Round 2 of the Homelessness Transition Fund Opens
2nd April 2012
Round 2 of Homeless Links Homelessness Transition Fund opened, with two grants programmes available to applicants:
For further details visit the Fund website via this link.
__________
Shelter Launches a New 3-years Strategy
2nd April 2012
Shelter has a 45 year history of helping vulnerable people in housing need. Over the next three years, it aims to help more people than ever before by:
Campbell Robb, Shelter's Chief Executive, said:
"In such difficult economic times, it is more important than ever that we address the housing crisis and make sure that families get the housing help that they need.
"The way that we intend to achieve our goal and vision is laid out clearly in our new strategy."
For more information about Shelter's strategy click here.
__________
Social Enterprise ReVive Redecorates St Mungo's Office
5th April 2012
Clients from St Mungo's painting and decorating social enterprise ReVive are half way through the project's biggest contract to date - re-decorating the Charity's offices in Southwark.
Since the beginning of March, a team of four clients from ReVive have been re-decorating the home of St Mungo's Skills and Employment teams. The office is the workplace of 45 staff members and the base for many of the Charity's other social enterprises and training projects.
ReVive began in 2009 as an enterprise offering clients who have successfully completed the Charity's painting and decorating programme the chance to work on live contracts, gain professional qualifications, and volunteer on a wide variety of different projects.
ReVive is one of 13 vocational schemes at St Mungo's.
__________
Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards Open for Entries
12th April 2012
The Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards are launched and organisations which work with homeless people - including council departments, social landlords, London NHS and health related organisations, voluntary organisations or a partnership of these agencies - are being encouraged to enter.
The Andy Ludlow Homelessness Awards are sponsored by the London Housing Foundation (a trust that supports homelessness charities and agencies) the 33 London councils and Shelter. The awards are supported by Inside Housing magazine.
Housing directors at London's local authorities established the awards in 1998 in memory of Andy Ludlow, former director of Housing and Social Services in the London Borough of Haringey. The awards are now in their 14th year.
Projects entered should have been running for a minimum of six months. The winner will be awarded £30,000; the runner up will receive £15,000; third place £10,000 and there will be a £10,000 prize for best use of volunteers.
The closing date for entries is 10th May. An expert judging panel will be asked to choose the finalists, who will be presented with their awards at a ceremony to be held in Speaker's House at the House of Commons on 18th October.
__________
Tony Denison Visionary Founder of CRASH Dies
18th April 2012
Leading construction industry figure and pioneering homelessness advocate Tony Denison has died aged 89. He leaves a unique legacy in the form of CRASH, the charity he founded in 1991 to channel the benevolence, expertise and supply chains of the property and construction industry to help homelessness projects.
Seeing himself as a broker 'bridging the gap' between homelessness charities and the corporate construction sector, Tony Denison explained how the original concept came about after a "road to Damascus" experience.
Speaking to The Guardian in 2002, he said:
"I was going to a ballet gala with my wife. It was late November and snow covered the ground. There were masses and masses of people sleeping rough all the way down to the theatre.
"I thought this really is obscene and that the construction industry ought to be capable of making a contribution to alleviate these conditions, as an industry that puts roofs over people's heads."
He spoke to a few contacts he had made in the voluntary sector while running Housing and Construction Research Associates to find out what help was urgently required, and followed this up with calls to construction company bosses. A few weeks after his theatre visit, two cold-weather shelters for rough sleepers opened in central London.
Clearly well ahead of his time, Tony had created the forerunner of the public, private, voluntary sector partnerships. Homelessness charities had just begun to focus on the reasons why people were rough sleeping, helping those people to tackle their problems and turn their lives around, and it was those charities which gave CRASH the focus for the type of assistance it was able to offer.
__________
Improving the Health of Homeless People
18th April 2012
Homeless link has responded to two reports published calling for commissioners to work better together to improve the health of homeless people.
The NHS Confederation called for the NHS to do more to tackle mental health problems among people who are homeless. Meanwhile a report launched by Depaul UK has found that 40% of young homeless people are likely to be experiencing depression, compared with 21% of non-homeless young people.
In response, Helen Mathie, Policy Manager for Homeless Link, said:
"Our own research shows that over 70% of homeless people have a mental or physical health problem. Issues that cost tax payers up to eight times more than the general population to address.
"At the root of this problem is the need for health services to work better together to help homeless people improve their health. All too often, homeless people end up being treated by expensive emergency NHS services because mainstream services just don't cater for them.
"Reform of the NHS offers us an opportunity to change this by ensuring that the right help is in place and that this can be accessed by homeless people. If we get this right it will benefit both patients and the NHS."
In February 2012, Homeless Link published a paper that sets out a vision for an NHS where:
Helping homeless people regain their health: our vision for a better NHS includes recommendations and practical tips for commissioners and providers to work together and ensure the health needs of homeless people are at the centre of their care.
__________
An Inclusive Games for Homeless People
18th April 2012
With 100 days to go untill the Olympics, St Mungo's has asked the Mayor of London to ensure that London is remembered as an inclusive, positive Games for homeless people.
The coordinated work of charities, councils and the Greater London Authority is ensuring that new rough sleepers are getting help faster and fewer people are living longer on the streets. However, more needs to be done to support individuals to rebuild their lives.
The Charity is calling on the Mayor for a commitment to an Olympic Legacy for homeless people to ensure that, after 2012, homeless people are neither forgotten nor left behind.
Fellow homelessness agencies Centrepoint, Homeless Link and Shelter have endorsed these calls, which echoing the Olympic motto are:
