Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities
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Innovative homelessness scheme receives £70million expansion to help more people get back on their feet

Innovative homelessness scheme receives £70million expansion to help more people get back on their feet

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT News Release (210) issued by The Government News Network on 13 November 2007

Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has today announced a new £70 million expansion of the Government's drive to help rough sleepers make a permanent move away from the streets.

The investment will fund more than 100 new or upgraded hostels with training facilities to help some of the most vulnerable people in society move on to independence.

The hostels programme has already achieved dramatic results by transforming hostels into not just 'a place for the night, but a place back into the world of work.' There has been a 30 per cent increase in clients moving on successfully into training, further education, employment, or independent living as a result of new services available - with one hostel in Leicester reporting 100 per cent improvement.

The new type of hostels provide on-site training for residents to learn practical vocational skills from catering to sound engineering. Other projects include social enterprises, where the skills needed to successfully run businesses are learnt - examples include a cafe in Newcastle and a scheme to grow and deliver organic fruit and vegetables to local restaurants.

Yvette Cooper said:
"Getting people not just off the street but back into work is a major challenge. While homelessness is at its lowest level for twenty years, we need to press on for further improvements. The expansion of this scheme - which is proving a major success - will transform the life changes of thousands of homeless people."

Rough sleepers are often the hardest to help and a 30 percent increase is hugely significant. These dramatic results mean we will radically expand the scheme so that it is available more widely that the 143 projects currently founded across the country.

Jenny Edwards, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national umbrella agency for the homelessness sector that is administering the scheme said:
"We are delighted that the Government is continuing its commitment to making services for homeless people 'places of change'. The announcement today of an additional £70 million will enable many more hostels and day centre's transform the work they do to enable some of the most vulnerable people in our society to move on to independence."

While the Government - working in partnership with local authorities and the voluntary sector - has achieved major reductions in homelessness over the past decade with homelessness recorded by local authorities dropping to 21,062 in the last quarter - the lowest level for more than 20 years - we need to push even harder for more improvement.

Notes to Editors

We will be inviting bids for funding from local authorities and voluntary sector service providers.

For more information on tackling homelessness through the 'Places of Change' programme visit - http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/placeschange

Homeless Link a DVD 'Changing Places' a guide to transforming hostels into places of change. For more information visit - https://http://www.homeless.org.uk/developyourservice/moving/places/dvd/index_html/?searchterm=dvd

Public Enquiries: 020 7944 4400;
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk

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