Edited by Tracey Copeland
Safety Net Against Homelessness Continues to 2015
Posted 03.09.12
The outgoing Housing Minister Grant Shapps announced that councils across the country would receive £160 million over the next two years in Homelessness Prevention Grants - offering certainty that homelessness services will be funded to the end of this Parliament.
This is on top of the £160 million that has been allocated to councils over this and last year, which has been used to offer support to those facing the threat of homelessness, including:
Details of the £160 million Homelessness Prevention Funding, which will be awarded to councils in 2013/14 and 2014/15, have been published and can be accessed via this link.
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StreetLink Support
Posted 03.09.12
Grant Shapps also confirmed that plans for a new website and national phone line are on track to be available by Christmas, so that anyone will be able to ring if they are looking for help for someone sleeping rough.
StreetLink, to be run by charities Homeless Link and Broadway, will include a national telephone line and website accessible via smart phone. Anyone anywhere can provide details of someone sleeping rough, so they can be found and connected to local services.
A series of posters will be released in December to promote StreetLink, with the clear aim of ensuring as few people as possible face spending this Christmas on the streets.
To see a preview of what StreetLink's new national rough sleeping campaign poster will look like, click here.
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Media Watch - Olympic Task to Tackle Rough Sleeping
Source
BBC News UK: 13th June 2012
Posted 14.09.12
The spectacular extravaganza of the London 2012 Olympic games was the original deadline for the Mayor's ambitious plan to finally end the spectre of rough sleeping in the Capital but reports indicate numbers are actually rising, forcing charities to create new ways to tackle the problem.
Overseen by the Mayor of London's Delivery Board, a collection of voluntary sector agencies, local authorities and central government representatives, the deadline for the target to be met has now been extended to the end of 2012.
But how realistic is this target when 4 000 people were recorded as rough sleeping by outreach teams in 2011? Charity Homeless Link says it hopes the legacy of the Olympic Games will be to end rough sleeping for good. But with the outlaw of squatting, growing numbers of 'hidden homeless' and radical changes in Housing Benefit, can it really ever happen?
Click here to read the full article from BBC News and find out what charities are doing to help people off the streets.
Visit here to find out about the work of the London Delivery Board and to download a copy of the report 'Ending Rough Sleeping'.
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Additional Funding to Help Tackle Rising Rough Sleeping
Posted 17.09.12
Homeless charities across England will be able to apply for grants of up £200,000 to invest in new ways of preventing and tackling rough sleeping.
With the number of people sleeping out on any one night estimated to have increased by 23% last year, priority will be given to areas that are experiencing high levels of homelessness and want to adopt No Second Night Out.
No Second Night Out is an initiative that involves putting the services in place to ensure that new rough sleepers get rapid help so they don't spend a second night out. The idea, pioneered in London, has already spread to 30 areas thanks to funding from the £20 million Homelessness Transition Fund.
The Fund has also announced that in September it is about to launch the 'Future Ready' fund. Under that scheme, homelessness services at risk of closure will be able to apply for grants of between £5,000 - £25,000 to help them find ways of securing their futures.
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New Website Launched to Combat London's Rising Homelessness Problem
Posted 18.09.12
With the latest Government statistics showing a 27% rise in homelessness in the Capital, a website has been re-launched today to help those at risk of homelessness access the advice they need.
Homeless London offers a one-stop-shop for information on the rights of those who are homeless and links to over 1,600 services that may be able to help.
With evidence suggesting that nearly half of rough sleepers never seek help before ending up on the streets, the website aims to help anyone who is concerned about homelessness.
If someone is homeless, in danger of becoming homeless or needs to find accommodation - Homeless London takes you through the stages to find the information that is relevant to you.
With over 60,000 visits a year by professionals working with those who are homeless, the site will continue to enable them to find accurate information on local services.
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Exhibition to Tell the Stories of Homeless Women in London
Posted 19.09.12
A new multimedia exhibition at the gallery@oxo this autumn will provide a unique and stark glimpse into the lives of a number of homeless women in London.
Told in their own words, the exhibition - entitled Where from? Where now? - lays bare the reality of women's homelessness in London, looking at the reasons that have led women to become homeless and how they are rebuilding their lives.
Photographer Georgina Cranston spent eight months in hostels, going out with outreach teams, meeting 'rough sleepers', as well as women living amongst the hidden homeless population and those now in their own accommodation. Her work takes us into the lives of these women through their own voices as well as through interviews with the people who work with them.
The exhibition will run from 14 to 18 November 2012 at the Oxo Tower Wharf, Bargehouse Street, South Bank London SE1 9PH.
For further exhibition information, please visit the gallery's website via this link.
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Media Watch - Homeless families in B&B Up by 44% in the Last Year
The Guardian: 17th September 2012
Posted 20.09.12
Figures from the National Housing Federation have shown that the numbers of families housing in B&B accommodation from January-March 2012 are up 44% on the same period in 2011.
B&Bs tend to be used by local councils whilst investigating if there is a homeless duty, although guidance states they should not be used to house families with children for more than 6 weeks.
In the past two years, the number of families accepted as homeless has also risen by 10,000 to 50,290 and many of these will be living in temporary accommodation with the associated struggle this entails for family life.
This rise is all the more worrying when you consider there has been no firm decision on whether temporary accommodation rents, which tend to be significantly higher, will be excluded from the benefits cap due to begin in April 2013.
With some inner London borough's struggling to find private housing available within the LHA cap in their area, the sector anxiously awaits the news of whether temporary accommodation will be excluded.
David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation argued that protecting the service was vital. He said:
"Without the safety net of temporary accommodation, thousands of families will find themselves in a vicious cycle of homelessness. It is essential that the Government puts in place measures to protect this crucial service and the vulnerable families who depend upon it."
To read the full article in the Guardian click here.
