Member Article

Two Million Pound Government Grant Announced To Support City’s Homeless

YMCA Together and Liverpool City Council are set to provide twenty homes for young adults experiencing homelessness, following the announcement of a £2million government grant. 

 

Aimed at addressing the growing issue of homelessness, the funding will enable the charity, which works across Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley to support people who are experiencing challenging times, the opportunity to provide much needed accommodation as they experience an increased demand for their services. 

 

Deputy Chief Executive of YMCA Together, Jon Metcalfe, said: “We’re delighted with the announcement of the Single Homelessness Accommodation Programme (SHAP) funding in Liverpool which will make sure that we can create much needed homes for younger people experiencing homelessness. 

“Together with support that we will provide, we’ll help people develop their social capital so that they’re able to navigate safely through a challenging time in their lives.”

The cost of providing accommodation for people experiencing homelessness in Liverpool has increased from £250,000 to more than £19million in three years and this SHAP funding will enable young people to move on to more independent living, helping to prevent a repeating cycle of homelessness.

The grant funding includes £500,000 that will go directly to Liverpool City Council to carry out homeless prevention work including specialist support for people with mental health issues or substance misuse problems. 

 

Sheffield City Council and London Boroughs were also chosen to receive grants of £3million and £38million respectively for extra homes, beds and specialist mental health and substance misuse services for rough sleepers.

The Minister for Housing and Homelessness Felicity Buchan announced the funding boost, which targets areas most in need and includes specialist support for the most vulnerable who require mental health or substance misuse support. 

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