Member Article

Beyond Housing and Redcar & Cleveland Council unite to help house rough sleepers

Beyond Housing has launched a new programme to provide accommodation for homeless people in Redcar and Cleveland.

Following a successful joint bid by Beyond Housing and Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council for more than £300,000 from the government’s Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, five empty properties in Redcar and Eston have been purchased, refurbished, furnished and allocated to local people who have been sleeping rough or living long-term in temporary accommodation.

The government scheme plans to fund 6,000 long-term move-on homes in total for rough sleepers by the end of the current parliamentary term. The grant also includes access to funding to provide intensive housing management support for people when they move in.

The support under this scheme will last up to two years, as part of a pathway that helps prepare former rough sleepers to move on to gaining their own assured tenancy and living independently.

A further scheme, also funded by the government initiative, is being delivered by Beyond Housing in partnership with Scarborough Borough Council in the North Yorkshire area.

Residents moving into these homes across the region will receive specialist support from Beyond Housing to help them with budgeting and living skills, health and wellbeing, and access to training and employment opportunities, with the aim to improve their prospects of sustaining a tenancy in the future. Beyond Housing also hopes to create opportunities for people who were once rough sleepers to offer peer mentoring to other customers.

Clare Harrigan, Director of Development at Beyond Housing, said: “This programme is an excellent opportunity to work alongside our local authorities in Redcar and Cleveland and Scarborough to provide quality homes and associated support services to a number of people who, until now, may have had access to neither.

“By purchasing and refurbishing existing homes and collaborating with key partners on the provision of intensive support, we are able to deliver a sustainable solution to rough sleeping across these two communities.”

Claire Trenholme, Holistic Support Advisor at Beyond Housing said: “It’s been extremely rewarding helping customers move into their new homes delivered through this programme. Some have come directly from living on the streets, with others coming to us following a long stay in temporary accommodation.

“I’ve been working with them in the lead up to the big move in day supporting with everything from setting up prescriptions and utilities to advice on benefits and budgeting. The support from the team at Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council has been fantastic – it really is partnership working at its best.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by News Gathering .