Hull City Council has been awarded £730,000 to continue to tackle homelessness in the city as it marks World Homelessness Day on Saturday 10 October.
Working in partnership with Hull Clinical Commissioning Group and other service providers, the local authority has made a successful bid to the Government’s Next Steps accommodation programme to help people to stay in safe accommodation over the winter months.
The funding is in addition to the money granted to provide accommodation for rough sleepers and people at risk of sleeping rough from when the nationwide lockdown to help stop the spread of coronavirus was announced in March and through this winter.
Working with Emmaus, the council’s outreach partner, and other agencies, Hull City Council has supported 150 people into emergency accommodation. Many of these people have used this period of stability to start rebuilding their lives.
Ahead of World Homelessness Day, Emmaus has released the video below which features photos of the region’s rough sleepers taken by the charity’s outreach team.
Councillor John Black, Hull City Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, said about the new funding: “Being able to get homeless and potentially homeless people into secure accommodation has been a lifeline for some of the most vulnerable people in the city.
“The additional money from the Next Steps Programme means that we and our partners can continue and build on the progress already made. However, there are still significant challenges ahead in tackling homelessness, especially as the full economic impact of the continuing pandemic is felt.”
