Norwich City Council has secured practical help and support to reach out to rough sleepers in Norwich, and help prevent homelessness, for the next three years.
Using government funding, the authority has appointed St Martin’s Trust, a local charity with a 40-year history of providing services to homeless people, to act as the first point of contact for rough sleepers, and people at risk of homelessness, in Norwich.
The charity will identify the accommodation and support needs of individuals and, wherever possible, place them in suitable hostel accommodation.
Councillor Victoria MacDonald, cabinet member for housing, said: "This decision means we can make the most of our resources to provide homelessness services in the city. St Martin's Housing Trust has a great deal of experience working with rough sleepers and I am assured that the charity’s will make a real difference to the lives of vulnerable people in Norwich.“
Derek Player, general manager of St Martin's Housing Trust, added: “Being awarded the contract to deliver the street outreach service in Norwich for the next three years is a great way to celebrate our 40th birthday as a charity. The government’s official figures on rough sleeping will soon be published and anecdotal evidence from other cities tells of a sharp rise in the number of people sleeping rough in recent months. Although Norwich’s number remains low, we’ll be working hard with the council and other partners to keep that figure as close to zero as possible.”
Under the current system of government funding, each year the Department for Communities and Local Government allocates grants to local authorities to assist them in helping local people who have lost, or face losing, their home.
Councils can then decide how best to use this funding to deliver these services, which includes giving grants or loans to voluntary organisations working with homeless people.
The current award of £97,375 to St Martin’s Housing Trust was made on the basis of a 12 month agreement that will end on 31 March 2012. In 2010/11, 521 people used the Norwich rough sleeper outreach service provided by the charity, of which 116 were seen rough sleeping on the streets of Norwich.
Following an open tender process inviting suppliers to apply for the grant funding, a decision was made at last night’s cabinet meeting to award provision of Norwich’s rough sleeper outreach service to St Martin’s Housing Trust for a period of three years from 1 April 2012.