Building work on a new housing scheme in Plymouth which is providing training and employment for people sleeping rough is well underway. When complete next year, George House in Battery Street will provide much-needed accommodation and support for 46 of the City's most vulnerable people.
Commissioned by Plymouth City Council, the development is led by specialist housing and social care support provider BCHA and supported by more than £3.5 million in investment from the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA).
The facility is designed to be a place where residents can access support and learn new skills so they can move towards living as independently as possible. Providing learning and training opportunities during the construction phase for homeless and other vulnerable people is an integral part of the development.
A wide group of people - including those who use current homelessness services in the city - have been involved with the planning and design of the new housing scheme. The building will be extremely energy efficient and incorporates renewable energy sources.
There will be a garden where residents can grow their own food to prepare in the training kitchen. It is hoped that this project can help stimulate the continuing regeneration of the Millbay area.
The development is supported by a land subsidy from Plymouth City Council, funding from BCHA and a £1.5 million investment from the HCA's Places of Change Programme, in addition to £2.1 million from its National Affordable Housing Programme.
Some of the UK's most resistant rough sleepers have had their lives transformed by a pilot project in the City of London, which has been running for the past 18 months.
Fifteen people who had been sleeping rough for between four and forty-five years have been offered a personalised budget by the City of London Corporation and homelessness charity Broadway. Of those fifteen, seven are now in accommodation and two are making plans to move into accommodation.
A report evaluating the personalised budgets project, supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, was launched at the Mansion House.
Howard Sinclair, Chief Executive of Broadway said:
"Giving control back to the rough sleeper is a theme which runs through the project - people who sleep rough are encouraged to take control of their lives by deciding what exactly it is they need to get off the streets."
The report found that personalised budget fulfilled several functions: