The heart of the community
Spitfire Advice and Support Services Ltd (Spitfire Services) is a charity that was established in 1995 as Castle Vale Tenants and Residents Alliance (TRA) as a direct response to the growing issues of poverty in Birmingham.
We are now a multi-purpose charity with a dedicated and committed staff team, who work tirelessly to support the most isolated and vulnerable in society.
We deliver a number of projects that provide free and impartial money, housing and legal advice, volunteering placements, and local crisis interventions to assist families hardest hit by changes to welfare benefits and other legal reforms.
Spitfire Services is embedded into the infrastructures of Castle Vale but also works Birmingham wide. In 2018, Castle Pool was linked as a charity to Spirfire Services, and is open to schools and clubs as well as events.
In 2014 we were the first organisation in Birmingham to successfully take over the running of a local library service (Castle Vale Library) under community asset transfer from the Local Authority and have since advised other groups with similar ambitions.
In 2016, Spitfire Services relocated to the ground floor of Spitfire House, enabling us to plan for more community engagement and sustainability through different offerings such as the Art Zone (a community room, event space and studio) and other rooms for hire.
We continue to run Upcycle Birmingham, our recycling and reuse social enterprise, which creates local volunteering and job opportunities, saves resources from landfill, and provides good quality furniture and household items to low income families in the area.
Spitfire Services are “quite simply one of the most important organisations in the country, who provide a lifeline to the most isolated and vulnerable in our society, who without Spitfire Service would have nowhere else to go.” Pioneer Group