Reduce text sizeIncrease text sizeDefault coloursImproved contrastHigh contrastPeople who find themselves homeless, in particular rough sleepers, are some of the most marginalised people in our communities, and poor physical conditions in hostels and services that don't engage with or motivate people to address their needs often only serve to reinforce the cycle of homelessness.
We believe that all groups in society can significantly enrich the communities they live in, and everyone should be entitled to a home and a secure environment. We also recognise that very often homeless people are disadvantaged by much more than simply the lack of a roof and that many lack the skills or the opportunities to really raise themselves out of homelessness and social exclusion.
Our aim is to promote and support the delivery of homelessness services in such a way as they will truly help break the cycle of homelessness, by providing capital funding for high quality, welcoming accommodation linked to positive engagement activities and real opportunities to develop new skills through education and employment training that will help people make the transition to a more settled and fulfilling way of life.
In December 2008, the HCA took over delivery of the three year Places of Change Programme from DCLG, which provided £80m of capital funding for over 111 projects across England. These range from refurbishment of hostels and day centres to specific training initiatives and social enterprise schemes. See below for examples of some of the projects we have funded.
The Homelessness Change strand within our current Affordable Homes Programme aims to build on the success of Places of Change, and has a specific focus on developing new or refurbished hostel accommodation with an emphasis on the elimination of poor quality, unfit for purpose facilities.
On 12 October 2011 we announced the allocations for £37.5m of Affordable Homes funding which will be made available specifically for Homelessness Change projects over this current Spending Review period.
In addition, there will be a further £5m of funding allocated to the Homelessness Change Programme.
We have published the standard form of Homelessness Change Programme 2012-15 Framework Delivery Agreement which will form the basis of contractual agreements between the HCA and Provider(s).
We funded a major show garden for two consecutive years - The Key Garden in 2009 and the Places of Change Garden in 2010 - at the world renowned RHS Chelsea Flower Show, to help raise awareness of what we’re doing to bring about a step change in the way that homeless people are perceived and homeless services are delivered. In both cases, the gardens - which were developed at every stage by the homelessness service users themselves - were awarded a prestigious silver medal at the Show.
Thanks to an £838,000 Places of Change grant, a new pilot approach providing B&B style accommodation in London is being run at the Lodge at St Ursula’s operated by St Mungo’s and The City of London Corporation, in partnership with Camden and Westminster Boroughs.
Guests at the 40-bed scheme are typically long-term entrenched older rough sleepers. Support from The Lodge staff, outreach workers and external services help guests work towards identifying the appropriate move-on options. For more information, visit the St Mungo's website.
CREATE is a Leeds based social enterprise company aimed at helping homeless, marginalised and vulnerable people into work. Places of Change grant funding of £150,000 has helped CREATE to establish a number of initiatives to assist in this approach, such as the CREATE potential academy, a retail outlet ‘Found by CREATE’ and a social enterprise restaurant.
The CREATE potential Academy is designed to be the final step to moving people into work after their housing needs have been addressed and any underlying problems are controlled. After a short induction period people will move into voluntary work in one of the CREATE Foundation businesses and spend the remainder of the week in the learning base reviewing and consolidating what they have learned to put it in the context of what employers want/expect to see. They will also have soft skills/life skills training. Through partnerships with major employers, such as Morrisons plc and their suppliers, at the end of this process individuals will have the opportunity to gain employment within these organisations.
In 2011, the Academy will take 4 groups of 20 people each. For more details, visit the Create website.
Thanks to over £1.3m of Places of Change funding, this former institutional cramped 31-bed hostel has been completely refurbished to provide 17 single en-suite rooms with state-of-the-art facilities including Wi-Fi and shared kitchens. Guests can access a recording and radio suite linked into a rehearsal room, a gym and a holistic health therapy room, while IT facilities are in an open learning setting.
Much of the development work was carried out by trainees on the Cyrenians’ successful self-build programme, many of whom are now in full-time employment. Guests are also trained in ‘front of house’ duties at reception and welcoming new residents. For more details, visit the Cyrenians website.
