East Suffolk Council awarded over £900,000 to help tackle homelessness
They will get part of a national fund, following a successful bid to the Government’s Rough Sleeping Initiative.
East Suffolk Council will be given £878,088 to support rough sleepers over the next year.
It will be used to help people find housing and linking them to work and education. It will also be used to continue paying for a Rough Sleeper Coordinator, Outreach Officers, and other roles that offer support.
It's part of a national initiative worth £203million, aimed at getting people off the streets and into safe accommodation.
Cllr Richard Kerry, East Suffolk Council’s cabinet member for Housing, said:
“It will go a long way to keep everyone that we’ve got on board and help those people who are homeless to find other paths to accommodation, and hopefully set them up for the rest of their lives.
“There are various different reasons why people are homeless, but we can find out what’s wrong, put them on the correct path and hopefully turn their life around.
“I think we’ve done exceptionally well to secure nearly £900,000 from the government.”
“Going forward our workers can tell these people we’ve got this extra funding and we can carry on well into 2022, and I think they’ll be as excited as I am."
East Suffolk Council says it will continue to provide services, including the Somewhere Stay Safe Hub, Rough Sleeping Initiative bed spaces, Tenancy Training Programme, and Discover East Initiative.
They were awarded similar funding last year when the pandemic began. Cllr Richard Kerry added:
“When we were first told by the government to get the people off the streets due to the pandemic, this funding enabled us to get things done quicker and we’ve been able to arrange vaccines for these people. It just oils the wheels within the team, which is absolutely fantastic."