WGPlus (Archive)

Increased priority with the colder weather

Peter Smith (Head of Partnerships at Homeless Link) looks at how partnership working is enabling a new approach to rough sleeping prevention;

As Head of Partnerships, I’m always very interested in getting involved with new and different ways of working to prevent homelessness, particularly when it involves a number of partners.

One example of this is a particular piece of work that has been undertaken across the three London Boroughs of Hackney, Tower Hamlets & the City of London Corporation called No First Night Out.  Since becoming responsible for our national partnership work in July, I have had the pleasure of being part of the steering group for this initiative, and it has been great to see how taking a new approach can start to make a difference. This is further demonstrated by the reference to No First Night Out in the recently announced DCLG Homeless Prevention Programme.

It is obvious to all of us that prevention & early intervention really can make a difference in someone’s life, and actually preventing somebody from sleeping rough at all while offering them a clear alternative is surely the best possible response. With No First Night Out this has already been achieved in a variety of ways.
Researched Links:

Homeless Link:  No First Night Out demonstrates early successes – (HL:  How innovative legal help is supporting destitute migrants

First Night Out

DCLG Homeless Prevention Programme

Street Legal January 2016 - Homeless Link

No Second Night Out

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