Crawley gets £64,000 to house local children
The money aims to prevent homelessness and help families this winter
Crawley Borough Council has received £64,000 to help children living in temporary accommodation.
The money came from an £84m pot set up by the government to prevent homelessness and help families this winter.
News of Crawley’s portion was announced by Ian Irvine, cabinet member for housing, during a meeting of the full council.
Mr Irvine said the plan was to use the money for essentials such as extra food where necessary, school travel, laundry, and essential equipment to help children with their school work.
He added: “Sadly, some of those children may have already had their education disrupted by the school closures during Covid.
“You only really get one chance in life to get an education. I think it’s beholden on wider society to give all children the best opportunity to get an education. These are the children of our Crawley residents who, through no fault of their own, find themselves in this situation.”
Crawley declared a housing emergency in 2024, with leader Michael Jones stating that growing housing pressures posed ‘a critical risk to the council’s financial resilience’.
More than 1,200 people – almost 500 households – were living in temporary accommodation, while the council has spent more than £25m over the last five years providing such accommodation.
Speaking about the government’s decision to hand over some money to the council, Mr Irvine said: “An unenviable statistic is that this means we are among the 61 areas of this country with the highest number of children living in temporary accommodation.
“That is one of the reasons why we were absolutely right to declare a housing emergency in Crawley.”