WIREDGOV

Homeless Link has announced the first nine successful grantees from the Comic Relief stream of the Fund – a portion primarily intended for charities based in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The nine organisations that have been awarded grants are:

• Adferiad Recovery, Cardiff
• Cornerstone Opportunities Limited, Caerphilly Torfaen Merthyr
• Emmaus South Wales, Bridgend County
• Glasgow Night Shelter for Destitute Asylum Seekers, Glasgow
• JUSTNESS, City of Edinburgh
• Rowan Alba, City of Edinburgh
• SAY Women, Glasgow
• Scottish Veterans Residences, City of Edinburgh
• Welsh Housing Aid (trading as Shelter Cymru), pan-Wales

Among the groups that will benefit are young women with experience of trauma, destitute asylum seekers, homeless young people from BAME groups, homeless veterans and people facing multiple disadvantage including mental illness, and substance misuse.

Homelessness charities in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland still have an opportunity to apply for grants from this strand, with approximately half of the funding not yet distributed.

Charities based in England can apply for a share of the £4.82 million provided by The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK. Organisations can apply for funding and find further information here.

The applications deadline is 14 September, with decisions made in October and funds distributed before the end of November.

A total of £5.5 million was available in the second round of grants from the COVID-19 Homelessness Response Fund. The first round of funding consisted of £6 million provided by The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which was shared among 133 homelessness charities on 7 June.

The funding aims to provide emergency financial assistance to local homelessness organisations that risk closure, service cuts or redundancies due to increased operational costs and a loss of income caused by COVID-19. It will also support organisations that needed to expand or adapt their services to safely support people experiencing homelessness during the pandemic.

Rick Henderson, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, comments: “We are pleased to be able to support organisations to ensure that people experiencing homelessness in Scotland and Wales - including young women and BAME homeless people - have access to the services that they need as the Coronavirus pandemic continues.

“We are at a pivotal moment in our mission to end homelessness and rough sleeping and frontline charities are a critical part of this effort. We hope that more charities across all four countries of the United Kingdom will apply for the remaining funding to support their important work and secure their financial sustainability.”