE Bin Store Health Check

Concerned about the condition of bin stores across your estate or organisation?

Start with a conversation.

Request a FREE Bin Store Health Check

We’ll discuss your site, understand the issues you’re experiencing and identify the most appropriate next step.

Book a Site Visit & Quotation

Need external cleaning, pressure washing or estate cleaning?

Invite the Clean Futures team to assess the location and provide a quotation.

Discuss a Housing Provider Pilot

Manage multiple estates or properties?

Talk to us about developing a pilot covering selected bin stores or communal areas, with agreed service and social-value measures.

Commission With Purpose

Already purchasing external cleaning services?

Explore whether some of that existing spend could also create practical opportunities within the communities you serve.

One Contract. Two Outcomes.

Professional external cleaning.

Meaningful social value.

External Cleaning. Powered by Purpose.

Clean Futures

Powered by Genuine Futures in partnership with Squosh IT.

Cleaner environments. Stronger communities. Real opportunities.