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NEW FUNDING IN PLACE TO HELP VULNERABLE HOMELESS PEOPLE
SOME of Cambridge’s vulnerable people will be helped thanks to additional funding over the next two years.
Cambridge City Council – working with other local authorities in South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Peterborough and the county council – has secured more than £200,000 from the government’s Help For Single Homeless Fund, to be spent on a project consisting of two different schemes.
The first part of the project – the Supported Lodgings Scheme – will see the city council, with South Cambridgeshire, East Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire district councils, focus on addressing the shortage of affordable housing for single homeless people.
Under this scheme, community volunteers will provide either short-term relief, ‘room-only’ or supported lodgings accommodation to individuals who are currently homeless or at risk or homelessness.
Under the second part of the project the Cambridgeshire County Council Chronically Excluded Adults service, which will be extended to include Peterborough, will work with people who have multiple support needs, a history of rough sleeping or current rough sleepers who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Two scheme coordinators will be appointed to provide individually-tailored support and access to services for those affected.
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The government Help For Single Homeless Fund has been earmarked to encourage local authorities to work with partners – including public health and voluntary sector organisations and the probation service – to provide more support for single homeless people and to reduce homelessness.
Cllr Kevin Price, Executive Councillor for Housing, said: “This new funding will give some of the city’s vulnerable people the chance to turn their lives around.
“It will ensure that many different organisations are better coordinated to address the very different circumstances that people affected by homelessness may find themselves in.
“Cambridge in particular has a particular shortage of affordable housing, so it is good news that the funding will help us to find suitable accommodation for those who need it most.”
The city council is also currently supporting a bid from Cambridge Women’s Aid for up to £100,000 funding from the Department of Communities and Local Government to help strengthen women’s refuge services in the area.