Gloucester City Council awards contracts to charity to tackle homelessness

Two new contracts to help rough sleepers across Gloucestershire and those experiencing homelessness are to be awarded to homeless charity, Julian House.

The charity will take on the Rough Sleeping Outreach and Support Services commissioned by Gloucester City Council on behalf of Gloucestershire Housing Partnership, which includes the six district and borough councils, the county council, NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board and Office for Police and Crime Commissioner.

Julian House operates more than 40 different projects, accommodation sites and social enterprises across South-West England.

It runs multiple training programmes including bike workshops to help people regain confidence, learn new transferable work skills, get back into education, volunteering and employment.

The charity will be tasked with helping rough sleepers in Gloucestershire by offering them support and assistance to access accommodation as well as any other services which they may need.

They will also assist those at risk of rough sleeping and work with people who have a range of support needs including difficulties with mental health, substance misuse and domestic abuse.

The three-year contracts will see the current service split into two, with a service operating in Cheltenham and Gloucester, and another in Cotswolds, Forest of Dean, Stroud and Tewkesbury Borough.

This allows for a different approach in urban areas compared with rural settings where it is more important to build up community links to find those people who need help.

The Streetlink referral service which sees members of the public contact Streetlink if they suspect someone is sleeping rough, will continue to operate and people can also self-refer using Streetlink.

Ruth Saunders, co-chair of the Gloucestershire Housing Partnership and Corporate Director at Gloucester City Council, said: “We’re delighted to be able to announce that Julian House will be taking on our service. They have a wealth of experience and will be able to bring best practice from the other areas they operate in as well and a new approach to supporting people at this difficult time in their lives.”

Helen Bedser, Chief Executive at Julian House, said: “We are looking forward to bringing our experience of partnership working and supporting people experiencing rough sleeping in cities and rural areas to Gloucestershire. One night spent sleeping rough is one too many. We want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to rebuild their lives and recover from the trauma of homelessness.”