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