Further funding announced to help tackle Rough Sleeping in Gloucestershire

The funding was secured by Gloucester City Council, in partnership with the county’s other local authorities, the County Council and the Office of Police and Crime commissioner.

It forms part of the Government’s £100 million Rough Sleeping Strategy to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and end it by 2027.

The new Rough Sleeping Initiative funding will enable the county’s Outreach team (P3) to hire two further outreach workers, provide a specialist No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) support worker for those who can’t access benefits and a small fund to spend on items such as obtaining new identity documents, to help people break the cycle of rough sleeping.

The award also allows an increase of hours for the County Homelessness Coordinator to complete further bids for funding to enrich Gloucestershire’s Rough Sleeping Pathway.

So far this year the partnership has already successfully secured a total of £1.4 million in bids to help reduce homelessness. They include Cold Weather funding, Rapid Rehousing Pathway Funding and a Private Rented Sector Access Fund, which provide a range of services, including 24/7 direct access accommodation, specialist mental health support, specialist drug and alcohol support and landlord incentive schemes.

Councillor Jennie Watkins, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, said:  “We are working with our partners to understand the challenges faced by individuals who sleep rough to overcome barriers to sustaining tenancies and improving wellbeing. This approach has seen some recent improvement in the number of people who have been successfully supported into housing and other services.  The additional money is welcomed and will be a real boost to what we are already doing. However, we still recognise that there is much more work to be done and reducing homelessness is a key priority right across the county.”

Anyone who is concerned about someone who is homeless can refer them to the Street Homeless Outreach team which is delivered by P3 by visiting www.streetlink.org.uk, calling 0300 500 0914 or via Streetlink.